Dear Sue -

That is terrible news. I am so sorry the blocks haven't worked and that your pain is as bad as it is. (To be honest, I'm a little surprised the blocks apparently had no traction whatsoever.)

Just so sorry this monster has presented you with its full fury.

Mike

ps Any chance that you could arrange to be tested for "TNF-a and its soluble Receptors I/II "? (As outlined in my post of September 13th, above.) If it's positive, you have a compelling case to be started immediately on ketamine, either as an outpatient or on in-patient receiving "sub-anesthetic" doses. But remember, if the blood test comes back as positive - which would mean that you have a fresh inflamatory process under way - treatment should/must begin within 12 weeks of the time of your surgery. And if your doctors aren't comfortable with ketamine, there are others that are. And as mentioned before, a couple of "low-dose" blocks with an anti-TNF drug such as Infliximab (Remicade) may be another option. (See my last for the one citation I could pull; PubMed lists other articles apparently on point, but oddly none of them have abstracts. Let me know if you want them and I'll ask a friend to retrieve them through his university account.)