So, I'm not having a good day today. Two weeks ago, I had a caudal block injection. What is this, you may ask? A caudal block is an injection into a canal in the tail bone area which runs up to the spinal canal in the low back. It numbs the area and you don't feel the pain that is normally there. Getting the injection itself is pretty unpleasant, but the results are so worth it. For the last two weeks, my lower back has basically been pain free. The only down side is that they can't tell you how long the injection is going to last. I've had a few twinges of pain my lumbar region over the last few days. I thought that the injection might be wearing off, but then the twinges would ease up, and I would decide that the medicine was still working to numb me.
About 4:00 this afternoon, I was curled up in my recliner. I had taken my pain medicine and decided that I would take a little nap. When I woke up an hour later, my lower back felt like I had been beaten with a baseball bat! And even though I knew that the injection was starting to wear off, I was shocked. I really thought that the pain would come back a little at a time, and that I would be able to prepare myself for it. I had no idea that it would be so sudden. It's really depressing. Here I have had two of the best weeks that I've had in the last ten years. I've been able to do things that I haven't been able to do in a long time. And now, I'm back where I started.
I knew that the relief wasn't permanent. My doctor explained everything to me, and I knew, intellectually, what was going to happen. Now, not only am I in pain, I'm depressed too. I want the last couple of weeks back, and I want them back now! OK. That's all the temper tantrum I'm going to throw. I go back to the doctor on February the 28th for another injection. I know that there is a chance that the next one won't work at all, but if I'm lucky, I'll get two more wonderful weeks with no pain in my lower back. Life does have its rewards!
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