Just checking up on you. This thread has been too quiet. I hope that PM doc has helped you some. How are you getting on? Ellena

Hi! Sorry! I got lost there in the chaos of the holidays.

Um...let's see...well the last time I saw the PM doc, she seemed almost not hopeful about my being able to get a trial lead. (Which would be at my expense and which when originally mentioned was quoted at $600 and now is being quoted as about $1000.) I am unsure why this is, but I left that appointment feeling pretty hopeless about the whole thing.

As things stand now, I've been on fentanyl patches for the last month and a bit. I go in to the hospital on the 12th for a Lido infusion. The first time you have lido, you have to go and be monitored in post-op to make sure it doesn't hurt you. I guess that will be the next time I see her, but I don't know how much discussion there will be about the ONS, if any.

She also asked me to try using a tens machine. I bought one and have used it twice. I am very uncomfortable using it and I have a hate on for it. It stresses me out.

Anyway, I have no idea now IF or WHEN I will ever get the trial or the stim. This whole thing is so confusing and I am running out of energy to try and stay on top of it. In addition to having been diagnosed with ON, I was also diagnosed with MS a few months before the On diagnosis, so 2007/2008 has been pretty hairy with so much medical stuff-doctors, hospitals, treatments, drugs, pain, and on and on...It's really getting to me.

Thanks for checking on me. I'm still here, just not much to tell right now.