Pain management

It has been a busy month here at home with a recent death in the family and our own trials to deal with, but we are doing well. I am very excited to finally have an answer to the pain I have dealt with for years now resulting from an injury in my neck back in 1999. My doctor recommended that I speak to my physiatrist about having an ablation procedure done. He said it would be my best bet for some lasting relief, and I am all for that. The pain has been pretty much constant for going on three years or so and even after my surgery in November of 07 I have not had much relief except for from medication which is no way to live your life. I spoke to the other doc and he said it sounded like a very good idea and he would check with the insurance company to see if they would give us any trouble covering the procedure. Skip forward a month and I was back in the physiatrist office with the final decision. He said we would have to do a diagnostic procedure called a facet block which is basically injecting Novocaine directly into the nerve facets that come out from the side of each of my cervical (neck) vertebrae from c3 down to c7 and see how well it works (or if it works at all). If that is successful then we schedule for the more permanent fix called an ablation. This is a more involved procedure that basically consists of inserting a needle into my neck that is connected to a radio frequency emitter (sort of a very small microwave) and cooking the nerves which basically kills them and therefore eliminates their ability to transmit pain signals to my brain. It is a somewhat common procedure but it is said to be quite painful. I am not too worried though as long as it works I am willing to do just about anything at this point!
Hopefully I will be writing again on the 17th to tell all about how great it is not being in pain anymore and finally getting back to my "normal" activities (riding, rolorblading, dancing, playing with the kids and the dogs, etc...)!
Wish me luck!!!
-peace