Because I had been in pain for a couple of weeks when the pain started to get worse, I started making more phone calls in an effort to find a pain clinic that was closer than rochester's Mayo. I went to the Rehabilitative Institute of Chicago, that Mayo had recommended. I talked with the doctors who then poked at me and watched me walk and so forth and wiggle my toes. There was time spent sitting in the waiting rooms. I had a psychological evaluation.
The doctors had decided that what before was a trigger point in my abdomen, a stuck nerve ending, was now just the ghost of that nerve ending. I did not follow this logic. They said that I had come a long way and was doing well and they wanted to help me manage my pain. I told them that that management was a good idea, but I felt that treatment was a much better one. I mentioned the injections that had worked so well for me in the past. The doctor nodded and said sometimes those could have a placebo effect and what was once usefull may no longer be so. I then asked about the next step- killing off those cells that caused me so much pain. The doctor said that this could be risky.
I said that I was not willing to accept that this pain would be a permnanent fixture in my life until I had at least tried the injections again. I said that I did not want to be on opiods around the clock again.
After a moment the doctor looked concerned. She said call me next week and I see if I can schedule you in for an injection. After hours at the pain clinic I then left.
I have an apointment up at Mayo for July 19.
The next day I went in to see my local primary care doctor. She agreed with me. She even tried doing the trigger point and injection. She hit a part of it and that has helped and while she did prescribe the pain medication, is a lower dose that I would have had to take before the injection. She also said that would be willing to attempt the injection again if chicago could not schedule me in. I thanked her.
Having the treatment help has made me feel more confidant in my knowledge of my body.
I have noticed that all pain clinic have the same sort of scent, the smell of alchohol. And the other people in waiting rooms also tend to look tired. We sit and look at each other and look at the magazines and wonder how much it will hurt to go and pick one up. I tend to be the youngest person in the waiting room on most occasions.