I'm in P A I N!

[Babebahn]

Just got back from the pain doctor. He wouldn't even touch my painful arm, he focused on the right arm to check to see if there was any weakness, not just the burner in the bicep. He saw that I was cradling my left arm and said to keep it in a sling and not to put any heat on the arm at all. He prescribed "diluadid" every 6 hours for severe pain and regular pain just to take Norco. He doesn't think I will be able to get the epidural within this week because of work comp, so I told him I would call them. My case mgr was not in but her assistant was and I explained what was going on, thank goodness she was "NICE" and said if I could have the doctor & surgeon fax over a request before 3 p.m. she would walk it over to utilization review to get it authorized faster. So there is hope. I took a diluadid and boy I am loopy...so I am signing off before I start not making any sense. Have a Happy Halloween...off to sleep...

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Diluadid & loopy is mostly what you need right now.

[chrischris]

Babe, To answer your offline question, please keep a detailed day by day pain journal after your ESI. You may feel some immediate relief but remember it will take a couple of days for the numbing medication to wear completely off so you can see if it actually helps or not. I'm sorry if my reply scared you concerning the RSD. I had undiagnosed RSD in my hand prior to the ESI, and since my central nervous system was all screwed up anyway, the ESI went haywire and flared up my arm with sharp electrical currents and constant pain. My hand still remains the focus of my RSD 24/7, but my arm flares up periodically and it's unbearable pain.

Your pain management doctor will appreciate a pain journal which will help him determine whether to proceed with further ESI's. Your pain journal will be your "documentation" if they don't work, and your I/C tries to push for more ESI's rather than the needed surgery.

Take care, and get some rest.