Yesterday, I took the day off from work, and went to IVCH to get shots into my back, in the hopes that they reduce the herniation, helping it heal, and then leaving my poor nerve alone, thus giving me some pain relief.
When I went in, I was really hurting, probably a 7 on a scale of 10. I hadn't slept well, which I'm sure added to it, but it was acting snarky the day before, so I wasn't all that surprised.
So we got there early, so I could register, which went rather smoothly. And the girl who coordinates who you register with is just smoking hot. I think that they put her there for guys like me, to totally take my mind off of what was going to happen.
So then I went over to the Pain Clinic, and filled out a few forms, and waited for ten minutes or so. Then the wonderful nurse came, and took me back, and I got prepared for Dr Clok. So when he came in, he was a little older than me, and I liked him immediately. He put me at ease immediately. He explained what he was going to do, told me how much it would hurt, was very honest, and was excellent.
Once we got down to business in the room, he started explaining his music choice, about how the nurses revolted, because they were sick of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. So he took the time to burn a CD of mellow U2 songs. We then discussed music until he was done. He even went to see Slipknot in Winston Salem a few years ago, because he was alone shopping for furniture, and was curious as to what all the rave was about them. He agreed with me that they were very entertaining.
The shots, while this was all happening, hurt. They started out with a sharp needle, to get in there. Then they switched to a dull pointed needle, so when by the nerve, the risk of hitting and damaging it was reduced greatly. And for all the time I was in there, I did have about 45 seconds of intense pain. That doesn't seem like long, until it is happening to you.
It was a dull, intense pain. Imagine taking a pole, say the size of one you would use to put weight on, and put 200 pounds on it, and it is on your foot gently.. Take the pain that would be there about a minute into that, and that is how it felt.
Now they told me the local anesthetic would make it feel good today, but the actual feeling for my back would be this morning to two days from now. Apparantly today isn't the day, because I am still aching, and probably at a 6 on the pain scale. I think that I'll loosen up though.
So thats where I'm at. Have a great day everybody!
