It has been about a week since my touch-up treatment with Dr. McGinley, and unfortunately my pain has not yet subsided. My symptoms are still as strong as ever, and I am constantly frustrated with my lack of mobility.

With the whirlwind of emotions continuously giving me a run for my money, I’m still hopeful as there are a few additional and key pieces of info I learned during round two of the procedure.

1. Touch-up’s after the initial procedure can be normal for some people

There is a section within the first financial forms you receive when registering for the McGinley Botox treatment that lists out the costs for a touch-up within three months of the original procedure. Those rates are discounted – essentially you only pay for the Botox. But the point is that they are prepared in the event that you aren’t feeling any relief after the first session.

Also, while on-site, I was told that out of the patients that went through the initial round of injections, about 15% needed to come back within 3-months for a touch-up. Out of those that came back for a touch-up within the 3-months, there was a 95% success rate. That seems pretty darn good to me!

2. My muscles actually reacted really well to the initial injections

Surprise surprise! After reviewing my second set of CT scans, I was told that the muscles behind the knee actually reacted very well to the original Botox injections. There was no compression, which is amazing! But I’m still feeling pain..

The prognosis is that there could be some smaller veins that are compressed since my pain is very localized and doesn’t travel up and down the leg. Therefore, Dr. McGinley concentrated the second treatment in the specific area of the anterior compartment where I feel pain. He also used a corticosteroid solution to break up scar tissue underneath my healed scar. The focus was to break up that scar tissue that had connected my exterior skin layer to the muscle compartment.

Pro tip: there wasn’t any pain during the cortisone injections as they were sure to numb me up pretty good! I think the thought of a long sharp needle injecting fluid underneath the first layer of skin was more uncomfortable than the physical act of the injection…. If that makes sense?

3. I’m filled up with Xeomin now

Even though my calf muscles reacted very well to generic Botox (I’m not immune, yay!), we figured that in order to nix any potential issues in the anterior compartment, Dr. McGinley switched up the brands and gave me Xeomin instead of Botox. The pros of Xeomin:

• It’s a more stable solution since it does not need to be refrigerated
• There is no protein wrapper that’s found in Botox
• It’s cheaper than generic Botox

The only drawbacks to using Xeomin is that the timeframe for determining success is over a larger window when compared to Botox. With Botox, it’s pretty standard to see effects by about a week, whereas Xeomin could take anywhere from 7-28 days to feel any difference.

I’m on day 7 right now, and am waiting for this stuff to kick in!

4. McGinley’s confidence was contagious

One thing that really stuck with me was the fact that Dr. McGinley was confident he could help my case. Out of all the doctors I have seen over the past 2-3 years for this condition, he has been the only one who has come across not only incredibly knowledgeable but also genuine.

The ‘what if’ factor was still on my brain prior to my second round of injections, and I couldn’t help but ask what if these don’t work? What’s next? If you read my post on the mental effects of chronic pain, then you may also be able to relate to the downward spiral one can go through when hope seems to be lost.

Without flinching, Dr. McGinley told me that he’s only had to go a different route with a total of 2-3 patients in his practice, ever, and that they ended up solving the particular issue for all of those outliers. His confidence in us coming to a resolution in turn made me not only confident but also excited to move forward with the procedure.

Regardless of what happens within the next couple of weeks, I know that I made the right decision not to move forward with invasive surgery. For compartment syndrome, the types of surgeries that are performed may sometimes end up doing more harm than good, and for someone like myself that has already endured two major surgeries on my right leg, there’s no chance I was about to embark on a third.

Anyway, thank you for reading and keeping up to date on my progress. Hoping to share some positive and pain-free news soon!