One down and 2 to go, if this epidural cortisone shot in my spine last Thursday doesn't work. And then I am told I am a candidate for total disc replacement. When I signed the papers to be billed and dated it, I realized it had been exactly a year since I had my ankle surgery. The irony made me chuckle out loud.
Still swollen and sore at the L4-L5 location, even touching the area, laying on it for long or being in a car on a bumpy road has been very uncomfortable, sometimes downright painful. Ironically, it is also right where my dragonfly tattoo is located. Of course, the surgeon had to make a comment about that when I got up on the table to lay on my stomach.
The cloth had an inner circle and the dragonfly fit right inside. There I laid on hard pillows made specifically for the procedure and I looked over my head at the live x-ray. The doc used novocaine first which burned the already sensitive area. The needle was stuck into my back and between the vertebrae, into the nerve space. Then dye is injected so the doctor can see the entire space inside the spinal cord, and boy I felt that. Next, came the cortisone into my spine cavity. I felt a strong ache and pressure at the needle sight, then a burn and strong ache down my right leg. At this point, I was moaning in pain while the nurse said, "You're doing great, sweetie." Then the doctor had also somehow hit a nerve or something, because my right leg jumped a mile. It was the kind of weird intensity that you feel if you have a cavity and the dentist drills without numbing you up. Ironically, I was already numbed up...
When it was announced that the procedure was over, the doctor apologized for the procedure being more painful for me than expected, and he attributed it to the swelling and sensitivity that was already there from the injury. There had been a lump under my dragonfly for weeks. Now there is a smaller lump and a mark from where the injection was done. Wounded insect that he is.
I was unable to feel my legs after, but it did feel like cold water was running down the front of them. I kept checking in my sedation to see if I had water on my pants. I also felt like I had been stabbed in the ass with a jagged knife for the rest of the day. I asked the doctor if I could go back to work (as I am so new and only have 25 hours of vacation time accrued). He laughed and he said no, and I was instructed to rest. So the nurse wheeled me out with a friend of mine, who brought me some Chinese food (I was starving as my instructions were to not eat or drink all day). She drove my car home while I sat still sedated, making dopey remarks and pushing my butt up from my car seat so the bumps on the road wouldn't hurt.
So far, I am very sore. I will know if I need another one of those in a few days. Mercy!
