I've missed much of the last few days here. Very late on Monday night of this week, I stumbled getting ready for bed (balance late at night and in getting out of bed in the morning often becomes an issue over time for people with RSD/CRPS) and as I fell down on my right side, I crashed into hand-pounded temple bell, maybe 18" high and 20" across, with a 3/8" wide lip that had been cut flat, fracturing two ribs (9 and 10). OUCH!!!

I suppose I could struggle to find a Zen koan somewhere in there: it's certainly a different take on "Meditation and Pain." Or is it? In the days that followed, as I made a deliberate movement that I knew would cause pain, I had no problem in focusing away from the pain in the instant it was most acute, so that it didn't bother me nearly as much as it otherwise would've.

But to the point: in the ER I was told that I would be miserable for the first and second day, and better thereafter. And while Tuesday was awful, until 1 cc of i.m. hydromorphone cut in, I woke up Wednesday feeling surprisingly well, and have steadily improved since then, and cancelling all of my appointments "over the hill" until Monday has I think really helped, but I want to give a shout-out on my pain doc's suggestion of putting lidocaine patches directly on top of the injured area, before any secondary pain complications could set in. In fact, the first lidocaine patch was put on right in the ER.

It may not have been continuous regional anesthesia, but it was as good as anyone could come up with off-hand. (Especially where all of my tDCS equipment is still awaiting delivery.) And think about it: when was the last time you heard of lidocaine patches being used essentially as first-aid?

Mike