Well, after 30 minutes, my block wore off; if it was even from the block (could have just been the numbing medicine wearing off). It was a bit disappointing. Even though I am used to GP treatments failing (it is super tricky to find treatments that work), I still held out a bit of hope that this one might help. It was diagnostic in nature, as I mentioned before. My doctor, Dr. Daniel Nelson, even told me in the O.R. before sedation that it was OK if the procedure didn’t work and that we were just trying to figure out where my pain was coming from. I have another appointment with him on Monday to discuss the next step. He wants to try a celiac plexus nerve block next, but after my own research, talking with my GI doctor and other GP patients who have had the celiac plexus nerve block, I feel that given the failure of the TAP block, it wouldn’t be successful either. I’ll push the spinal cord neurostimulator, and see if he agrees. It was first brought up by him a month ago and I feel now it is time to pursue it.
Also, in honor of Steve Jobs, I invite you all to watch his commencement speech from 2005. It is definitely worth your time. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did.
Happy tummy days and enjoy the upcoming weekend!
