Re: celiac block. . .need advice

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Not that I don't intend to answer your questions, because I do,

but I do want to point out again the usefulness of the " Search

Archives " function of our webpage. If you fill in the words " celiac

block " in the archives search, you will find an overwhelming

amount of information, advice and comments from members

who wanted information about this procedure. It must come up

at least once every couple months, as yet another person is

recommended this procedure by their physician.

My knowledge of the celiac block is gained from talking with two

different Pain Management doctors (anestheasiologists) on two

different occasions when it was recommended for my pain.

They both pretty much said the same thing.

1. They cannot guarantee any kind of success.

2. Sometimes the procedure has to be repeated several times

before ANY relief is felt.

3. The procedure works best if it is done during a full acute

attack. That way they can determine which areas to numb and

see that it's working.

4. Your chances of having success if you go in there on a

regular day are greatly diminished. (Personally, I think that's part

of the reason why there are so many failures with this procedure,

is that it's usually done when the patient isn't in a full blown acute

attack. It seems the only times I was in a full blown acute

episode was at 11:00 p.m. at night or on a weekend, and you

know darn well they can't and won't do it then!)

5. The longest period that either doctor had personally seen the

block work for was 4-6 months, the shortest, other than those it

didn't work for at all, was 2 weeks.

I never had the celiac block done. There were too many

negatives in the equation at the time, and I wasn't in enough

continual daily 24/7 pain to justify it. Plus, I wasn't anywhere near

an acute episode during those days. I had gotten so much

negative feedback from most of the members that I talked to, that

I didn't really want to go through the trials of getting it done and

having no success. At that point my duragestic patch and

percocet were covering my pain well enough that I content with

that as pain control for that time.

The only truly successful celiac block I've heard of was one done

for a member of the PAI, Ellen Grove. Ellen had hers done by

EUS guided imagery, and it was successful for well over a year

or more. The EUS guided celiac block is a very specialized

procedure and is only done in 5 or 6 locations in the US.

I'm sure you'll hear from others with personal experience, and

don't forget to check the archives.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SE & SW Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.

> He recommends that I have a celiac block injection done.

Hasanyone had this or does anyone know much about it? later.

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Not that I don't intend to answer your questions, because I do,

but I do want to point out again the usefulness of the " Search

Archives " function of our webpage. If you fill in the words " celiac

block " in the archives search, you will find an overwhelming

amount of information, advice and comments from members

who wanted information about this procedure. It must come up

at least once every couple months, as yet another person is

recommended this procedure by their physician.

My knowledge of the celiac block is gained from talking with two

different Pain Management doctors (anestheasiologists) on two

different occasions when it was recommended for my pain.

They both pretty much said the same thing.

1. They cannot guarantee any kind of success.

2. Sometimes the procedure has to be repeated several times

before ANY relief is felt.

3. The procedure works best if it is done during a full acute

attack. That way they can determine which areas to numb and

see that it's working.

4. Your chances of having success if you go in there on a

regular day are greatly diminished. (Personally, I think that's part

of the reason why there are so many failures with this procedure,

is that it's usually done when the patient isn't in a full blown acute

attack. It seems the only times I was in a full blown acute

episode was at 11:00 p.m. at night or on a weekend, and you

know darn well they can't and won't do it then!)

5. The longest period that either doctor had personally seen the

block work for was 4-6 months, the shortest, other than those it

didn't work for at all, was 2 weeks.

I never had the celiac block done. There were too many

negatives in the equation at the time, and I wasn't in enough

continual daily 24/7 pain to justify it. Plus, I wasn't anywhere near

an acute episode during those days. I had gotten so much

negative feedback from most of the members that I talked to, that

I didn't really want to go through the trials of getting it done and

having no success. At that point my duragestic patch and

percocet were covering my pain well enough that I content with

that as pain control for that time.

The only truly successful celiac block I've heard of was one done

for a member of the PAI, Ellen Grove. Ellen had hers done by

EUS guided imagery, and it was successful for well over a year

or more. The EUS guided celiac block is a very specialized

procedure and is only done in 5 or 6 locations in the US.

I'm sure you'll hear from others with personal experience, and

don't forget to check the archives.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SE & SW Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.

> He recommends that I have a celiac block injection done.

Hasanyone had this or does anyone know much about it? later.