Spinal taps and blood patches

Those two things, spinal taps and blood patches, are the only two things I have been able to think about lately. I had such a horrible spinal headache and the sadist doctor wanted to wait over the weekend to see if it would magically go away. It sure didn't. So Monday I called back up there and he ordered a blood patch, thank God. Basically they reinserted a needle into my lower back and injected 20cc's of blood in the space so that it would clot and close up the leaking hole. This time around, I felt the needle go in (not pain, just the feeling of it being inserted). It was the absolute strangest feeling in the whole world. He hit one of my vertebrae and I could feel it in my jaw, very strange sensation. I then spent the rest of the day laying on my back to ensure that the clot wouldn't break lose.

I feel now like someone hit me over the lower back with a baseball bat. I am using a pillow behind my back at work to ease it a bit...it helps a little. Mostly I am just thankful that my head no longer hurts. I made it through a shopping trip to Walmart last night though I hurt pretty badly by the time we got home. I hope that my lower back pain eases up so I can get all the stuff done that I didn't get done over the six days I laid on the couch with the spinal headache. I have some gifts to get done for my coworkers, though I have all the ingredients, I just need to find the stamina to stand in the kitchen that long to get them done. I am hopeful that I will get it done this weekend. Thankfully I am done with classes so I don't have to worry about homework anymore.

Then next week is Christmas! I feel like I missed a whole week in there, which I guess I did. So it has snuck up on me a bit. I did manage to get all my Christmas cards out. I haven't received many yet so everyone else must be getting them out a bit later this year. At any rate, I am feeling better finally, back in the land of the living and grateful!