Last Wednesday I had my first Caudal Epidural injection. This was quite an interesting day. I am not knowledgeable like a doctor but I especially find the spine extremely interesting. I do not think it is because I have been known to have a problematic spine but more or less because it is an amazing feature of the body.
Before my injection the pain management doctor went into all the different types of treatments that we could try to remedy my pain for, hopefully, quite a few years. (I love this doctor group so much. I despise CIGNA right now for dropping my doctors office. I have thought about letters, phone calls, petitions, etc to get my point across but I digress.) So down to the poking and prodding…..I hate how exposed you are at the doctors office. If I had my choice I would go in there in a body suit that I had to be sewn into and cut out of. Those gowns they put you in are ugly, they are completely open in the back and if you have to use the facility you want to put your pants on before leaving the room and entering into the general public. So here I am in my backless gown in my un-mentionables and feeling a little self conscious. I am asked to bend over and try to touch the floor which I warned him wouldn’t be a problem. Then he is manipulating me every which way while I am standing and I just want to say, “Dude, stop….it hurts. Just let me bend over because that is when I feel the best.” So, after all of that mess I am feeling a bit sore.
Then we get into treatment options. Deadening nerves for four hours and then killing them with lasers and needles if it works. (Lasers? On my spine? Isn’t that dangerous?) An assortment of epidural options, etc. It is all Chinese to me but it was interesting. I, of course, no nothing about epidurals as I am childless (Praise Jesus). I had no idea what to expect and was slightly freaked out because I was told that I would be sore.
I was taken into a room that had what looked like bullet proof jackets on the wall. Nurse T is strapping herself in and tells me to pull my pants down and lay on my stomach on the table. Ok, now I am scared. More exposure and the jacket freaked me out. Enter Doctor…He puts on his bullet proof vest then more poking and prodding. First his finger is poking around on my Sacrum, which he made fun of because apparently mine is misshaped….just add that to the list, the he sticks me with a ‘marker’ that has a small amount of some sort of ink or something on it. I know this because I can see it sticking out of my rear on the X-Ray machine I am hooked up to. Then comes the local anesthetic which is when I look away from the screen. It was either watch and pass out or turn my head and hope for the best. The local was the strangest thing ever. My entire ‘area’ was numb. I mean, I couldn’t feel a thing. Then came the actual medication. I don’t know how much 12cc’s is but I am assuming it is a considerable amount because it took forever for him to administer all of it. I did feel this. It wasn’t painful but it wasn’t comfortable either. Everyone that I have talked to says they don’t remember that part. My point to them, “Probably because you were in pain elsewhere and there was more pressure focused elsewhere.”
When the doctor was finished the nurse put a band-aid on me (no, I did not get asked if I wanted Scooby Doo though that is what I would have chosen), sat me up, stood me up, pulled my pants up for me (that is embarrassing because I am completely capable though I was feeling a little weird), and then they basically send you on your way. On the way out the nurse asks me how I feel and I ask her, “Honestly?” She said, “Yes, honestly.” I said (and I realize this is a lot of information but my family reads this and I don’t get to talk to them all the time and furthermore this is something I would say), “Well, I have a band aid in my butt crack and I can’t feel my hoo hoo. I am terrified that I will wet the seat of my car on the way home. Are you sure I am allowed to drive myself?” Nurse, “I have never heard that before. And yes, you may drive yourself home. See you in three weeks.”
Okey Dokey. So that is it. I felt like a voo doo doll.
Anna, I know this is TMI but really, it was quite the science experiment for me. I mean, I had no idea what to expect at all and I definitely left feeling a whole new world.
Update on my situation….
I was sore for a couple of days which they told me I would start feeling better about 4 days after the injection. They were right. It felt great to stand after sitting at my desk for 8 hours. I have been sleeping better, people. I am not as crabby because I was getting pretty darn crabby and if I think that then I am sure that other people were starting to feel the ramifications of my pain. I have slept without muscle relaxers which, before, I was taking every night for almost two months because it was literally the only way I could sleep through the whole night. I am monitoring my activities though I have gone back to Pilates and am quite happy about that. I have missed working out a lot!
