Spinal Injection Update

Well, DANG it all to heck! If you know me, you KNOW what epitaph I really want to say eh?

Anyway, here's how my day yesterday and today went:

Checked in at the Operating Room at 630 am sharp. Filled out some forms, got into the prescribed hospital gown, and waited for Dr. Benigno Sulit to show. He was on time at 7 am.

Said goodbye to Japa, and went into the O.R. I stretched out on their tiny, NARROW thing called a bed and had an I.V. put in, along with a million other monitoring things. Some local anaesthesia was injected via the I.V. and we waited for half the prescribed dosage to enter my blood stream before proceeding.

{OPERATING ROOM}

Dr. Sulit came in and he is one funny guy. And talktative. And a little bit deaf, hehehe. I had to actually raise my voice (!!!) to get him to hear me clearly.

Anyway, in the time he was prepping me and giving instructions to his underlings as to what he wanted to see before he did the procedure, he was giving me a rundown on what was happening, along with some side comments about his life, his kids' life, etc. Like I said, funny. And entertaining. I did appreciate the fact that he was telling me what to expect out of this whole spinal injection procedure.

And yes, I was AWAKE the whole time.

He finally tells me to lie on my left side. I was a bit concerned because I knew this was an epidural procedure. With my epidural experience limited to that of childbirth epidurals, I thought that the medication would pool onto my left side.....but it was my right side that was hurting.

Anyway, the long and short of it is, I felt the GRINDING of something INTO my spine. Not once, but three or four times, if I'm not mistaken. Ugh. Goosebumps yet? Hehehe. And I had local anaesthesia to boot! After the grinding phase, Dr. Sulit tells me to lie on my back.

Then the cool part: This X-Ray machine is wheeled into position, on top of my abdominal area. This, I believe, is the fluoroscopy (sp?) part of the procedure. Meaning, he uses a camera or some sort to look into the spinal cavities to make sure he is putting the steroids in the correct place. The doctor injects a dye into the catheter that is inserted into my back....and I see on the monitor where the cavities are. Is that cool or what?!?! :)

So he tells me that this space is so and so, and that we should be putting the steroids here because so and so. Blah blah blah blah...medical jargon although I try to make heads and tails out of it. I am pretty smart, after all, hehehe, that I could piece whatevet it was he was saying.

After a few minutes, he asks me to lift my right leg. Lo and behold, I could lift it, with SOME twinge of pain in my lower back. But NONE at all in my leg. Wonderful! But then again, he did ay that it could also be partly due to anaesthesia.

{RECOVERY ROOM}

Thirty minutes after I entered the O.R., I was out and into the Recovery Room. Ahhhh...blessed sleep! :) Close to an hour later, the nurses woke me. Asked me to sit and then stand. Always the obedient patient (yeah, right! hehehe), I followed their instructions. I was walking a little bit and felt fine. Then I stopped moving and just stood there, trying to FEEL what was going on with my back and leg.

{THE PAIN}

Then it happened. BOOM! My leg felt like it was swelling to 10 times its size. Fast. I started hyperventilating and muttering, "It hurts! It hurts!" Wildly, I looked around for what I COULD do at that point. Then I yelled, "I have to lie down!"

Hehehehe. Now I laugh, because I can just imagine the faces of these nurses: here's this HUGE girl floundering about and we can't do anything to help her! The nurses weren't tiny, but they weren't bulky either. Only one of them seemed strong, but I doubt that she was strong enough to catch me if I fell. There WAS a male nurse, but I discounted him as too thin, hehehe.

Anyway, as I started swaying with some purpose -- I was going towards my bed -- I could feel the nurses start to panic somewhat, not knowing what they could do for me. Then I lunged for the bed and started screaming. As in SCREAMING. It was that painful.

Although I couldn't see them, I felt the nurses running around. One to try and talk to me, another rushed out to call the doctor, another just standing around waiting for instructions. And I continued to scream. The screams slowly became muted as I realized -belatedly- that there were other patients in the R.R. Oh well. But I was thrashing about, trying to find a position.

I finally settled down on my own, and went to sleep, from sheer exhaustion. It was 10 am.

