The Early Treatments

We started off trying to control my pain with various anti-depressants and anti-seizure medications. I also started getting spinal blocks once a week. Neither seemed to help much.

We gave the blocks 2 months. The first block worked for a few days. It got rid of much of the pain. The second block worked for a slightly less period of time, and so it went until finally they stopped working. After the 3rd block that didn't work, it was time to move on to more drastic measures.

My doctor recommended an epidural with a stronger concoction of the spinal blocks. It was to be inserted, and then stay in my spine for a week. A few hours after I got home it had already broken. It broke, and I was brought to the ER 4 times before it was removed. I had the epidural placed on a Friday afternoon. By that Sunday my doctor had to remove it. They had too much fluid being pumped into my spine, and it couldn't all be absorbed so it was leaking back out the epidural site.

This was the point where my doctor said to me there was nothing he could do for me anymore. I was 17 years old, and any further treatments were unethical to perform on someone under the age of 18. He gave me a bunch of prescriptions and sent me on my way.

By the time I was 18, and had left for my first semester of college, I was taking 21 pills a day just to try and control the pain. It was too much and I gave up on them.