Stellate Ganglion Block Behind Me
 

Master P angerly drove methis morning
I was kicking and screaming
Kicking everything in sight, mad as heck at the attorney and defense attorney
Screaming at MP for driving and not allowing me to stick to my guns
We were only a half hour late to Westwood due to 2 hour traffic. Great, starting this off real good.

Stayed up almost all night researching labor codes.
Didnt matter anyways since the last 2 months Ive had sleep apnea.
Not scared, not worried out the procedure.
THANKS BETH FOR THE INSIGHT! xxoo
So i came in ice cold, all my extremities were on overload with pins and needles, a massive HA, my veins were nowhere to be found as they stuck me 3 times. Not mad, just tried to show them where to get my chemo stripped veins. I was a phlebotomist for 20 years and after everything Ive had done the last 7 years you just have to make light of the situation unless they are just plain stupid. Then I get stern.

Then here come the Doc's...Jordan and Anesthesiologist; whats his name
I was so upset, exhausted not to mention being late from the last 24 hours tears started streaming down my face.
Then my slap happy olecyn surfaced and made the nurses and docs crack.
Told em I havent had a good nights sleep in months and the last 24 hrs has been so stressful due to the legal crapola and to give me LOTS of sedation but not as much as Kirvorkian would.
Dr. J had to send home a patient cause the W/C screwed up the approval d she was already on IV.

I'm sleepy, I have little pain, still a little headache, no droopy eyes or face, left side hurts really bad as they only do one side at a time. On ice at the injection site. The facility was FAB! Great bunch of professional peeps as the docs own and staff the facility called CAST.

By the way, I told Dr. J that the defense attorney is denying my right to appoint him as my PTP cause its more than 20-25 miles.
He looked at me around the full pre-op room and said very loudly with a synical smirk:
"DOES THAT SOUND LIKE BU** SH*$ to you? THATS BS. MORE THAN HALF MY PATIENTS COME FROM OVER 50 MILES, ALL OVER THE COUNTRY INCLUDING ALASKA. THATS BS. AND THEY ARE WORKERS COMP PATIENTS. YOU TELL YOUR ATTORNEY THATS BS".

Hmmm...think its BS?
It was just what I needed to go into the OR room and come out ole happy cyn.

I also confirmed the info with the CA DWC office
There is NO labor code for a PTP or transportation
There is a happy ending once in a while
Now, if I can get my attorney to follow through with some guts/gusto.
nite nite
GO ANGELS!
GO DUCKS!
XXOO

yay cyn!!! fingers crossed for a good outcome :) Dr Jordan IS great :)

and what a FAB job by MP to get you there...!

yipee. so happy cyndy that you were able to have the block as scheduled! hopefully now you can get the attys to cough it up and provide transportation when you have the 2nd side done. i hope you feel better from the block and that it lasts a good long while.

Yeah Cyn, I am Happy that you made it through. Dr Jordan is great isn't he

:hug:

great
 

good ol honesty plays a game here too!!! Thanks to a few REAL words from your doc perspective is regained after these (barstewards) put you through the wringer and try to break you down.....

You go girl!!! Chin up and many hugs from this totally understnding nurse!!!

Love and hugs,
Victoria

I'm Good
 

Up and around today for the first time
Still groggy though from the anesthesia
See, my system reacts strongly to meds

Board, and brooding that the SGB didnt really do much
The trigger site is sore and swollen as well as my pec minor
Lifted my arm to put up a decorator owl for Hallow's eve
My neck down to my toes but especially my arm and hand are on fire.
Then I remember Beth saying you have to have a series???
Seems my pec minor trigger injections by Dr. Agnew had an instant relief and lasted I'd say about 2-3 weeks.
The tingling, numbness and throbbing was back by 3pm Wenesday in my hands and feet.
But then, I was laying down and laying down isnt good to me.

I'm not giving up hope though.

As for my 3 month cancer check...
I'M CLEAR and good to go
Graduated to 6 month interval check ups now. YIPPEE!
Would like to have the ...o geeze, cant think of it now. Chemo brain gets worser and worser. You know the DNA testing for cancer.
However, it costs $2600. HA!
I'll be my own watch dog along with my lovely Oncologist for time being.

