Today the pain guy, an anesthesiologist, did a test injection of the L5 facet and S1 joint to see if it caused the pain I am currently having in my butt and back. The needling duplicated the pain, and the lidocaine removed it. He injected a steroid, which will hopefully begin to work in about 5 days, and last a totally unspecififedabout of time, hopefully until both of us are back from our winter vacations. At that point if/when the pain recurs, he'll do a radiofrequency ablation, with the hope that this will last about 6 months.

I told him my rheumie keeps recommending methotrexate, which I keep refusing. He asked me who the guy was, and when I told him, he said he's about the smartest rheumie in NY, and if suggests MTX, he'd suggest I take it. Who knows, he said, maybe the pain will improve just from that?

So, Friday, I will take the first dose.

The deal seems that there is new arthritis below the level of the fusion, because of increased pressure on that vertebrae, and that seems to be the source. Also, the screws are a bit loose, and I'm not fused, but he's not sure how much that's the issue, though he doesn't like it. He said it will take about 2 years for me to fuse, as there's a lot of inches for the bone to cover. He just wants the screws to hold until the fusion is complete, and is concerned.

So, I had two hours pain-free, while the lidocaine was in me, and now, back to baseline. Hopefully, by Monday there will be improvement, again.