so many needles

well the epidural is over. They didn't put it in my lumbar spine however, they put it between my C7 and T1 vertebrae. I was face down on the table bolstered by a towel on my forehead. They draped my upper back with plastic, and then put some antiseptic goo on my back. Then they slipped a heart moniter on my finger and then gave me 2 lidocaine shots in the area to numb things. They had a big x-ray scope in front of the table showing my spine and everything in between. They began to insert the big needle and before they got too deep I had a huge vagal nerve response. My heart rate dovetailed, I got the cold sweats, and I almost puked. They said, well, it's a good thing that you are in the anesthesia and pain clinic because we have something that will make that not happen. Of course it was another shot, but the drugs keep your heart rate up, cut the puke feeling and end up giving you a nasty bout of dry mouth. Once they gave me that we tried again. This time I just chanted and breathed really deeply. Thing that sucked is that I knew a lot of what they were talking about which made it even harder to not feeling nauseous and faint. "Yes, Bill, pull the needle a bit more to the right in the lamina...", "No, not too close to the nerve or we're going to have problems..."

So I just breathed more loudly and tried to go to my happy place. It took about 5 minutes for them to get the needle in place and to drip the steroids into my spine. Thank God it was finally over. They offered to go to pediatrics to get me a lollipop, but I declined saying that I would somehow go on without the sugary treat. I sat up, gathered myself together, and went home. In about 2 hours the lidocaine started to wear off and my upper back continues to ache like a bitch, but they say I should start feeling some effect within 24 hours and the full effect of the steroids within one week.