epidural injection

[joycenalex]

tomorrow afternoon i'll be getting an epidural injection in my lumbar spine area. i've had back 'issues' and 'problems' for several years, and despite my losing all that weight, i'm still pretty uncomfortable alot of the time. i've done physical threapy and meds (some drugs are more fun then others) and i'm not at all willing to consider surgery at my age and life stage; the neurologist referred me to a pain management specialist, and he'll do the planned sseries of 3 injections over the next 6 weeks. i am a little nervous about the idea....you're gonna stick a needle in my back...:eek: . i think i could use some PT prayers and well wishes. see you all tomorrow night.

[Cincy'sMom]

You will be in our thoughts tomorrow. Hope all goes well

[luckies4me]

You will be just fine. It doesn't really hurt at all, it just feels a little odd as there is a lot of pressure when the needle goes in. I flinched a little, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. :)

[Karen]

You'll be in our prayers!

[Oggyflute]

Hope all goes well Joyce, best wishes for you. :)

[Poo]

Joyce, hope all goes well. My mother had some of these injections a couple of years back and she was fine (touch wood they have really helped her). I know only too well about suffering with back pain, it can really get you down. I had lumbar discetomy last year after a couple of years of pain, and so far so good. My pains nearly all gone.

So try not to worry, I will be thinking of you. Good luck.

Nicki xx

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Relax, Joyce, it is not as bad as it sounds! The most important thing is that you relax as much as possible, and then you won't feel much! I know what I am talking about, as over the past years, I got several epidural injections, even for taking fluids.
Good luck tomorrow!

[Albea]

Don't worry, Joyce. It doesn't hurt as much as you think, you'll only feel the pressure of the medication going down. I've been having epidurals in my lower back every four months for the last two years and they are like magic. Just a couple of hours after the treatment the pain is gone.
Since the alternative to the epidurals would be 12 hours of surgery and a full year of rehabilitation, which is out of the question for me, I'm very grateful for the injections. It's the only way I can walk.
Relax, I'll be thinking of you and sending you best wishes for a successful outcome.

[joycenalex]

it went very well, but i'm still stoned. i came home to meet my ride, darling shawn, and change into my sweats. alex the wonder dog had a seizure and an attack of diarrhea, in many areas of the house. ugh and double ugh. i spent about 30 minutes cleaning it up before we left to go to the hospital. i arrived a bit early, due to a mistake their scheduler made, i was listed as both a new pain management patient and as a procedure, so there was plenty of time, so we waited. my appointment was for 1:45, i got into the proceedure room at 3, took my xanax (excellent drug) at 3:01, was stoned at 3:06 (with a small empty stomach it doeen't take too long to kick in). the nurse was great, we chatted as she hooked me up to a blood pressure machine (110/63) and my pulse never went over 72 beats per minute. she kept commenting how calm i was. she used the c-arm xray machine, scanned me, found my left sacroilliac joint (which looked good) then found lumbar spine 5, 4, 3, 2. she prepped my back, betadine is ALWAYS cold, cause it's room temp, draped me, then went to find the doctor. he was hiding in their kitchen, drinking coffee. she came back, grinching about hunting down doctors, i commiserated, shared a story about chasing doctors into exam rooms too, and by that time dr. gladstone came into the room, ready to work. their easy familiarity and length of service together was evident, they were fast, effective and good, together and to me. i was up and off the table and out of the room by 3:40. since we were famished, i took shawn to dinner at olive garden, ate well, drank a glass of wine and came home with 90% of my dinner in a to go box. i made some coffee for shawn and eileen who had just came home from work,i sat down in the reclinerat 5:30, pulled the blanket over my lap, alex jumped up to sit with me, princess mojo joined us and suddenly it was 9:30pm. for the first time in many months, i'm not having any pain at all. amazing, just amazing.
there was minimal discomfort during the needle portion of the injections and one short burning sensation as the steroids went in, but whole thing wasn't anywhere near as painful as i was lead to believe. i am still a bit buzzy, but i feel fine, eileen says my eyes are still dilated and time and motion are moving a bit funny. i am on light duty for the next 2 days at work. i'll be heading for bed soon. i'd like to thank you all for the good wishes, it made me feel good when i was nervous.

[Oggyflute]

Glad it went well Joyce. :)

[Cincy'sMom]

Glad to hear things went well. Hopefully it willhelp with the pain.

Hope Alex the wonder dog is doing okay also

[Albea]

Glad to read that your experience with the epidural went so well. I hope you'll be very happy with the results.

[joycenalex]

got my second epidural today. i'm feeling so much better it's amazing. i can place the dogs' food bowls in the stand with out moving in stages, the scooping of the litter pans isn't awful. . i'm hoping to start cutting back on the pain meds, tylenol3s very soon.:D

[Cincy'sMom]

Great news!! I'm glad this is working for you!

[joycenalex]

epidural #3 is done, the final one. overall i'm 85% better. i can walk alex much more easily, so he's getting long walks again. i can scrub the bath tub again w/o gasping in pain. i've got a kid who'll do my heavier yard work this year (god bless teenage kids who need money, and i do pay pretty well for it) . i am still buzzed now, but i'm planning on slowly tapering myself off the evening tylenol 3 over the next week. i never took them b/4 work, they made me feel fuzzy and i can't work that way.
the nurse said the meds should work well for a year to 2. , i've been telling myself that they will work for 5 years, i like these people, but i don't want to see them too soon.

[catnapper]

Sorry to hear about your back. Glad to hear you;re felling so much better.

I just today was at a seminar for Ergonomics, and they addressed back problems. They gave me some amazing tips and hints for sitting and other daily things to help keep pressure off your back. Here's an interesting link:
ergonomics (http://www.danmacleod.com/Ergo%20for%20You/rightangles.htm)

It shows how to keep the spine's natural curve.. and some of the info is actually surprising! Perhaps if you follow some of the recommendations, you'll start to feel better more often. I hope it helps.

PS: if it makes no sense to you, PM me and I can put it into layman's terms! :D The seminar was very interresting and enlightening.

[K9karen]

Sorry I just saw this. I've lost count with how many epidurals I've had over the years. I've had most done under a floroscope. Unfortunately, after 30 years of worsening pain, I finally had a cervical fusion of disc 4/5 on Jan 10 as I ran the extreme risk of becoming a parapalegic. Looks like from all accounts, my spine surgery is next but I'm holding out for as long as possible. Too hot for a back cast in the summer. The neck surgery (I'm still in a brace) eliminated my pain by 95% almost immediately. Nobody likes surgery but it was the best thing I could have done. At least my upper half feels like a new body. Pain free after all those years. Too bad all those epidurals never worked for me, but I got to know the doctors so well I was on a first name bases. "She's Baaaack!" Good luck to you, I'm so thrilled you're feeling better and hope you're pain free for a long time!