Pain. Nerve pain has been bothering me since March. The root cause seems to be the pinching of the sciatic nerve, running down the legs. It started on the right, burning pain in the lower back, shooting pain into the leg. About 2-3 weeks from no start to end of pain. Then the other leg started and after 2-3 weeks back to the right leg. I was getting tired of sleepless nights, happy relief, and then torment all over again.
When the right leg started playing up for the third time I informed my oncologist, as this might have a relation to the allergic side effects of Yervoy. Dr Namikawa nodded, and was unsure about nerve related issues with Yervoy. I shared that I have numb spots on my arms, and that my facial palsy is not recovering (8 months now)
He gave me the strong painkillers which I asked for. After coming back home I studied the possible root causes again and found the sciatic nerve passes through a muscle called Piriformis. A herniated disk might not be true root cause?
As the pain could not get any worse (I thought), and sleeping at night was now done in a chair, I followed exercises provided by a website. Some were mildly increasing the pain, others made the pain unbearable... I tried the mild stretches a little longer and took painkillers. Walking was now also painful!
I joined a meeting from work and forgot all about the pain, and just relaxed on a chair from where I work remotely. After an hour the pain was nearly gone… what a mystery. The stretching, pushing through excruciating pain had helped. Now I regularly stretch the hip, and let it be with light walks.
Let’s hope I can sleep on my bed again tonight. I will not take the painkillers at first and only take them as a last resort.
