Hi Again! Things are a little better this week as the pain isn’t quite as intense as it was last week. The pain seems to be under better control than it was last week. I still wish that I could get better relief, however I’ll take what I can get at this point in time. Although with the way that my kids are fighting my stress level should be up in no time which should bring on the pain!! That’s what I hate so much about CRPS and how stress affects it. Stress is a part of life so how do you avoid it? The answer is you don’t!! However you can manage it.

Well last week I met with the neurosurgeon, and I have decided that I will go ahead and have the implant done. If you missed my earlier posts I had been talking about how my nerve blocks didn’t work with the pain, and that I was going to consider getting the spinal implant done. I have really been struggling with this decision because there are so many good things and bad things to consider. It wasn’t just something as simple as going ahead and saying yes. After sitting down with the doctor we decided that it was in my best interest to go ahead and have it done. So now I have the joy of sitting back and waiting for the next three months.

What made things more difficult for me to decide was that I have two limbs that are affected, so its a little bit of a more complicated procedure for the doctor to do. My procedure has to be done in two stages, the hand being the harder of the two to do. What the doctor suggested was that we start with doing the easier of the two which would mean doing my leg first. He suggested that we do the one first and see if it’s going to help with the pain. He was suggesting that if it wasn’t going to work then it wouldn’t matter if it was my hand or ankle, so why subject my body to the tougher of the two procedures.

After meeting with the doctor I felt better with the way that he had decided to take on my procedure. He explained some of the concerns that I had, and made me feel better that I was making the right decision. I’m still not crazy about having something foreign in my body, however if it reduces the pain then it’s worth it. The other thing that made me feel better about my decision was that if I really want to I can have the unit taken out if need be.

Like anything you need to do your research and see what the procedure is all about. After talking with my local implant clinic and seeing the unit, I felt a bit better about what it was all about. The people I spoke with at the clinic also helped with explaining things to me so that my understanding was better.

One of the hardest parts about making this decision was how comfortable I felt with the doctor that will be doing the procedure. It can be so hard to read some specialists however mine comes very highly recommended. If there was ever a neurosurgeon I wanted doing this it would be him. Let’s just say that you can’t go on bedside manner!!In the end you have to look at how highly regarded he is, and he is at an international level.

So overall I am happy to be moving forward and have faith that this is the right decision to be making. I trust that this is in God’s hands and that He will take care of me.