I had bilateral pudendal nerve entrapment surgery done by Dr. Stanley Antolak well over ten years ago. He wasn’t practicing at Mayo. He has his own practice in Lake Elmo, Minnesota I think. I went there three times from Kentucky once per month for three months in a row and had three test injections prior to surgery. The injections were great for a few hours (I think they were. lidocaine and steroids). I had to go there for a week for the surgery and be in the hospital for a couple of days. I was so hopeful that this was going to be the answer for me. My pain also was in the rectal, vaginal, buttocks and down the back of one leg. I was taking massive doses of oxycontin and it wasn’t doing much except making me stupid and dependent. The surgery had a six week recovery time also. I worked as a commercial office space designer, general construction contractor and commercial property manager so being off work that long was a big problem. The surgery did absolutely nothing to help my pain. I went through all of that, spent a ton of money and got nothing for it but disappointment. I do think Dr. Antolak might be retired. He was pretty old when I saw him and I think it was about 2005 maybe. His clinic was only for pudendal pain and I was so excited that I found someone that could “fix” my years of suffering only to be disappointed again. I eventually ended up with an implanted drug infusion system made by Medtronic. It is implanted in your abdomen area on one side and a tube is tunneled to the spinal cord and attached there. In order to qualify for the surgery I had to get off all narcotics and stay off for six weeks. All of that was pure hell but I did it. The pump contains 20 mg (half morphine and half marcaine). The medicine is not systemic. It sits a small amount in your spine where it blocks the pain signals going to your brain. I don’t have to do anything as far as controlling it. I get it refilled about every 70 days. The pump last about 6 years and then needs replacing. I am on my second one. It has completely eliminated my pain but it has made a HUGE difference. It took me from wanting to jump off a bridge to having a life. I have found that stress is a big trigger even with the pump. When my stress is low my pain is almost nonexistent with the pump. For anyone out there that has tried many things (and I had) it is worth considering. Just be sure and find a very qualified doctor who can do the surgery and manage the refills (which are done with a simple needle stick). I go to the University of Kentucky Interventional Pain Clinic.

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