Pincushion Day

My New Year’s resolution to be more brave in 2007 seems to be working well. Yesterday’s spine injection was scary, but I think I managed okay.

Rob and I drove to hospital at 6:00 am yesterday morning (not before locking the keys in the apartment and having to wake up our super). I changed into a hospital gown and some really nice nurses helped me get set up with warm blankets and an IV. My doctor came in and marked my back with a sharpie and the countdown began. Rob sat with me until 7:30, when six people whisked me off to a surgery room.

The whole procedure was done in about ten minutes. They rolled me onto my stomach, sedated me a bit through the IV, took some x-rays, gave me about 6 novocaine shots and then the cortisone injection right on the “x.” The whole thing hurt less than getting the IV in the first place. I was pretty zonked in the recovery room for the next hour. Eventually, they wheeled me out to the street and Rob drove me home to sleep it off the rest of the day. My new Ryka pants were the perfect post-op gear (not the kind of mention they are looking for, I’m sure!).

Overall, I’m doing pretty well. I don’t have any notable pain which is really good considering they sent me home with a bottle of 90 vicodin. In a few days, I should know if this procedure did the trick.