Sorry it is such a long report but this is first time I've written it down and I am still scattered with the whole experience. So anyone not having this issue may not want to read the whole boring details.

Yes I went Wed. 25th for the Radiofrequency Lesioning in lower lumbar.

I didn't like the whole thing. It was too painful or irritating to do it without being numbed. I will just go through what I remember.

Got on the table. Local anesthesia, as usual, for lower lumbar area he is to put the needles in.

Found the nerve. (he puts needle in and probes till I feel severe pressure and pain and then knows he has found it.) Put in the needles. Puts in the "radio frequency ?probes? into the specialized needles which hold the probes..
He began sending whatever a 'radio frequency' is...... Felt a lot like the buzzing feeling of the machine in physical therapy at first.

The nurse dude would turn it on and ask me if I felt it yet and wouldn't wait until I could answer him or could feel it before asking me again. I don't know if that nerve is all ready so messed up from pain daily for 8 years and was slow to react, or if I have had it turned off in my brain for so long I had to turn it back on, or what...... but, I never answered the dude fast enough.

Then, I believe it was either too high at first, or I just couldn't tolerate the level needed to short circuit the nerve, or if what is really going on is that they are actually trying to fry the nerve endings electrically.
I could never find any, nor get any, real clear answers as to what a "Radio-frequency" really is ... not on line info nor from any human I've talked to.

The first 2 times he asked me if I could feel it it (2nd time asking cuz dude couldn't wait for an answer) I felt it, the buzzing electrical feeling, and then it would be too much for me to tolerate and they would turn it off, (doc did 2 nerves at S-1 T-2 lower lumbar) I may have the numbers and letters wrong or mixed up as I haven't written them down yet. The second time my muscles in my right leg were literally jumping off the table being zapped over and over and jumping way off the table over and over before dude turned it off.

Doc said it would be better if I could tolerate it not numbed, but if he had to he would numb me. OKAY!?! So then he shoots numbing stuff in and I felt it go almost to my middle of my shoulder blades right up the right side of my spine. Then doc kept asking me if I was numb over and over...

I was not as sedated as the last 2 procedures because I didn't take all the xanax (3-1mg for ea procedure) for procedure this time because I am having the severe anxiety attacks before getting on the table and then a P.T.S.D. type attack on the table, and either I cannot shut off the emotional response or I am just blacking out and completely dissociating and neither has been a good way to go...... so I took the least amount of sedation I could and still get on the table, I don't feel as if that wasn't the answer either as I was not sedated enough this time.

So doc continues the procedure with me not really feeling anything and is kinda pissed cuz he knows it would be better if I could tolerate it and I just couldn't.
It's not like it really hurts... it was a lot like when they tested my wrist b-4 my carpal tunnel surgery. It is a shocking like wave to the nerves and it startles me, then I am all ready frightened from my own emotional crap, then it startles me, then dude had it on too high (obviously when my leg muscles were jumping off the table) & I am reacting to all of this.crap.

So, I didn't then, & 2 days later have not yet felt any deep sunburn pain like was reported all over the web sites. I have felt some discomfort today deep in middle of my spine where the real damage is at anyways. I am suppose to use ice, but I have severe arthritis and don't want to flare that up cuz I can't take any anti-inflammatory meds as they ruined my intestinal tract and stomach a long time ago.

Embarrassing issue, but for us with lower lumbar issues we have troubles with bowel, urinary, and sexual dis-function ...... when I have bowel movements the stools, no matter how soft, must be moving right past the nerve that is raw, and the stools irritate the nerve. Sometimes the pain is just intolerable and I try to take meds and go to restroom when meds are working their best. That pain is still there.

The same afternoon as the procedure I went for a short slow walk with my cane. I felt more of my right bumm than I've felt in a very long time. I can feel the skin and muscle as I walk. I have had this part of my body shut off or the pain has just overwhelmed the senses so I didn't feel that part of my body or something. Maybe the shocks just woke it up, I don't know
No more sciatica down the right leg, nor in the hip, or bumm area so it worked well for that. I think that is what all the steroidal shots and this R.F.L. was for anyway.

So, I guess each doc does the procedure a little differently when it comes to the sedation, anesthesia, and radio-frequency lesioning.
The word lesion means a wound of some kind, so they are hurting the nerve purposely somehow. I will ask doc next meds/post procedure appointment to explain it in layman terms so I can better explain it to you. I found nothing on-line to explain it clearly. If any of you find something which explains it clearly, please let me know. I am feeling some weakness in lower torso, which was there b-4 but it seems a bit different. I think some of the pain in the middle of where all my trouble is may be the deep sunburn pain they were speaking of. I think it is taking some time/days for the anesthesia to wear off completely.

keep me posted if any of you do this procedure or have a doc who explains better than mine!!

In Love Light, Truth & Service
Stubborn TerrieAnn
Posted on 08/27/10, 04:13 pm