{CONVERSATION WITH THE DOCTORS}

When I woke, Dr. Sulit was there, with concern in his face. Apparently, I was the ONLY patient of his to come out of the O.R. still feeling the P.A.I.N!!! Just my luck, eh? But he was positive he had put the steroids in the correct places. He started asking me a series of questions like when did it hurt? Where? How bad was the pain, etc.

All I said was that it HURT. Badly. And was I supposed to feel pain right after the procedure?

I actually felt sorry for Dr. Sulit. He looked so disappointed that I wasn't pain-free. So was I, actually, but through the haze of pain, I was pissed that I was still feeling pain. Grrr.

I was asked to stand again, to see if there were any changes. By this time, the anaesthesia had completely worn off, so I had some feeling in my leg at this point. Again, attempting to walk around was fine. It was when I stopped and was just standing, was when the wave of pain hit again. I was expecting it, but it still hit with surprising force.

No, I didn't scream this time, but I did forcefully say something like "Get out of my way, I have to go lie down." And I promptly threw myself on my bed. Zonk, out again for another hour.

{PAIN MEDICATION}

I woke up feeling the pain. I asked the nurses if it was okay for me to take some pain medication. I told them I had brought some and they were with Japa, who was waiting oh so (im)patiently in the waiting room.

Dr. Dave Cabatan came in to see me. He said that steroids are crystals and will cause some discomfort in the beginning. I wanted to say, "SOME discomfort? Try SOOOOOOO MUCH discomfort!" Hehehehe. Anyway, he was a patient guy and kindly explained everything to me.

The full effect of the procedure would not be felt for at least 2 days to a week. (!) In the meantime, I shouldn't do anything, even physical therapy, for my back. Just rest it. Okay, easier said than done, I guess, but ok.

Pain meds? I said that the Dolcet was not doing things for me. It didn't last 8 hours, not even 6. Four hours was pushing it, but it was okay. He said 4 hours was fine. I also mentioned that the night before, I popped in a total of 1600 mg of ibuprofen because I felt extreme pain. He did some calculating in his head and said this was ok twice a day, inconjunction with the Dolcet.

Fine, I said that I wanted to go home to rest. That I did NOT want to be in the hospital anymore. He said just as soon as I was okay and could stand, I could go. I said I was fine and stood up to show him.

{PREPARING TO GO HOME}

The nurse walked me to the waiting room where Japa was. By this time, my leg was feeling the strain, and I knew there was an explosion of pain about to happen. But I had to get dressed in street clothes still. I told Japa we needed to hurry befor the pain started again.

Just in time, as I put in my left leg in my jeans, the tingling was starting and the pain was beginning. I rushed out of the cubicle of a restroom and plopped my big wide self on the narrow thing called a sofa in the waiting room. Ahhhhh...bliss, I tell you!

I asked the nurse if I could be brought to the lobby in a STRETCHER and not a wheelchair since I couldn't sit down at all. It had to be a supine position or nothing at all. So she called for a stretcher, thank goodness!

What a sight I made, I think, as I was wheeled down to the lobby. Hehehe. I couldn't see people because I was lying face down, with my face in my arms. Not that I cared what other people thought. I just wanted to go home.

{HOME}

I got out of the stretcher, took one step on the ground, another into the van, and down I went on the van's back seat. Stretched out all the way home.

{TODAY}

Today? I was on my stomach for most of the day. Finishing up some project of Rogan's class for their bazaar; I need to to go school tomorrow to demonstrate to the kids how to make a journal. I hope to God my leg lasts an hour for that.

I scrapped. I ate. I wrapped notebooks. All on my stomach. The whole day downing pain killers. What a life, eh?

I pray that this can only get better. I have a week before we leave for the States. I'd be in a LOT of trouble if the pain keeps up. Yes, I offer my pain silently to Jesus. But it still hurts. It really does. I'd go through childbirth again at a drop of a hat compared to the pain I am feeling right now.

But I'm praying it gets better. A day at a time. That's all I can hope for, all I can wish for, all I can pray for.

TTFN!