Denervation...advice

[jrnyc]

i had my first epidural in Columbia Pres Hospital in Manhattan...
they opened an IV line "just in case anything happened" but did NOT use any
sedation....that epidural caused no pain, just feeling of pressure on my back...
i have had epidural injections since then (in doctor offices), and they hurt a lot
more on my left side, which has narrowed in many areas of spine......felt
like doc was going into my kidneys, even though he said he was no where near
my kidneys....
still....i was never offered sedation of any kind...at any facility, including hospital...
point is, doctors seemed to feel it isn't needed...
of course, they are never the one layng on the table!!!

good luck whenever you have it done...
in my case, it seemed like a very minor procedure, but that is
my own perspective on it...

jess...& Sparky

[susancook]

Successful block!

I had a left medial branch block on Friday. I arrived at OHSU with severe pain. I was in such pain before the block that I curled up in a ball on the guerney and my doctor came by and asked me if I was in drug withdrawal! I told him that I was in just such severe pain. I was skeptical that that the procedure would help. Totally amazed! I was almost pain free within a minute of the procedure! The relief, much like Cinderella's brief night at the ball, it lasted but a few hours. It is only supposed to last that long....but that few hours were totally awesome. Now I need to have one more test, then maybe the denervation. I am finally hopeful!
Susan

[loves to skate]

Susan,
So glad it has worked for you if only for a short period of time. At least it gives you some hope. I wish you the best. Keep us posted.
Sally

[rohrer01]

Actually, some people have 7 lumbar vertebrae.

I just saw this. It's not the "norm". Five lumbar is normal anatomy. Some people also have six normal digits on each hand and foot, too. =)

[rohrer01]

I had a left medial branch block on Friday. I arrived at OHSU with severe pain. I was in such pain before the block that I curled up in a ball on the guerney and my doctor came by and asked me if I was in drug withdrawal! I told him that I was in just such severe pain. I was skeptical that that the procedure would help. Totally amazed! I was almost pain free within a minute of the procedure! The relief, much like Cinderella's brief night at the ball, it lasted but a few hours. It is only supposed to last that long....but that few hours were totally awesome. Now I need to have one more test, then maybe the denervation. I am finally hopeful!
Susan

I'm glad to here that your test went well and you got some relief, albeit temporary.

[susancook]

I'm glad to here that your test went well and you got some relief, albeit temporary.

Amazing how much arthritis of the spine can hurt. I plan to go to Fiji to volunteer for 2 months and due to my doctor's schedule, now I am unsure if I can get everything done in time before I go. Nothing else seemed to work.
Thanks to all that are supportive! Great not to be alone in this journey.
Susan

[susancook]

Now have bilateral MBB scheduled for tomorrow am. R side now as painful as the L was. Hope that I get the same relief, then the R needs to be done again...then if there is relief a denervation procedure.

Anyone had the denervation procedure? Read about it on the internet, but would appreciate a personal perspective.
Thanks
Susan

[susancook]

Bilateral medial branch block....ahhhhh.....I had 6 hours of pain relief. I had forgotten how awesome that felt.
Bilateral sciatic pain has returned.....where's the heating pad?
Susan

[susancook]

Lmbb

Had the lumbar medial branch block-right done for the second time yesterday and again had awesome pain relief...however brief for hours after the procedure.
Now waiting to schedule the neurotomy.
It amazes me how I have such awesome relief of the back pain that I have suffered with for 1.5 years relieved by a 5 minute procedure. I had assumed, based on my recent pain managment MDs opinion that my pain was from my scoliosis. He put off doing the LMBB for months....I could have been so much ore active quite a while ago if I had the procedure done when I first saw him.
Dr. Chen showed me my vertebrae under the floroscopy and she said that I had severe arthritis of the lumbar spine and that she wasn't surprised that I had a lot of back pain. While the procedure was quite painful when the injected the dye and the probes, I have learned to just tolerate most anything on the way to a procedure that might give relief.
Dr. Chen said that I was one of her most cooperative patients...anything to find out what is wrong with my back, so that I can improve the quality of my life and get on with being more active.
I wondered how I would get through 2.5 months in Fiji with my back pain, but decided that like I do with my back pain, to just buck up and tolerate it. I have learned to just keep going no matter how much pain I have. The choice is to lay on the couch with an ice pack or grit my teeth and keep going until I absolutely need to lay down.
My hopes are with the denervation/neurotomy now.
Has anyone had the procedure and how did it go? Thanks!
Susan

[titaniumed]

Hi Susan

I just found out that my neighbor had a neurotomy done last January, and had a positive report. She isn’t a scoli, she went through a phase of car crashes, and well, she is paying more attention now behind the wheel.

