I'm feeling pretty sore right now, but otherwise in pretty good spirits. I had my cervical epidural procedure this morning, so I'm a little tender right now after several shot into the base of my neck, but I am very hopeful that the meds and steroids my doc injected will start relieving pain in the next day or two.
A good portion of the pain I live with on most days comes from congenital defects in my skeleton. I was born with pretty severe hip dysplasia in my left hip (meaning essentially no hip socket) and a few other differences. The left side of my rib cage isn't smooth, and I have 4 bone spurs in my neck. I think the stress of running, dancing, and carrying three babies on these hips did a lot of damage before it was found, so I have 2 bulging disks in my neck.
This morning I went in and had the procedure in the office. I laid down on my belly on a table under the fluoroscope so the doc could see the vertebrae to guide her as she was injecting. I had what felt like three shots to numb the area. The doc then injected contrast so she could see the nerves. Finally she did two injections of an epidural/ steroid combination. The whole thing didn't take more than about twenty minutes and the worst part of it was the shots to numb the area. Those always burn.
It felt a little weird when she would hit a nerve, and for anyone that's had an epidural for childbirth, you know the feeling of having a needle inserted into your spine is as weird as it is painful. I kept thinking the term "lightening" was more accurate than "pain". It was kind of painful, but more in a nerve spasm kind of way.
I have another procedure in two weeks, another dose of the same thing. I'm off to lie down and rest now. Have a wonderful Friday!
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