Quote:
Originally Posted by lefty
I am going out of my mind! I was dx in Aug., of 2010 with rsd to my upper extreminty. I had an on the job injury in 2008 then had two surgerys. The first was in 2009 to shorten my ulnar bone in my forearm. The second was to fuse a bone in my thumb. Jumping ahead a bit, in Aug., I was dx with rsd by three doctors. I had three Stellate Ganglion Blocks done with the last one being in Dec.
WC had me to see a forth doc who said that I did not have rsd, but he also said that I wasn't at Maxium Improvement. The hardware I had failed and was very painful so I had surgery to have it removed last week.
After the block wore off the next day, I was ready to rip off my soft cast and chop my arm off the pain was so bad!!! I was taking Norco every two or three hours with very little relief.
Today I had my post-op appointment with my surgeon. The nurse couldn't get that crap off my arm fast enough!!! Tears were pouring down face, my fingers look like red sauages, my forearm was swollen and burning.
The surgeon wouldn't take out the stiches because of the swelling and pain.
Again he said that I have rsd. He put in a call to my pain doc and on the 17th I will have a brachical plexus block.
Has anyone has a brachical plexius block done? I so regret having this surgery!!!! But I had little to no choice. I hope now WC will realize that do have rsd!!!
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Hi Lefty,
Wow, I totally feel your pain and situation. I have had major arm/elbow surgery including ulnar nerve surger and almost lost the fight, but thank god I literally stumpled upon a place called HSS and 2 doctors a pain doctor and a elbow surgeron worked together to put me back together.
But yes I did have a BPB. Mine was done for a different reason. It was used and called an Interscalene BPB. It was run continous after my ulnar nerve surgery and contracture release surgery. I had to be put in a CPM Machine right after surgery so movement could begin immediately so I would not grow massive amounts of scar tissue which would block my range of motion. There was not a medication that would allow me to handle the pain of immediate movement after a surgery such as I had so they had no choice but to get my arm completely numb for the first 3-4 days while I was in the hospital. It was not a painfull procedure and you won't feel a thing once it starts to work. But I'm not a doctor so I don't know what your doctor might be trying to use this procedure for. I would ask what is this block suppose to accomplish?
I wish you the best of luck. I was in a terrible situation with my arm/elbow and thought I would never use my arm again. But once I found the right doctors I finally got put in the right direction. Today I am on disability but I do work PT doing what I did all my life, I go to the gym, I can't do everything, and are limited in some ways, so it does get better. Just a little hint when I was going doctor to doctor trying to get the correct answers I discovered that hand/arm/elbow specialist was really the type of doctor I should be seeing not just a plaine orthopedic surgeon. That was one of my mistakes.You stated that your injury is in your forearm. Hand Surgeons study from the elbow to the tip of the fingers and it's a complicated area to work on. It should be a Hand Surgeon who caters to that area of the body. The ulnar nerve runs right through that area and only a very trained doctor will know what to do. I went through 2 before I found the correct one. I even saw the doctor who worked on Mark Bordeurs elbow and he even made it worse. Mark Bordeur is the goalie for the NY Devils Ice Hockey Team. I live 70 miles from NYC and all my doctors are there which is a blessing but sometimes not because of the distance.
What area of the country do you live in? My doctor is a famous elbow surgeon and is head of clinical research for the facility he works out of and I have read many of his studies. I notice when all the researchers are listed in the study that many of the doctors are from all over the country maybe you could get a second opinion.
I wish you the best. Believe me Lefty I thought at one point when I was going through what you are I was just going to die but I kept plugging along through all my tears and finally I got success and then I started to get better. But it took time and infinite patience which I don't have a lot of.
Gabbycakes