I talked, in my previous post, about how my last appointment with the neurosurgeon didn’t go as well as expected, and that they were going to have me get a lumbar block of the nerve that handles sensation from my lower back down through the back of my right leg, then making its way around to the top of my foot. I was told I’d be called when that was scheduled, and that it would be my pain management doctor handling that.
I got the call! On October 31, they’ll be doing a nerve block in my spine using some agent that will briefly numb one of my nerve roots at the very base of my spine. If doing so causes relief in my pain in my lower back and down into my leg, that means I’m a candidate for surgery to at least—in theory—reduce or eliminate pain down the right side of my body from the waist down.
So… on Halloween, I should find out if there’s any hope that surgery might help with any of my pain. If so, we’ll schedule something—who knows how far out that will be—and see how it goes. Even if it does exactly what the doctor hopes it would do, it won’t resolve all my problems. Not even a majority of them. But at this point, any improvement is a victory. I haven’t had many victories over the years of dealing with this neurological nonsense goi8ng on with me.
Trying hard, again, not to work up too much hope and excitement. Each failed procedure or medicine change is a knife to the heart, emotionally speaking, unless I manage to convince myself the new procedure or treatment isn’t likely to work out.
I sure hope it works*
* See? Hard not to get my hopes up.