So I'm ready again to give some TOS professionals a run for their $$ and stay on top of them for a lil' while longer.

Just give me a couple more days of peace and I'm off to the races
O, if only I could race

THANKS girlfiends for the messages and calls checking on me!
Cyns baaaack.
I'm off the compooper and to the floor to recycle the circulation and use some imagery.
XXOO

Thank you God and Cyndy for your hard work staying cancer free!!! Yaaaay!

I can't make flowers, but if I could, I would right here!!!

I don't know 'nothin' about no blocks, so is the early fog normal? Also, doesn't the ganglion block "block" future RSD I thought? (What's the SCOOP on ganglion blocks someboday?)

she's "CLEAR and good to go"
 

great news olecyn!
sigh, a great sigh of relief.
may you continue to heal

Sgb
 

If I'm correct Cyndy, you had a SGB and that injection blocks the Sympathetic Nerves, which in turn MAY reduce pain, swelling, color, and sweating changes in the upper extremity. The arm should feel warmer. The block MAY improve mobility. They are done as a part of the treatment of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) or for Herpes Zoster (shingles) involving upper extremity or head and face.
They can be diagnostic (for RSD) &/or therapeutic.
I've never heard of general anesthesia being used. Most ppl are either awake
or have IV sedation (which is what I had). If it is successful your eye droops and the extremity gets nice and warm on the side the block is on.
My blocks were Bupivicaine injections.
Everyone is different and so they react differently. Some people need 2-4 injections - I know one girl who had over 50 over a 3 year period. She stopped having them when they stopped working.

Hope this helps. :hug: Hope

Hey Cyn - The block itself lasts 4-6 hours - so ANY relief beyond this is considered a positive result!! And with each successive block the looked for result is for this relief period to be longer and longer - which is why they do a series. The earlier RSD is treated with the blocks, the more likely a real remission can be achieved, (that's the 6-month window talked about, which may vary a bit per individual, it's the period in which the RSD is still said to be sympathetic-maintained or mediated), but even later, RSD can be calmed and made much more tolerable via blocks. It's a very individual response however.

I was only under for one SGB, the one done in Denver prior to rib resection. The 3 done at the local pain clinic I had a numbing gel applied to the site, a local injection of anestheic, then the SGB. Fluoroscopy was ALWAYS used - this is a MUST imo.

Past the early phase of sympathetic-maintained RSD, it is said to be sympathetically independent - at this point I believe it is more centrally maintained - a change has taken place in the CNS. For this reason, a sympathectomy usually is NOT effective, as the sympathetic nerve ganglion is no longer the seat of the problem.

If you recall, I had 6 weeks or so free of RSD pain and sx folowing rib resection - thought it was GONE (oh joyful thought!). Then it came roaring back, twice or triple what it had been before. This is the usual pattern following most any surgery when you have RSD - in areas where there is lots of nerve involvement. (I had NO difficulty following my gall bladder removal, though the surgeon dismissed my RSD concerns and no additional precautions were taken). What is interesting is the period of weeks of total absence of both pain AND sx -no sweating, discoloration, tremors, temp changes, allydonia, etc. I think the ketamine coma actually works in a similar way, but for a longer period - shut the whole system down, apply general anesthetic to the CNS. Do this for the correct amount of time, figure out a way to keep the rest of the body/brain from harm while doing so, and perhaps you can return the system to it's original (rather than hyper-excited) state.

I think ketamine, at this point, is too dangerous a drug for wide-spread use as a treatment, although it is the first to offer real hope. I'm not keen on the idea of "coma" as any kind of a treatment option, frankly. But an in-patient regimen of 2 weeks of IV-sedation (deep sleeping, perhaps waking only for meals and Dr visits), along w/a controlled and individualized dosage of a CNS-moderating (or calming) drug (either one available now or as yet to be developed) could be offer real hope for many of us who cope with this most miserable condition.