Sounds like fun, no? Well, I got worked in yesterday for an appointment to read my MRI and have a cortisone injection if needed. Seems like I definitely have a herniated disc - L4, S1 if that makes any sense to any of you. Anyway, lower back left side. That is what is pushing on the nerve and making my leg hurt. So, we moved ahead with the shot. Now I am a woman who has had 2 epidurals (labor related) and 3 amniocenteses and 2 thoracocentesis (remember through me, my uterus, Max's chest cavity and into the space around his lungs). I am NOT a wimp when it comes to these things. I don't like them but I don't freak out either. All I can say is it damn well better work (you don't really know for 3-7 days), because it HURT like a son of a b#@%$ !
The procedure for those into gory details....
They prep you just as they would for a L&D epidural. Except you aren't leaned over you are laying flat on the table. Sterilize the area and inject a little lidocaine to numb you locally. I still can't figure out why they even make this token effort. I mean they are INJECTING near your spine. Really does it matter if you feel the prick on your skin? I think NO! Then with the guidance of an xray (that was reassuring) they shoot in a little dye to make sure they are in the right space. When they have the spot, they inject a combination of lidocaine and cortisone. His first try wasn't quite there, it only pinched a bit in the butt area. They know they have the right spot when you just about break the table from squeezing down. It burns alllllllllllll (and I do mean ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL) the way down the nerve that has been irritated, in other words from my heinie to about the back of my knee. He said that was a good sign that he was in the right spot. I said nothing because I could only think of expletives.
Immediately after you have a bit of relief from the lidocaine, but that wears off after a few hours. Then you get REALLY sore. My entire leg is very tender, but that too is normal. Apparently the cortisone will really start working on the area and bring the inflamation down in 3-7 days. I am hoping for 3. That would be tomorrow if I count the day of the procedure as a day :) Can you tell I've been suffering a bit too long.
Anyway, the next steps are ... Physical Therapy for about a month, one more injection in about a month if I am still suffering. Then just regular self-care stuff. I think if I can get my core stronger and just generally get a little bit fitter, I can win this battle.
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