As has been mentioned by others, he is a nice man, very friendly and polite. I explained that I had come to see him - despite that fact that my PN pain is well managed - simply because if I was going to be living with this for the rest of my life, I wanted to know that I had explored all the options that might be available. Then we went through the medical history, concluding with the surgery which caused my PN.
He feels that in my case the best thing to do is try to sort out what has happened to the nerve, and he thinks that nerve blocks are unlikely to give me any long term relief. With regard to medication for neuropathic pain - he says it is a bit like giving oxygen to somebody stuck under a building. Yes, the oxygen helps, and that's good, but what the person really needs is for someone to lift the girder off them. He says we are going to (metaphorically) try to get the girder off the nerve.
Dr Greenslade is referring me to a colleague, Mr Anthony Dixon, who is a general surgeon at Frenchay. He tells me that Mr Dixon is a very experienced surgeon who does a lot of laparoscopic work, and also works a lot with mesh, doing work to correct prolapses. Technically he is a colo-rectal surgeon. Dr Greenslade's expectation is that Mr Dixon will do a laparoscopic investigation, and see if he can free up the pudendal nerve. As I am still having problems with the mesh eroding inside the vagina, and the diverticulitis is still around, he will deal with all that as well, including a bowel resection if needed. One stop shopping!
I have cancelled a forthcoming appointment with my gynae consultant at Bath, on Dr Greenslade's advice - this was to get the mesh erosion dealt with for the third time. The idea is that Mr Dixon will do all the sorting out that is needed.
If Mr Dixon is unable to free up the nerve, then I will go back to see Dr Greenslade again. His expectation now is that the next step would then be to implant a neural stimulator which I could turn on and off as needed. In the meantime I am carrying on with the tramadol SR as needed, it does take the pain down a notch and I am pretty certain now that it also suppresses the hyperarousal symptoms - (which are completely horrible by the way, difficult to describe and very unpleasant indeed). Dr Greenslade did mention that sometimes the neural stimulator can make the hyperarousal worse, but that they can reprogramme it if this happens, and he is sure that they will be able to make it work for me.
Right now I am feeling very positive all round. Finally someone has taken charge of the situation, and I know that the outcome for me is going to be the best that anyone can manage.
So now I wait to hear from Mr Dixon for an appointment. I think it is very interesting that freeing the nerve is probably going to be done laparoscopically - I haven't heard of this before. It is a great relief, to tell the truth. I've had laparoscopic surgery before, and I know that recovery is so much quicker.
Also - I am very grateful indeed for this forum - it was here that I first heard Dr Greenslade mentioned. If I hadn't come here, the outlook for my future would probably be very different today.
