We made our trip to the hospital yesterday to get all of my pre-op testing done. The procedure is officially scheduled for Monday December 19th and the doctor expects it to take about 30 minutes. I’ve had it 3 times before. It’s a glycerol injection that works as a nerve block and stops the pain. Usually it takes a month or so to become fully effective and can last anywhere from 1 to 6 years. I was lucky the last time, as it lasted almost 7. The procedure isn’t very painful. I’ll be more or less knocked out. The only pain is when they actually hit the nerve with the glycerol.
I am maintaining a high level of my pain medications. The meds are effective but make me feel like I just finished a half a bottle of booze. That can be good and bad news at the same time. There is no pain but I am weak, feel like sleeping all of the time and am slurring my words. Linda now has to help me with dress, wash and do most other things. Her chores as a caregiver have increased tremendously.
Hopefully, I will be able to slowly reduce the level of meds after the procedure. Usually it takes a month of so to get them back down to a level where I can function normally. Every step we take along this road is good. The first step is the procedure, then we work on the meds.
