Update on my RSD

Since being diagnosed with RSD my therapy and exercises have totally changed and I have been going to occupational therapy twice a week instead of once a week. Because I have been in so much pain, it is hard to do too much and the pain seems to have been worsening each day. I called my doctor because the shooting pains going up my arm had me in tears on a daily basis. He put me on two more meds and set me up for a Stellate Ganglion Nerve Block to be done at the Pain Center at Miller Dwan Hospital. When they called me to schedule this, they told me Dr. Nelson would be doing this procedure...he is the one who did the injections in my back so I felt comfortable knowing the surgeon who would be doing this.

I immediately started doing my research on this procedure and when I found out what was involved with it, I became very nervous and since I had a week to think about it, I became more nervous each day as it got closer and by the time I got to the Pain Center, I had myself so worked up, I was in tears. The nurses there were so nice though and they took such good care of me. One nurse told me it was her job to pamper me. I asked the doctor for something to take the edge off and he said it was too late in the day and told me that if I needed something I could come back in the morning and he would give me IV drugs and I said no I cant go home and wait again....I just have to do this now and that is what I did.

The doctor talked me through it and kept telling me he would be as gentle as possible and I just kept my eyes closed and I made it through the procedure. Here is a quick description of this procedure:

The stellate is a group of nerves in the neck area. A stellate ganglion block is an injection of a local anesthetic around this group of nerves to relieve pain. The pain relief will affect one side of the head and neck, the upper arm and the upper part of the chest on the same side of the body.
A stellate ganglion block can decrease pain and increase the circulation and blood supply to the affected arm.

Immediately following the procedure, the shooting pains going up my arm were gone....a huge plus for me! Another huge plus for me was that my fingers were warm! My fingers have been ice cold for......as long as I can remember back to when the accident happened. I still had the pain in my hand, thumb area and wrist area but the shooting pains were gone and that felt great and the warm fingers felt great!! The first thing Butch noticed when he held my hand was that my fingers were warm!

Before I left there, Dr. Nelson had me schedule another block for Wednesday, Aug. 8th. He wants to hit this aggressively. I have O/T Tuesday and Thursday and the block on Wed. He said that if I go to therapy without pain they can do more aggressive therapy which makes sense to me.

When the procedure was done, I felt like I just wanted to sleep so they wheeled me out on a gurney. I did have the droopy eye, tearing, nasal stuffiness, hoarse voice and difficulty swallowing following the procedure. I came home and slept the rest of the night.

The day after the procedure I could move my thumb!! Another milestone for me!!! I have not been able to do that for a very long time. I can move it back and forth to a certain point and I know with therapy I will be able to move it further!

My fingers stayed warm for two days! They are cold and tingly again. My hand around the incision area, wrist and my middle finger are very painful. Last night I was in tears again. The pain was about an 8 on a scale of 0-10. My elbow has had pain for 2 days too. But the shooting pains are not there so I think that is still good. Maybe the next block will do a little more and the one after that will do a little more. Maybe all I can hope for is a little relief each time. I have gone into all of these surgeries and procedures with huge expectations and have come out with little or no relief and I just need to go into this with a different outlook and just think that it may take a while.

One thing I have not been able to do for a while now that I LOVE to do is scrapbook!! That is my passion and I think if I could get this pain under control, scrapbooking would be great therapy for my hand/arm! I want to try to do a little bit because I have some small projects that I want to do for Ashlee before she leaves for College.

I just need to keep a positive outlook on the situation and keep hoping and praying. I have a great support system in my friends and family and especially my husband, Butch!! I don't know what I would do without him and I love him so much!! My kids have also been so good through all of this and helped out so much with everything and I love them too!!!!