Round Two

It hurt, but only for a moment. The outcome is worth it.

Unfortunately, the steroid injection I had in my lower back to relieve the pain that was done in May had worn off somewhere around the beginning of October. I had put it off long enough and now time was of the essence. There really was no reason to continue to suffer from the perpetual pain when there was a solution; albeit temporary. My goal was to get it done before year end because I had already met my deductible. I scheduled another injection on the Wednesday just before the Christmas weekend.

Because I was to be sedated during the procedure, I needed to have someone drive me home afterward. Thus, my designated driver, the married man I live with, had to accompany me. I laugh at the term sedated in this instance. When the medicine was injected into my IV (of which left a nice large bruise later), I felt a bit dizzy for about, oh, 45 seconds. After that – nothing. What a waste. I knew what I was in for and it would be a lot more tolerable if I could just enjoy the buzz as the procedure went down.

In the OR, I was greeted by quite a few medical professionals whom I know had particular duties to perform, but it turned out that it seemed that they had nothing to do during the procedure. I could hear them chatting about various things and not very quietly. I couldn’t see them well as I didn’t have my glasses on. I never did see the doctor. Actually, come to think of it, I didn’t even hear him. He never spoke. I could have been worked on by someone in maintenance for all I knew.

I was told to move onto the table, face down with my face in a hole in the table cushion with my arms hanging over the sides. I felt the cold prep on my back and waited for the inevitable as I stared at the floor, seeing my forearms and hands dangling in my periphery. There it was – the poke, the lidocaine going in. Another poke for the steroid being injected, yeah that hurt. It feels like that stuff is as thick as peanut butter. Then, wait for it….ZING….that hot, searing, painful, unpleasant, uncomfortable, nasty zap at the moment the steroid medication hits the sciatic nerve and shoots the pain all….the…way…down..to…the…foot. Ugh. I couldn’t keep silent for that and let out a yelp. Then I heard a female voice say, “All done. Just need to put on the Band-Aids.”

Praise God. I was done. I rolled back onto the cart, got covered up and was whisked back to my room where the married man I live with was waiting; surprised that I was back so soon.

I was offered a small can of white soda and a small bag of Cheez-its to eat. For the amount of money they would be getting on my behalf, I think a steak sandwich, oven fries and an ice-cold Coke should be more appropriate. I had been fasting for about 20 hours. The doctor does these procedures in the afternoon and because I was sedated (ha!) I couldn’t eat for 8 hours previous. I knew I’d be going without food and coffee for quite a while because I didn’t want to get up at 5 AM to eat something. So I waited.

I was released after about a 20 minute recovery period. Even though the steroid could take up to 10 days to ‘kick-in’ as they told me, because there was also the numbing lidocaine injected into the spine, I was enjoying the short-acting effects and had very little pain at the time.

We went directly to Starbucks. A white chocolate mocha latte with an extra shot for both of us and we split a blueberry scone and a piece of lemon cake. The wait was worth it. My taste buds shouted for joy. It was transcendent.

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I was told to take it easy for the next 24-48 hours with no heavy lifting. Yay! But what they didn’t tell me not to do within 24 hours was walk down then slip and fall on a muddy incline while attempting to catch a wayward chicken that had escaped the pen. Yep. Did it and fell on my derriere. My left wrist didn’t feel so good either and along with all the mud on my hands, coat and pants; I got yelled at by the married guy I live with.

Today, praise God, I am happy to report that my back feels pretty darn good. I’m sleeping a bit better and I don’t gripe as much when I get up after laying or sitting. The degenerative disk disease, bone spurs and spinal stenosis complications have gone dormant for a while. I will relish my time until they rear their ugly head again.

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