More pain

[J] It's safe to say that the last two days have been the worst yet. Three hours after my last post (around 2:00 pm), Marisa's nerve pain returned. The pain may have been just as intense as the drain insertion itself. Marisa said that the pain fluctuated between 5 and 9 on a scale of 10. This lasted until 9:00 pm. The intense pain came in cycles. On average I would say the pain cycle lasted 30 seconds of every minute. For awhile the intense pain was nearly constant. Marisa has been unable to stand all day. I don't think I've ever seen someone in that much pain before. If I have, not for that much time. It was hard to watch. Later this evening it slowed down. The doctors found a new pain drug that appears to be working. Apparently, back pain is nearly untreatable. She's been asleep since around 9:30. Hopefully this drug continues to work. The steroids are supposed to kick-in and start to reduce swelling in a day or two; resulting in a permanent fix.

Marisa earned a bit of a reputation after her lumbar drain insertion. According to the nurse that was there, Marisa's stoic performance was impressive. Most don't handle the pain so well. As a result, the doctors are not taking her current pain situation lightly. Nerve irritation is a known complication that can occur after having a lumbar drain installed, but I think the doctors are surprised at Marisa's level of pain. If this was happening to anyone but Marisa, I think they would consider the reaction over-dramatic and not do anything differently. Marisa, on the other hand, was given some serious pain meds and has an MRI scheduled to rule-out anything unusual.

As always, I'll keep everyone posted.