Nervous...Nervous....Nervous

[spitfire43]

Having a combo of Nervousness and Anticipation...Sunday, 7am scheduled for my Noodle, Cervical and Thoracic MRI....approx 3 hrs they said....gee they oughta peel me off the table when their done:0  LOL.....Nervous of "What" they might find....but Anticipate it at the same time..........My neck/between shoulder blades has been "like a stiff neck for wks now" and causing some really intense pain...Im not a whoose to pain, but this tops the chart:0,  my L leg has been my "dancer" for along long time, and now or recently my R leg is starting to follow suite, fatigue is the Norm, and creepy crawlies in my legs are norm,  balance....well lets just say the town drunk walks better....lol.    So anyhoot, as I said, Im nervous and hopeful with the MRI......IF it can tell me or figure out what the heck in going on in my neck!!!  ITS TERRIBLE:(  

[Lulu54]

I'm just now seeing this and too late to give you any pre-mri tips, so check in and let us know who it went, ok?

hugs, Lu

[addicted2harleys]

Hey spitfire-

I don't know if your cervical/neck issue is the same as mine or not, but it sounds like it could be.  Your description is the same as mine.  The spasms and pain have put me in the ER (once by ambulance) in the last month because they passed over the 1-10 pain level chart.  Both had to be treated with morphine.  

Does your neck ever go into spasms?  Which causes your head to tremor like a bobble head?  lol   Mine does.  My daughter gets a BIG kick out of this.  She will ask me things like this when I am in bobble head mode:

Mom, do you love me?
Can I withdraw $200 and go shopping?
Can I finally get a tattoo?
Can I color my hair purple?
Then she will say something like, "you are the bestest mom in the whole world!"

This is all done in fun.  We try to make fun with the things that our bodies do sometimes.  It is part of keeping laughter alive in the home.  We poke fun at our memory loss, too.  :)

Anyways, I see a pain management doctor now.  Actually I chose one clinic that really didn't seem to be helping me.  I was disappointed with them as my pain increased while going there.  Then my neuro referred me to a different place...and prescribed getting me a Baclofen/morphine pump.

I had my first appointment yesterday.  He looked over my MRI's and asked me a lot of questions about all of my pain.  There was no talk of depression/anxiety being the cause or this being in my head.  He listened to me and made sure I understood everything he said to me.  Then he focused on my neck/back pain because it is the most debilitating right now.   We discussed the options...made a plan.

My plan was to increase my Lyrica for my nerve pain.  He increased my Vicodin strength but reduced the amount of acedominifin (spelling failure) and we will hopefully be getting me off of it.

Then he wanted to do an epidural steroid injection in my cervical to see if this gives me relief.  I had this done this morning, under anesthesia.  We should know if it was beneficial by my next appointment, which is Tuesday.  If there are signs of improvement, we can do two more injections at 2 week intervals and they should remain effective for 6 months or more.

If they don't seem to do the trick, then I will be getting the pump.

On a humorous note, the nurse was looking for a good place to put my IV.  I am such a baby, can't help it, and refer to my being allergic to needles.  In the meantime, the anesthesiologist was asking me medical history questions.  He asked me if I had a history of anxiety.  The nurse answered for me, saying:  she most definitely does...and is experiencing it right now!  lol   She was right!  :)

Anyways, this is my experience with my neck/back issues.  Not sure if this is helpful or not, but I thought I would share it with you.  

Good luck with your MRI tomorrow.  Try as hard as you can to stay as still as possible so they can get the best imaging.  :)   I fall asleep in them.  Weird, I know.  lol

Your town drunk caught me very funny!  I needed that...so thanks.  I hope you get answers with you imaging and that it is something treatable.  

Hang in there,
Addi

[figuerpa]

Sending you well wishes.

This can be a long road but at least they are doing the MRI's and hopefully they will giv you some answers to what is going on. It is horrible not knowing what it is that is ailing you and can drive you crazy.

They told me that my MRI's would take 2 hours but it was only like 45 minutes but mine was just my Cspine and brain. I think it depends on how still you lay so they can get the images. But what do I know I am not a doctor lol.

Keep us informed of what comes of your MRI's. Good luck and keep your head up!!

Paula

[MissLauraI]

That sounds painful! I hope they give you a quick answer! So sorry to hear you are having such trouble. :(