While at a concert in 1995, Candice Lajuett doubled over in pain.
“I told my uncle he either had to take me home or get me to a hospital!” Candice recalls.

Candice made it through the night at home. But the next day, her fiance drove her to the emergency department at Strong Memorial Hospital. Doctors removed her gall bladder, which was severely inflamed and infected.

Not long after that, though, Candice experienced intense abdominal pain again. Six stones the size of marbles were found in her bile duct and removed laparoscopically.
But the attacks continued—as did the pain.

“It was excruciating,” Candice says. “It felt like someone was just stepping on my stomach, crushing it, and just wouldn’t get off.” The attacks came on without warning, leaving Candice curled up in a fetal position on the floor and screaming.

Doctors prescribed a patch that contained a heavy narcotic. The patch would block much of Candice’s pain, but she felt like she was in a mental fog most of the time.

“I couldn’t really work,” Candice recalls. “I couldn’t drive most of the time.” Fortunately, one of Candice’s doctor suggested she visit the University of Rochester Pain Treatment Center.

Her first consultation brought Candice a ray of hope. Doctors recommended a relatively new treatment, called a celiac plexus block. Just a few days later, Candice would receive her first treatment.

“I was in and out that day,” Candice recalls. The injection was successful in blocking her pain. Even better, there were virtually no side effects.
“The following day my back was sore where they injected it,” says Candice. “But that’s it! There was no recuperation period.”

The celiac plexus block lasted for a period of months, during which time Candice felt no pain whatsoever. She has now been having these treatments, and experiencing minimal pain, for over three years.
When the blocks start to wear off, Candice often gets forewarned by a very small pain. If that happens, she calls the UR Pain Treatment Center immediately.

“They get me in right away,” says Candice. “If I call first thing in the morning, I can usually go in that day. They end up rearranging things to get me in there. They’ve been wonderful!”
Candice is especially appreciative because her pain, now believed to stem from biliary dyskinesia and pancreatitis, had taken a heavy toll on her and her family.

“I’ve lost numerous jobs because of it,” she says. “I just never knew when it would hit me, in the middle of the night or in the middle of work.”
With the help of the UR Pain Treatment Center, though, things are looking up.
“I love them!” she says. “They listen to you, and they’re willing to help you any way they can. They’ve been great!”