Thanks for the thoughts and prayers, they really helped.

[Fluffysmom]

Hi, everyone,

My discogram yesterday wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. The nurse was gentle and got the IV in without a problem; gave me Zofran so I wouldn't get nauseated, and was nice about going over my health history for the third time (I filled out a new patient packet, filled out some more papers when I got there, and had to fill out a form for the nurse).

The anesthesiologist was this nice gal named Candy, who had just the right touch with keeping me very mellow when the doc was putting in the needles and stuff, then bringing me up just far enough so I could answer questions about where I felt the pain and what number it was on a scale of 1 - 10.  Then she gave me a nice cocktail of Fentanyl and something else, so I felt no pain until I was over at the hospital waiting for the CT.

The doctor himself was even nice.  He explained things clearly, answered my questions, assured me that he didn't need to shoot pain down my leg to figure out where the pain originated, etc.  He came in after the procedure when I was relatively lucid (and my friend was there to listen, too) and explained his findings.

L2-3 and L3-4 are torn, so that the contrast dye leaks back out.  L4-5 is where the worst of the pain comes from . L5-S1 is the most normal of the lot, and was used as the control, to compare against what I felt at other levels.  He explained that it was the only choice, as L1-2 isn't normal, the lower thoracic isn't normal.  I questioned him about that, and he said that he will only do so many levels at one time, to allow the patient to recover without too much pain.

OK, after the anesthesiologist's cocktail wore off, it started hurting pretty badly.  I took a few extra pain pills, and my friend kept the ice packs coming.  She brought me up a nice dinner on a TV tray (BBQ chicken sandwich w/tomatoes, mexican squash, and watermelon).  The night was a little rough; it kind of felt like my spine was bloated; like I had a really bad backache and was constipated at the same time.  As you see, I had plenty of time to try to think of words to describe the experience.

The CT took longer than it should have; I hope the contrast was still in place when they took the pictures.  There were three women working back there, and I could hear them giggling the whole time.  I had told them that I understood that this was supposed to be done in a timely manner because of the contrast, and the one showing me back to CT said "Well, your appointment was at..." and looked down at the paperwork.  I supplied the 4 o'clock (it was past 4:30), and she asked if I had swallowed the contrast.  I explained that it had been injected into the discs in my back.

They had told me at the Spine Center that the hospital people understood the protocol and would take me right back.  Oh well! I just hoped for the best.

It hurts to walk, but as a morning painpill is kicking in, I'm feeling well enough to go downstairs and get a bowl of cereal with blueberries.  I had granola bars up here in case I didn't feel like going downstairs, but I'll make it just fine.

So, there you have it.  I discogram isn't as bad as I expected, and I learned that my back was as bad as I expected.  I didn't learn what will be done next, as the doctor is a procedure guy; I have to follow up with Dr. H., my Sports and Spine guy, to see what the next step is.  I'll pick up the CT and report either today or tomorrow.  Probably tomorrow, since I shouldn't drive until all the anesthesia is out of my system, and my back hurts a bit much to walk nearly a mile round trip.

Thanks so much for all the kind words, thoughts, and prayers.  I'm sure that's why the experience was much better than I expected.

Much love,

Kathy

[wishforchange]

Feel better soon.  You're brave letting them do that!  

[Fluffysmom]

I'm taking my pills and staying lazy.  I tried calling to make some appointments, and ran into frustration, so I think I'll go vent, then take a nap or watch a movie or play Scrabble on my GameBoy.

It's about time for another Vicodin and an ice pack.  I'm already feeling dizzy, which is nothing new with me, but I won't avoid the Vicodin to try to calm the dizziness.  I'd rather be a little woozy than in a lot of pain!

I'm hanging in here,

Kathy

[Sunnytoday]

whew, that doesn't sound fun, but it does sounds like they did take as much care as possible... and that hopefully the results will be helpful for your doc!

Let us know when you find out more! oh, and thanks for the note, sorry about the pics, I deleted them since i couldn't figure out how to get the settings how I wanted them and I was frustrated, I'll try to get a few up so you can see them! :)
gentle ((hugs)))
~Sunnytoday~

[sllowe]

Hey Kathy,

Glad to here you are through w/this part.  I'm w/Slightly B.  Hope you are taking it easy, keep those pain meds steady, you know how they are when you skip inbetween.  The levels drop off, then the pain intensifies! Stay sedated...lol...

Seems like you are in very good hands w/this spine center, and I'm glad for you....

ttys,
Shell

[slightlybroken]

I'm glad everything went ok. Take care and don't overdue it.

{{{HUGS}}}

[Wobbly]

I'm glad to see that you made it through this procedure and doing alright....I hope the pain doesn't last too long and you get some answers now.

take care
andie