I cancelled my scheduled surgery for my pinched nerve, which was to take place Tuesday. I sure would have liked to get it nipped in the bud, but the out-of-pocket price tag was too steep! I was looking at several grand which we just don’t have lying around right now. So, I cancelled at the last minute and then called back up Republic Spine & Pain.

I had visited those guys a few weeks ago after my MRI results came back and I saw my neurologist. He recommended I get a steroid injection into the neck first before trying surgery. It didn’t have any effect on me at all, and I continued to suffer from immense pain, especially at night. But they said they could try it again in a different manner. The first time they did the injection into the back of the neck, which is way less invasive but also not as clear of a path to the root of the cause. This time, the needle would go through the front of the neck for a more direct shot.

It sounded pretty gruesome having a large needle jabbed through a precarious area full of vital vessels and such, but it wound up being pain-free (probably thanks to the light sedation drugs) and over-and-done in five minutes. Now we wait 3-10 days to see if it relieves the pain. If so, I’ll have dodged a very expensive bullet, even though this procedure wasn’t cheap either at $335.