Stan is a 51 year old employee of a local utility. He had cluster migraine type headaches that were at least a 6/10 most of the day. He had not worked for over 1 and 1/2 years.

The usual approaches to his pain management had failed. RCM was retained to put a treatment plan together.

We had a prior client who was a Greek ship captain with the same problem. He had a neurosurgical procedure to remove a ganglion or nerve switch. This worked to stop his cluster migraine headaches.

Since that time, the techniques to destroy a ganglion (switch) have advanced. A needle can be inserted into the ganglion to block the nerves. If this decreases the pain, then the ganglion can be destroyed using radio-frequency ablation. 

Stan went to a US centre of excellence in pain management.

His first procedure was a ganglion block. This brought the pain from a 6 to 2.

He had a second block of another ganglion. After this, he was pain free.

The following day, he had ablations of both ganglia.

He willingly paid about $2900 for his procedures. 

He is now much better and will be able to return to work with a smile on his face after moose hunting season.

He loves his life.

Our job at Rupert Case Management is to understand our client's needs and which centres of excellence can provide real pain management solutions for our clients. 

It all starts with a conversation.  We are always pleased to help.