That is that people. Again, I know I suck at this whole blog thing but I am trying.
Before my injection the pain management doctor went into all the different types of treatments that we could try to remedy my pain for, hopefully, quite a few years. (I love this doctor group so much. I despise CIGNA right now for dropping my doctors office. I have thought about letters, phone calls, petitions, etc to get my point across but I digress.) So down to the poking and prodding…..I hate how exposed you are at the doctors office. If I had my choice I would go in there in a body suit that I had to be sewn into and cut out of. Those gowns they put you in are ugly, they are completely open in the back and if you have to use the facility you want to put your pants on before leaving the room and entering into the general public. So here I am in my backless gown in my un-mentionables and feeling a little self conscious. I am asked to bend over and try to touch the floor which I warned him wouldn’t be a problem. Then he is manipulating me every which way while I am standing and I just want to say, “Dude, stop….it hurts. Just let me bend over because that is when I feel the best.” So, after all of that mess I am feeling a bit sore.
Then we get into treatment options. Deadening nerves for four hours and then killing them with lasers and needles if it works. (Lasers? On my spine? Isn’t that dangerous?) An assortment of epidural options, etc. It is all Chinese to me but it was interesting. I, of course, no nothing about epidurals as I am childless (Praise Jesus). I had no idea what to expect and was slightly freaked out because I was told that I would be sore.
I was taken into a room that had what looked like bullet proof jackets on the wall. Nurse T is strapping herself in and tells me to pull my pants down and lay on my stomach on the table. Ok, now I am scared. More exposure and the jacket freaked me out. Enter Doctor…He puts on his bullet proof vest then more poking and prodding. First his finger is poking around on my Sacrum, which he made fun of because apparently mine is misshaped….just add that to the list, the he sticks me with a ‘marker’ that has a small amount of some sort of ink or something on it. I know this because I can see it sticking out of my rear on the X-Ray machine I am hooked up to. Then comes the local anesthetic which is when I look away from the screen. It was either watch and pass out or turn my head and hope for the best. The local was the strangest thing ever. My entire ‘area’ was numb. I mean, I couldn’t feel a thing. Then came the actual medication. I don’t know how much 12cc’s is but I am assuming it is a considerable amount because it took forever for him to administer all of it. I did feel this. It wasn’t painful but it wasn’t comfortable either. Everyone that I have talked to says they don’t remember that part. My point to them, “Probably because you were in pain elsewhere and there was more pressure focused elsewhere.”
When the doctor was finished the nurse put a band-aid on me (no, I did not get asked if I wanted Scooby Doo though that is what I would have chosen), sat me up, stood me up, pulled my pants up for me (that is embarrassing because I am completely capable though I was feeling a little weird), and then they basically send you on your way. On the way out the nurse asks me how I feel and I ask her, “Honestly?” She said, “Yes, honestly.” I said (and I realize this is a lot of information but my family reads this and I don’t get to talk to them all the time and furthermore this is something I would say), “Well, I have a band aid in my butt crack and I can’t feel my hoo hoo. I am terrified that I will wet the seat of my car on the way home. Are you sure I am allowed to drive myself?” Nurse, “I have never heard that before. And yes, you may drive yourself home. See you in three weeks.”
Okey Dokey. So that is it. I felt like a voo doo doll.
Anna, I know this is TMI but really, it was quite the science experiment for me. I mean, I had no idea what to expect at all and I definitely left feeling a whole new world.
Update on my situation….
I was sore for a couple of days which they told me I would start feeling better about 4 days after the injection. They were right. It felt great to stand after sitting at my desk for 8 hours. I have been sleeping better, people. I am not as crabby because I was getting pretty darn crabby and if I think that then I am sure that other people were starting to feel the ramifications of my pain. I have slept without muscle relaxers which, before, I was taking every night for almost two months because it was literally the only way I could sleep through the whole night. I am monitoring my activities though I have gone back to Pilates and am quite happy about that. I have missed working out a lot!
That is that people. Again, I know I suck at this whole blog thing but I am trying.
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