Well after my giant breakdown, and I had gathered myself together, thanks to my husband and home teachers, my mind was clear and I could now go into the let's fix this mode. I was able to do a little more research, but I found it was too overwhelming. I wasn't sure where to begin. I decided to call and get some second opinions about what I should do. Now that I had a name for what was going on in my in-betweens, I thought I would start with the doctor who did the surgery, and I also called my internal medicine specialist, I had been going to him since I was twelve, to get any advice or information.
I had already talked about a treatment plan with the doctor who diagnosed me, this doctor suggested trigger point injections. Where? You might be thinking? Yep! You guessed it, right down in the in-betweens. She also suggested some medications that would help control the pain. I told her I would think about it and schedule an appointment later if I decided to try this type of treatment. (Injections in the yah yah, holly crap, I couldn't even imagine!)
First, was my ob/gyn that had did the surgery, he said he was "dumbfounded, and perplexed, and for a lack of better words, ignorant" these were his exact words. He knew of the pudendal nerve, but that was all. He had never had a patient come out of surgery with any type of nerve damage. He wasn't sure if PNE was actually the issue. The best he could do for me was to call up at the University of Utah and talk to someone in the pelvic pain clinic, to see if anyone there could help. I then talked to him about the treatment plan that was discussed with my other doctor, he said I should try the trigger point injection, it may be helpful in decreasing the pain. He also thought starting some medication would be worth a shot. However, he was unable to prescribe this medication to me, because it required close monitoring, and he wasn't exactly sure how to dose it out correctly. He said he would get back to me after speaking with the specialist.
Next, my doctor that had known me for practically my whole life. He was completely shocked, when I shared the news. He also thought trigger point injections wouldn't be such a bad idea. I talked to him about the medication, and he was able to work out a dosing schedule to get me started. But nothing more was offered, he just didn't have the expertise to help me with anymore then managing the medication. I went to fill my prescription for neurontin or gabapentin for generic. This drug is used to treat seizures and nerve pain. After reading the side effects of this drug, I chickened out, and decided not to start it.
I had these appointments in the same week, and after a couple of days, I heard back from my ob/gyn. He called to let me know he had spoken to someone at the University of Utah. After his discussion with the specialist, they thought maybe it could be piriformis muscle syndrome. He said this condition is a lot easier to treat, and his assistant would be calling me to schedule an appointment. The assistant called me the next day, good news they could see me the following week, bad news, I was not covered through my insurance at the University of Utah. She said I could come and pay for it out of pocket, it would cost me around $300 for a new patient consultation. Wow, I think we'll figure something else out, especially since the day prior, I had looked piriformis muscle syndrome up, and I knew this was not what was going on with me. I'll pass spending $300 on something that I already knew.
So, I decide to take the advice of my doctors and give trigger point injections a try. I called to set up this appointment, it was for the following week. In the meantime I continued with the research. It seemed my only options would be, to travel out of state and visit with only what was a handful of doctors that specialized in PNE throughout the United States. Now, going up to the University wasn't sounding so bad for $300, it was local and cheaper (and less painful) than flying out of state. I called back up there to schedule an appointment, she told me her first available was in twelve weeks.What! Yesterday you were going to get me in the next week. She explained only doctors can set up appointments for their patients to see the specialist sooner. I couldn't believe it! I called my ob/gyns office and explained my situation, at first they seemed unwilling to help, after not accepting "no" for an answer, I explained my situation again. They would have to see what they could do and call me back. They called later and had arranged for me to see him in almost three weeks. Fine, I guess I'll take it, it's not next week, but three weeks is a lot better than three months.
Trigger point injection day, I was seriously so scared! Knowing that this was not going to be a pleasant experience, my doctor called some medications (Valium and Lidocaine) into the pharmacy to help get me through this procedure. She instructed me to soak some cotton balls in the Lidocaine and put them right in the yah yah to help things get a little numb prior to the injections. And, the Valium was to help calm me down and relax my muscles. I had never taken Valium before so I was nervous about the way this would affect me. My husband took the afternoon off for some much needed support and I'm so glad he did! By far, one of the most painful procedures to date! I wasn't feeling any different from the Valium, I don't think it had kicked in yet, because I was still extremely nervous, and very tense. My husband grab one hand, and her assistant the other, and we began. I think my doctor did about six injections in the yah yah, and the area surrounding my yah yah. So much for the Lidocaine, I felt four of the six injections, it was excruciating pain, like a hundred bee stings, followed by intense burning. The good thing, she was injecting a long lasting anesthetic, she thought putting the nerves to sleep in my in-betweens would give everything down there a chance to rest, and the idea is that the nerves would possibly reset themselves, and after waking up there would be some relief. After a few minutes the injections had kicked in and everything went numb in my in-betweens. It was a very intense procedure, I had tensed up so bad throughout the procedure that by the time we were through I was literally trembling. I had to lay there a few minutes to calm down, my body was in shock and I'm pretty sure I will be forever traumatized over this whole ordeal. I had anticipated that this was not going to be the most pleasant of procedures, but it was so much worse than I had expected. Although I was numb, it still hurt to sit on the ride home. After an hour things started to wake-up, I didn't think things would become worse than what I had already experienced, but it did. It was a failed attempt, plus I was now dealing with an unbelievable flare from the procedure, I was in bed for the next three days with my new best friend, Ice. Let's just say, I will never sign up for one those again, Never!!!
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