Yesterday, I went to have some more injections done on my neck. These particular ones were diagnostic, in that if they work, then the Dr. will know that "burning" my occipital nerve again will also work. He didn't sound too optimistic about it, which made me kinda sad. See, this is a last ditch effort for me to get any relief from the constant pain I am in. (Constant is NOT exaggerated either.) Basically, he said that most people who have their nerve burned do not grow it back. He said that only 10% of those that have had it done DO grow it back. He has agreed that I am most likely in that 10%. Now, when he said that I got a little happy thinking good, this should work and then we'll just burn it again. I guess not, he was not very optimistic that these would work. He said most people that have their nerves grow back, have them grow back all tangled up and in different spots than where they were originally. This means that he wouldn't be able to find where they were exactly to go in and burn them. So, if I get pain relief from these injections, then that means that they grew back where they were before and that he can go ahead and burn my nerve again.
So, I agreed to go ahead and do them, when he said,"Now, I have to do 8. 4 on each side of your neck." I don't think I said a word for about 2 minutes. I had no idea that there would be that many. In Vegas, they always put me to sleep for all the injections, so I don't ever remember getting that many at once. Here, in Indy they have never put me to sleep. So, I wasn't too excited to go through that. They gave me some extra medicine, just to help me relax and he went to work. It was VERY painful, but somehow I got through it. Immediately after, I got a horrible headache, and became very nauseas. Immediately, I started getting upset knowing that this probably didn't work. The Dr. came in to make sure I was going to be okay, and told the nurse to get me some medicine for the headache. She came in and shoved 2 Percucet in my mouth. Now, most everyone that knows me, knows that I don't take pills very well at all. So, I almost threw up just from having her put those in my mouth. I took one out, and tried to take them one at a time. Still didn't work....I still threw them up. TMI, I know.
So, I get home, and I just can't kick the headache or stop throwing up. I tried a few different medicines, put ice on my neck, then tried heat, and nothing worked. I finally called my cousin Aaron in Vegas, who is a Physician's Assistant and was also my Dr. who treated me in Vegas, and he told me what to try, and I did. So, after sleeping on and off for 24 hours, I am finally starting to "see the light." I still have a bit of a headache, but nothing like it was yesterday. I just ate, and seem to be fine. I just feel a little dizzy and my legs feel like mush.
I don't think I'll be able to tell if these injections will work until a good 3 of 4 days pass. I sure hope they do, otherwise I will most likely have this pain for the rest of my life. I hate that I have to schedule my life around pain, and am really praying that this works!! Thanks to everyone for all their kind thoughts, please keep them coming!!
I'll update more later....right now, I think I'm going to go back and lay down again.
