Hi, daniella:

My primary care physician is treating my RSD pain with Duragesic (fentanyl)and MSIR (morphine sulfate immediate release). My cardiologist is treating my RSD pain with Tambocor (flecaïnide). I also take Keppra for my epilepsy, but this anticonvulsant does not work on my RSD pain.

In the small island where I live, there is only one pain management doctor. I really do hate him for not believing I have RSD and severe chronic pain, despite all the medical certificates from doctors of different specialties I showed him. I even doubt he is qualified in pain management when he told me the new fentanyl patches, that do not have a reservoir, can be cut in two. He wants to send me to the cemetery to save public health insurance money because my RSD, epilepsy, and migraine treatment is very expensive; about U.S. $ 600 for their part; my co-pay is about U.S. $ 300. This is a total of U.S. $ 900 just for the medications. Then there are all the doctors fees... I miss my pain management doctor and my primary care doctor from the U.S.

I took several opinions from different orthopedic surgeons and, according to them, there is no way I can avoid the surgery. Even if I refuse to have it now because I do not want to lose my job (I need the money to pay for my medical care), these surgeons all clain I will have to have it one day, especially if I want to avoid a TKR (total knee replacement). If I have a TKR, how will I ever be able to continue skydiving, horsebackriding, waterskiing, and rock climbing, sports whiwh I am absilutely unwilling to give up? I even passed the virus to my two-year-old baby.

Quote: "I would suggest that as well I have heard ketamine infusions being done after a procedure or surgery I think." Are you saying these infusions are given through the catheter of a femoral nerve block (or other type of block) or are given through an IV line?

Quote: "Also more as needed meds." Are you talking about, for example, morphine immediate release? When I had my last two knee surgeries with a femoral nerve block (totally ineffective for the 6th surgery, partially effective for the 7th surgery), I took a morphine immediate release capsule because I could not stand the pain. The female nurse, who knew I had these pills and caught me taking them several times, treated me like a druggie and had my surgeon call a shrink for me. I kicked the shrink out of my hospital room, telling him my head and mind were fine, but not my knee and, consequently, I do not need a shrink, but the nurse does.

When I was sent to a physical therapy center, the male nurse who took care of me also knew about my having morphine pills, because the hospital's female nurse must have told him about them. When I signed the papers that showed my agreeing to doing physical therapy, I mentioned I did not want to see the shrink. The chief of all the doctors of this center came to see me to criticize what I had written. I told him the same thing which I told the shrink in the hospital (by the way, it is the same shrink). The male nurse seized my pills so I left this center.

Later, much later, when I saw a lawyer, he told me I could call the cops from the center to get my morphine pills back because what the male nurse did can be called "stealing". I obtained these pills with a prescription, I bought and paid for them in a pharmacy, so they legally belong to me and taking them without my permission is "stealing".

Quote: "For myself the block made my pain worse." I wonder if this was not the case with me also.

Quote: "I wish I could give you more advice. Hang in there." You already helped me a lot with all the information you gave me and I really thank you for your kind words. It is people like you that make my day.

This Neuro Talk Support Group is soooo wonderful because you do not get banned or edited just for posting your feelings or defending yourself against a person using the board and treating you like a druggie just because she did not like you taking narcotics. This happened to me with a famous board, which I will never, never use again.

Thanks again, daniella.