Hi all! I hope everyone is doing well tonight! As for me, I saw the Pain Specialist yesterday, and feel VERY OVERWHELMED! Here's the lowdown...He showed me my MRI (of my neck), after asking about my history,of course. He showed me how there are some compression/stenosis/"arthritic changes" on my spinal cord at the levels of C5-7 (and being a PT, I saw changes above & below these places also,though not as severe.)
He said the epidural space is completely compromised by this compression, and he was surprised, as was my neurologist, that I don't have arm pain/numbess/tingling. While I was there, he had me move my neck into certain positions, which triggered a wicked right sided migraine, and started to affect my thought process in answering and thinking.
So, that's part of yesterday. During the appt., which went really well (and I very much respected him and liked him too),he went through my options for treating my migraines via my neck.(My neurologist had requested a consult with him for Occipital Nerve blocks).
So, he explained what the nerve blocks are, and as soon as we get approval, I'll get my first of those. Next option, if the nerve block doesn't work, is direct injection into the joints of my neck which are "arthritic"/stenotic with steroid & an analgesic. And if that doesn't work, I get to try electrical stim, up to 2500 volts for a 2 wk trial. If that DOES work, they will surgically embed the unit under my skin. If that DOESN'T work, I'VE decided I'm going to see an orthopedic Dr. to see if my neck requires surgery.
The Pain Specialist also told me that I can get my PFO fixed at the same time I am doing all this for my neck.
I know I still need to get 3 right upper teeth replaced(there's nothing there right now-they had to be pulled due to fracture-related problems from my car accident). This costs LOADS of money, as Medicare disability pays zip. The bone in my upper jaw apparently needs "bone implants???" first, because I guess the bone deteriorates when there aren't teeth attached to it. I don't know...head,neck,heart,jaw... and I'm a single mom on disability!
I'm feeling SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo overwhelmed. To add to it all,bankruptcy approaches faster than I wanted it to as my energy bill is getting close to $4000, tens of thousands of unpaid medical bills,and there is so many more unpaid bills. My car is barely hanging in there (it's a 1999 GMC, 4WD has gone OUT)-I just want to crawl into a hole...
CJ
