Hope

I promise to do a weekly Top 10 ebay post tomorrow. This is going to be a bit long and for that I apologize. Feel free to skip this post.


My family doctor & knee doctor have been working hard on my behalf to find a RSD specialist. They have recommended a few over the last two weeks and all of those didn't take my insurance.

My knee doctor finally found someone who took my insurance. I called Tuesday and they got me in today - two days after I first called which is a miracle in itself. Pain doctors have waiting lists for weeks if not months.

My new doctor's office is a bit run down looking. There are dark wood panels on all four walls and the waiting room has yard-sale style furniture. It looks like someone picked up a wood table on the side of the road and the receptionist is now using it. They do their scheduling in a book and not on the computer. There is a full coffee bar set up on a folding table in a corner. There are bobble heads everywhere. I counted six on the little ledge above our head. We walked in and completely misjudged this office.

I had typed up a "Journey of My Left Knee" two page summary of everything that has happened over the last two years. I gave it to the receptionist when I checked in. And by "checked in" I mean I walked in and she said "You must be Mellissa."

My name was called and I went into a tiny closet of an office with my super tall husband. The doctor wasn't even there. He has another office and doesn't visit this one. My husband and just looked at each other and misjudged them even further. We were speaking to the physician's assistant.

Within two minutes, I knew I was completely wrong about this place. The PA knew her stuff. She really knew it. She knew all about RSD and took the time to read my little typed up story. She said she knew all about the cortisone shots, the three surgeries, the physical therapy, the medicine and the allergies. She knew how Vicodin sent me to the hospital in an ambulance. She basically memorized my story.

She said she wasn't going to even press on my knee since she believed I was in great pain. She did take a look at my knee which was more than my last pain clinic did. They just threw medication at me. The new doctor doesn't do medicine. They specialize in injections.

Brandy (the PA) mapped out the plan for my knee. Isn't it wonderful to have a plan? I am a plan type of girl.

On March 11 I will go to the hospital and get a spinal injection. It is meant to block the nerve pain. It will be an outpatient procedure and we will know within days if it works. That means in just over three weeks, I could be without pain. I could walk without a cane. I could sleep through the night.

If it works, there will be a second injection several weeks later to boost that injection. There is a 50% chance of this working.

If it doesn't work, there is another step to the plan. If it doesn't work, I will need a little device that delivers medication inserted on my spine. It is called a medication delivery pump. There would be a trial run where I would have a small port in my back and I would wear the device outside for a week. If it worked, it would then be inserted.

I realize this sounds like a very drastic thing. But I have fallen twice within the last week. I started to use a cane this week and it has stopped me from falling another two times. I am in bed most days and I am up to four Percocet a day.

RSD is known to get worse and has no cure. So with that being said, both of these things would mask my pain. The PA is hoping that one will work and that we can stop the RSD from progressing.

I have hope. I am truly praising God. There are people with RSD that aren't diagnosed until it is too late. They go years without being diagnosed. I am thankful that my doctor has caught it early.

Please pray for me. I am hopeful and excited that there may be an end in site. Yes, I will need maintenance over the years. But to walk without pain or even less pain would be a truly wonderful thing.