Its good that you are posting about this subject...

Fiji involves drinking Kava....I don’t know how you can avoid it out there, its part of the program. Make sure you clap after you slam it. He he

I have been to Kava bars in Hawaii....tastes like dirty gym socks, but works well for relaxation.

I struggled with major pain on a few Hawaiian trips years ago.... I thought I was going to die there, it was pretty bad. The plane rides years ago would finish me off.

Ed

[susancook]

Thanks for the good news about neurotomy. It's for arthritis of the back, so it goes with aging. My scoliosis is just a bonus, I guess.
I FINALLY have my neurotomy/denervation scheduled for mid September w/ Dr. Chen at OHSU!
I've been to Fiji twice before and I find kavakava gross.

Us older folks should consider arthritis of the spine as a possible cause of the back pain and not assume that all of the pain is from the scoliosis. My pain management MD said for the past 6 months that my back pain was from the scoliosis. When I FINALLY talked him into the medial branch block test and received such awesome, but temporary pain relief, that I am glad that I did not jump into the BIG scoliosis surgery last spring when I was in overwhelming pain. The PT helped some...but I felt that the spine fusion was definitely in my future, just didn't know when. Now, it may not be the answer afterall. Time will tell how my curve progresses and the pain changes.

Susan
Susan

[susancook]

Thoracic bilateral medial branch block

I asked Dr. Chen what she would recommend for my pain in my thoracic area where my kyphosis is and she recommended a thoracic MBB which I had done on Friday. It was super painful and she injected 3 vertebrae bilaterally, I think T8, 9, and 10. I hope to have the denervation for my lumbar area as well as the thoracic are done at the same time. She was skeptical about doing both on the same day, but I told her that after natural childbirth of an 8# baby that I could do anything. I wish that I had found Dr. Chen a year ago!

The Fellow that was helping was sort of interesting....he couldn't figure out why he couldn't get all of the vertebrae to focus in one plane. Since the procedure is for arthritis, I guess that he never considered that I could have BOTH arthritis and scoliosis. Dr Chen said more than once, "she has scoliosis too". It was almost funny and I might have laughed more except they were shoving needles into my facet joints.

So, I'll ask again, has anyone had a denervation done and how much pain did they have afterwards? I've looked on the Internet but can't get a good feel for how much pain you have after the procedure.

Thanks
Susan

[susancook]

Lumbar Denervation done!

Well, I had my bilateral lumbar denervation today. The procedure was quite painful. I did have an IV with something in it....but I really don't think that it did anything for my back pain during the procedure. Yes, it did help my migraine that I had at the time! The MD gave me #30 Oxycodone which so far, I haven't taken. I sure hope that this helps my back pain. I hope to have a thoracic denervation next week. Dr. Chen said that she would do both procedures today, but they couldn't find anyone in Medicare to approve having both procedures, so I go back next week. What a waste of tax payor money to have 2 separate procedures on 2 different days. Whatever....Looking forward to less back pain. Susan

[rohrer01]

Susan,
I hope you get some relief with this procedure. What exacty did they do to you? I'm just curious because my doc said that much of my lower back pain could be related to the facet joints. My pain is so low that it is in the sacrum. I had a very annoying burning sensation on the top of my left thigh the other day. I'm a big chicken and don't want to have to go through painful procedures to "find out" if a certain procedure will work. Please let us know how this goes for you. BTW I have NO scoliosis in my lumbar region. It would all be due to degeneration I'm guessing because of the lack of flexibility in the T-spine for so many years.

[jrnyc]

hey rohr
maybe a facet block might help you....?
sending you PM

jess