Question: I have had nerve pain on my left side under my breast that follows a band right around to my spine. After 1 1/2 of seeing a neurologist and being prescribed numerous medications and creams she sent me for an MRI. The MRI showed that I had a tumour in my spinal cord. I had surgery in XXXXXXX of 2013 and they removed 95 percent of the tumour. I started radiation on July 22 and it ended September 4. I am now booked for an follow up in Feb. I still have the initial nerve pain that started all of this and it is getting to be very frustrating. I get repeated shocks and it feels like constant pinpricks in some areas. Also I have a sensation that someone has rubbed my skin raw under my upper arm and along my side. Since surgery I also have a numb sensation from my rib cage to my feet. At times it feels like my legs are swelling and I don't always feel things, it varies. I understand that the sensation I am feeling from my rib cage down was because they damaged nerves when they cut into my spinal cord, but the initial nerve pain under my left breast is driving me crazy. My family has prescribed be the butrans pain patch and it worked for a short time to take the edge off but has now since quit working. I have gone from a 5mcg to a 20 mcg and do not notice any difference. He has also given me Percocet along with gabapetine and several other drugs with no avail. I do have some back pain as well in the surgical area. I am also consulting a laser pin clinic but until my results come in they won't treat me. What can I do for this nerve pain. The tumour I have or had is an ependynoma grade II. They removed 1/2 of my T4....my T5 and 1/2 of my T6 in order to access my cord and that bone was not replaced. I have tried acupuncture which gave me no results and I do go for massages approximately every three weeks.

I will have to check if the gabapentine was prescribed along with a cortico steroid. I know my dosage of gabapentine was at the maximum dosage I could take per day and I did not get great relief from it. As far as a pain block I initially was given an anesthetic in the nerve area in the beginning before we knew it was a tumour causing the pain and the injection work for about 1/2 an hour which was the greatest half hour of pain relief but that isn't very long.