Had nerve block yesterday- despite misgivings about doing so. My Neuro did not like the idea and had me do an updated elaborate “slice” MRI 2 days before (1st MRI was regular MRI 14 months ago) and sent message to the neurosurgeon/anesthesiologist/pain clinic guy who would do the PNS that she had misgivings. I talked to him with a list of my concerns and misgivings, and I even brought my husband in with me. His final answer was: no Nerve block no PNS. He said the insurance would not consider it without it. He told me before that it wasn’t covered by insurance because the FDA has not approved it for TN and that there were all these extra things that had to be done to get approval, the Nerve Block being one of them.
So off I went to the operating room for about 35 minutes of hell. They gave me a pin prick of lidocaine where they were going to work but no other sedative or anesthesia. They threaded and re- threaded a long long low gauge needle filled first with one medication then out and then in again into another area again, all guided by a scope that looked to me like a jacked up X-ray. I was kind of chastised to “not move” and “don’t whine” " be still" Throughout. I felt like a naughty kid. Next he put a different substance in the three places again and whatever it was it was really, really cold, and I murmured “cold” and one of them said “yes, it’s the steroid and it’s cold”. Ok, here’s my question: after this he put something else in on or in the nerve and delivered electric shocks. He delivered electric shocks and I had to show him where the shocks started and where they ended and if it was where my TN pain was. Then he would do the next place and ask the same question and have me show him where I felt the electric shock start, where it ended, and if this was where the TN pain was located. This went on for a few minutes then he pulled all the stuff out of my face, kind of laughed, and walked out of the operating room. Luckily there were some really sweet people in the operating room who were making faces at the surgeon when he was saying nasty things and they all came up and tried to put me back together after he left. So my question: did any of you guys have the electrical jolts as part of your nerve block? I have read and read everything I could find out about nerve blocks and have not read this. I am wondering if this is just part of his own torture procedure, if he is trying to speed up the process because he is leaving the hospital in a month or what. Has anybody heard of this? Thanks for reading all of this!