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.

Have you had a bone scan for osteoporosis?? This may make a difference in whether or not the screws hold.

Sent you an email.

Billye

I get bone densities done yearly, and I do have some osteopenia, for which I am taking fosamax. Good thought.

Interesting, the biggest result of the facet blocks is the same as acupuncture--seems that needling the muscles aids them in letting go!

LJ,

I heard RF ablation and I got concerned. But I am not clear as to what would be ablated? Quite some time ago, it was proposed that I have one particular nerve in my right foot ablated, although the procedure may or may not have involved RF.

Anyway, after investigation, I decided not to roll the dice. I was tempted because I likely would have been able to keep working, at least for awhile. But the downside was too much - it became clear that there was no way to know how long the result, if successful, would last. As you know, nerves have this confounding tendency to want to grow back. And when they do, it can be with a vengeance. In other words, the pain could actually end up worse than if I never had the ablation in the first place. And while that does not necessarily happen, I felt pretty clearly that there would likely be pain, of some intensity, as the nerve attempted regeneration.

Hopefully, none of this even applies to you. But I didn't want to let it pass without at least commenting. I look forward to your updates.

rfinney