I go to Cheung there at PM CC. He is the top in the world according to Shen. I get celiac plexus nerve blocks. Makes a WORLD of difference. My pouch and bladder pain are reduced by about 40% right now. You have to go a few times, like me but worth it. Takes 15 minutes and only thing that hurts is the needle to numb you and it isn't that bad.

hey vanessa, are you twilight sedated? I think that's what they are doing because they told me I will get an iv and I need a driver. I think they use some kind of imaging. I don't recall the type of the nerve block my doctor is doing but its something with the nerve control center near the tailbone. So don't know if its the same as yours.

Good luck Liz. I don't know anything about the nerve block, just wanted to say I hope it works out and this is the answer to your problems, with NO MORE surgery!

I've had a nerve block for sciatic pain. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. Other epidurals did. I never take sedation. It is painful for a minute or so. They do use a local. It lasted for months before I needed to repeat the procedure. It is a Godsend!

Yea if it is that low that sounds like a celiac plexus nerve block. That is where they start before doing different types. It is pretty standard when I go to PM in other places. 2 5" needles go in the lower back and they inject medicine into the nerve there.

No you don't get twilight, you have to be awake for it. They give a very light dose of versed and fentyln (sp). I was having a conversation with a nurse sitting at my head with no issues. The imaging is for them to guide the needles in to the nerve. Takes 15 minutes they are FAST. My last PM it took him 30 minutes but I never got anything like versed back in Dallas for them and did fine as well.

As for the outcome. Hell, I ran down escalators all over DC that week and felt GREAT!

Had the first nerve block last week. Bilateral coccygeal. And wow.. I recommend it for everyone!!! I cannot believe how much better I feel. I really had no idea how much pain I had been in once it went away.

But the procedure hurt like @#$$@#. He gave me a bit of versed. Numbing needle was not a big deal, but the main injections.. wow. Have to stay awake so they know they are in the right spot,.. even with the imaging. He said that because there was so much scar tissue.. that was why it was so painful. But my screaming proved it was nerve damage and they were injecting in the right areas! And lucky me, he said I have damage on both sides, so once he was done on one side, he injected a block into the other side so I got to start screaming again.

Regardless.. it helped so much. Guess Shen's magical injections and the multitudes of euas and I&Ds to heal the chronic wound built up all this scar tissue which has caused permanant nerve damage.

He's doing more in a few weeks to I think the pudendal nerve area (the control center for "pee pee, poo poo, and sex as my doc describes it). And then he's going to see what helps me more. Meanwhile he's put me on lyrica and another drug as he said this is permanant lifetime nerve damage. And that you can't have nerve blocks indefinitely, so with permanant damage you have to use drugs forever.

I feel so blessed for this wonderful CC pain management doc who is doing everything he can to help me avoid surgery. And what success so far! I would've never guessed I could feel this great after so many months and years of pain.

For some areas if the blocks work well they can do radio frequency ablation of the nerves for a more aggressive, usually longer-lasting approach. It might be worth asking.

Yea nerve blocks are the BOMB! I am happy I go in a few weeks. I am a lot better for a few months after. Sometimes after going a year it can be permanent. They have , I swear, about 100 different types of blocks they do there. We talked about if all this didn't work that they can actually block the signals going to the brain with a different block but they do that last ditch effort.