Update:
After discussion with the surgeons at The Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, I'll be receiving a steroid injection in the perineal
nerve (behind the knee) next Tuesday (12/15). The idea is to see if this will
give me relief of pain for any reasonable length of time. If this works, I
could begin wearing a prosthesis and rebuilding my muscle strength so I could
walk again. It is certainly not a permanent fix but may be the best solution
for me at this time. The orthopedic surgeon did not see any structural changes
that needed to be made after seeing the MRI results and examination. So
currently surgery is out. So no real definitive answer; just moving forward
towards a POSSIBLE solution
If it doesn’t work, there isn’t really any ‘Plan
B’ at this time. The doctors have been
unable to find any explanation for why I have the pain that I do. From the exams and tests, everything looks
normal, so there is nothing to correct. In fact, I was told by the orthopedic
surgeon that my residual limb looks like my surgeon did a perfect and beautiful
amputation back in December 2013.
If the steroid injection does work, my leg from
the knee down will probably be numb (feels like the way your lips do after the
dentist uses Novocain). Numbness in the
limb creates an increased risk of developing sores and makes getting a good fit
with the prosthesis much more difficult.
This injection will be a test to see how long the reduced pain
lasts. Hopefully it would last a few
months at least; but only time will tell.
This would require return trips in the future to renew the nerve block
as needed.
After my appointment with the surgeons, I was
trying to set up the injection appointment and found that the business office
had flagged my account requiring “prior insurance approval.” In the past, my insurance company had
required that I take the orders from the doctors in Rochester back to my
doctors in Eau Claire for them to put in the request. My insurance company wanted someone in my
network sign off; although all of them are Mayo system doctors and my insurance
is from Mayo too (see the October 13, 2015 update for background).This
complicates getting anything done and adds additional time to the process. But those are the rules by which the game is
played, so that’s what I was going to do.
By the time I got back in my vehicle to head home (30 minutes later),
someone from the Neurology department called to say she had my injection
appointment made. What??? She told me that their business office called
and somehow got my insurance company to give them approval directly, so my
appointment was set for next Tuesday.
Wow! I cannot explain that except
as an answer to prayer!
A funny coincidence occurred while I was
waiting for my appointment. The waiting
area is huge but was sparsely filled on Wednesday. I got there early, so I ended up waiting 45
minutes or so. A nurse would come from
one of several hallways and call the next patient’s name. At least the first seven or eight names
called were all “Steve.” If this was a
ball game, the referees would have penalized me for “false start” every time “my”
name was called.
During my wait my back started hurting, so I
found a chair to hold onto so I could stand up for a while. I was facing the reception desk which was about
15 yards away. I noticed one of the
receptionists started staring at me and began walking my way. As she approached, she called out, “You can’t
be doing that here!” What? “You can’t be doing that here!” I thought maybe there were rules about
amputees standing up because they were afraid of a fall risk. I wasn’t certain what I had done so I asked, “What
am I doing wrong?” She said, “You are
wearing that bright red UW Badgers’ ball cap in Minnesota.” She got me good! When the nurse eventually took me back to
examination room, the receptionist told the nurse not to put me in any of the
nice rooms because of the hat I was wearing.
LOL.
I have been asking for wisdom for the doctors
and for me while we plan the next step in my journey. Once again, things took an unexpected
turn. Yesterday, the orthopedic surgeon said
he thinks it is a nerve problem and the neurosurgeon said he thinks it is a
bone problem. By now I should expect the
unexpected. My case was confusing enough
that my doctors in Eau Claire sent me up the chain to the doctors in
Rochester. Yesterday was proof to me that
I remain an enigma to the medical community at large! My neurosurgeon told me that I was a unique
puzzle that doesn’t fit normal expectations.
That’s not really a distinction that I wish to maintain! I’m hoping for a bit more normalcy and a big
reduction in the number of medical visits that I need. As we quickly wind down this year and head
into a new year, that’s my hope and prayer.
And if God doesn’t choose to grant my prayers, then I ask that He
continue to provide the strength and peace for me to continue on forward
through whatever He brings my way.
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