3/29/14. The post where I talk about the new nerve block.

3/29/14: settling back into a routine (sort of) after my two and a half week hiatus.  While I was at the hospital with Mom, things rocked along as usual with my foot, although there were plenty of times I didn't think about it at all.  I had a few (mercifully brief) flare ups, but stayed mostly in the 6 range.  I got home Wednesday night in time to make an appearance at work Thursday and have a nerve block late Thursday afternoon. 

This was the first of two somatic nerve blocks, which are a little different from the previous ones.  My doctor advised that because these nerves were responsible for sensation (rather than "fight or flight" instinct, like the sympathetic nerve system), I would feel the effects of this nerve block more than the previous ones. And he was right - when I woke up from my customary post-block nap Thursday evening, I could already feel a weird, tingling sensation in my right foot and leg.

Friday was my rest day.  I was not supposed to drive, but I was looking pretty ragged after being away from home for so long, so my patient, long-suffering husband drove me to have my hair and nails done.  Because he's awesome.  For a few hours Friday afternoon, I started to feel like the nerve block was really working.  My pain level was down in the 4.5-5 range and the color was completely gone.  I can live with that.

Maybe it was the sedatives from the procedure. Friday night, as I came out of my stupor, everything changed.  First, my foot just started to feel irritated, then it got progressively worse.  It felt like my nerves and the nerve block were locked in an epic struggle of good and evil.  (Someone call Martin Scorsese - I have a great movie idea.)  My foot turned red and splotchy again, sometimes accompanied by the usual burning, stabbing pain and sometimes by the buzzing, tingling sensation I assumed was from the nerve block.  No bueno.

After a very fitful night, the color is better (as it usually is after lying down for an extended period), but my foot is still very unhappy, in the 7.5-8 range at the moment.  I'm optimistic that this may work eventually, though, because at least this time I can feel something different happening.  Maybe good will win in the end. (Maybe I should go with Spielberg instead of Scorsese.)  We'll see what happens as the weekend progresses.  I have another block scheduled for next Thursday and that may be the real test.

A friend forwarded me a TED talk video about chronic pain that is worth watching if you have eight minutes to spare.  He does a great job of describing RSD/CRPS in a way that is easy to understand.  It's not Scorsese, but it's relevant.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elliot_krane_the_mystery_of_chronic_pain?utm_content=awesm-bookmarklet&utm_medium=on.ted.com-facebook-share&utm_campaign=&utm_source=facebook.com&awesm=on.ted.com_h08SF#t-196694