I had two appointments at the pain clinic today, at 10am with the PA, and 3:45pm with my doctor. The PA went over the MRI results with me. It did not show any new cancer in the lumbar spine, and the mets that were already there are old ones that are stable, and it did not show any nerve compression. I do have some arthritis there and degenerative discs. It also showed some damage to the bone marrow; most likely it's just from the chemo drugs, which are hard on the marrow, but he is going to call my oncologist and talk to him about it and make sure he sees the MRI also, just to confirm that that is what the damage is from.

He thinks I could benefit from a TENS unit, so he set me up with an appointment to talk to someone there about getting one on June 23rd. I am looking forward to that, if I could get some pain relief without drugs that would be great!

He also talked to my doctor, to see if he could see me while I was there instead of having to come back later. He discussed my MRI with my doctor and also what I had told him today, and my doctor decided to squeeze me into the morning schedule for nerve block injections to the lumbar spine. I had to wait for a little while, but I didn't mind; it was better than having to come back later, and I had my book with me to read. It also saved me from having to pay for a 2nd office visit in one day.

I was given some sedatives then had 3-4 injections (not sure exactly how many, I just knew it felt like I was being poked a lot, and being kind of fuzzy from the sedatives, not really able to count, lol!) My leg was a little numb after I got out of recovery, but not as bad as the last time. I had to lean on my mom to get to the car, but by the time she got me home I was able to walk unassisted, though I went slow and careful.

I got home around 1:30pm; I was so glad not to have to go back the pain clinic a second time, especially in the heat; very humid today and it got up into at least the upper 80's. I waited a couple of hours after I got home for more of the numbness to wear off before walking over to get the mail, then I got into my pajamas. My lower back was hurting so I sat down in the recliner with an ice pack on it. Did some reading but dozed off a few times too. But the ice did get my back feeling better. I need to get into the habit of using it more often. I usually just use my heating pad, but I can't use the heat on the injection site for 2-3 days.