Taking a chance

Hello dear reader,

I’m writing this on my way to my doctor’s appointment in Golden.  Tim’s driving, so no need to worry.  😉   We’re going to try a temporary nerve block today.  Pain blocking medications will be injected into my head where there are a series of nerves.  This should temporarily eliminate at least a large amount of the constant pain in my head.  If it works they’ll do it again in 2 weeks.  If the second time also has the desired result then I’ll have a procedure to have it done permanently. 

I have to admit that I’m nervous.  We tried this before (three years ago) and it failed miserably.  I spent three days in excruciating pain.  So why am I doing it again?  That’s a legitimate question.  Nerves grow.  I’ll bet you didn’t know that.  They grow very slowly, but they do grow.   That’s why it may work this time.

The chance of it working is worth the risk.  I can’t express how much different my life would be if the pain were even just lowered.  The days that I hurt too much to function would be the exception, rather than the majority.   It would improve the quality of my life exponentially.

One week from today I’ll talk with the doctor about what showed up on the MRI.  Even if this procedure today is successful, there are still several other symptoms of the Chiari which need to be dealt with.

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Procedure is finished and I’m on my way home.  They did three nerves… different from the one they did before.  I think it may actually be working.  The bottom of my head (where the headaches usually start, at the base of my skull) is numb.  It feels very strange.  The top part still hurts like hell (I’ve had a pretty major headache since Tuesday evening), but the bottom doesn’t.  I have to keep a “pain diary” for the next five hours.

The other strange thing is that I feel woozy…dizzy and a little bit sick to my stomach.  That’s strange because they injected directly into the three nerves, sort of like the dentist deadens only the place where the tooth they’re working on is. 

I’ll let you know how it all turns out.

Until next time…

Lots of news

Hello dear reader.

Before I say anything else, i need to apologize for my long absence. It was caused by many factors which I’m not going to list here. Bottom line….. I’m very story. It won’t happen again. Please forgive me?

On to better news…

This is Duke, the newest member of our little family. He is 8 months old. He had a very rough start in life. He was found living under an abandoned trailer at an Indian reservation in Arizona. He was with his mother and a younger litter of puppies. Duke and his mother were both literally skeletal (we have pictures, but I won’t do that to you). The younger litter was almost dead from dehydration since the mother had no nutrients to make milk from. There is a lady out there who goes out onto the reservation rescuing dogs. I don’t know her name, but God bless her! Duke was so afraid of people that it took two months of her bringing food out there to him before he would go with her.

Duke needed a place to feel safe and secure, a place flowing with food and water. It took a couple days (of course) for him to relax. But I think you’ll agree he has done that now…

He is stretched out on the couch hugging the toy he was playing with when he fell asleep. Yes, the tip of his ear is missing. That’s part of that rough start too.

Duke is a shepherd mix. He howls like a husky and has spots on his belly like a healer…his face kind of has that shape too…so we think he is a shepherd/husky/healer. Whatever he’s made up of, he is just as sweet as he can be!

On to other news…Wow! I heard that in a TV anchor-person voice! Weird!…

I finally got my MRI done last week and will see the doctor to discuss the results a week from Thursday (the 6th). I should know then where we need to go from here to try to get some semblance of my life back. That’s a pretty important date for me. Of course I’ll post about it.

Those of you who are waiting for more of “Shining Moon” won’t be waiting much longer. The next part will be posted by the end of the week.

Thank you for your patience, your support, and your willingness to read a semi-crazy woman’s writing.

Until next time….