Dec 28, 2007 12:12AM
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On December 19, I had the long awaited cervical epidural injection. I have to say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, having the IV put in was probably the worst part of the procedure. I didn't feel too bad at all that day. When I arrived at the doctor's office, I had virtually no pain at all - I had been feeling pretty darn good for about 4 days prior - and had really gotten my hopes up that I was healing. Reality check: at about 6PM the night of the CESI, I seriously was contemplating going to the ER for some morphine - that, or amputating my leg with my husband's circular saw. I had the most intense burning in my left leg and hip, and my right hip and knee. I mean, it was off the charts! They told me to keep a "pain diary" after the shot and rate my pain on a 1 - 10 scale. Literally every day it has been a 10+. Originally, my orthopedist told me he thought this CESI would also take care of my shoulder pain because he felt it was referred from my neck. Let me tell you, before I had the CESI at least I knew where I hurt and had a general idea of where the pain was coming from. Now, who the hell knows? My whole neck, left shoulder and left arm are on fire - feels like an orangutan has been swinging from my left arm for about a year and it might fall off any moment. I don't know if it's my shoulder that hurts, or my neck or both. And they NEVER stop burning! Seriously, I feel like I am truly losing my mind. I would rather submit to water torture. I would like to cut off my own arm and beat my doctor with it - repeatedly.