Todd’s big event for Friday January 16: spinal tap. And I mean that with lowercase “s” and “t”. Though I’m a huge fan of the band and the film, this was my first opportunity to get my very own spinal tap. Well, in all fairness, I did have one before (last Thursday in fact), but I was unconscious for it. So here was my chance to experience one live!
Preparation was simple but unpleasant. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight. I was supposed to show up at 11 AM at the outpatient surgery center, and so this only meant skipping breakfast. Once I got there, I did the usual routine of slipping out of my regular clothes into a hospital gown. This time they had little booties to help keep my feet warm, which was a nice touch. And I think I had 2 or 3 blankets on top of me because the place was so damn cold. I told the nurses how I was looking forward to going back to the Rocky Mountains where the weather’s warm.
They asked me a bunch of questions, took my vitals, put me on an IV, and then we sat in a holding pattern for a while. Once the anesthesiologist was ready with his previous case, they gave me some happy juice, cleaned up my back with antiseptic goop, and stuck me in the back with a needle.
The first needle was to numb the area so they could then put in the mother of all needles. Once that went in, they were able to take a sample of my spinal fluid (it looks like gin) and measure its pressure. Yesterday’s pressure was 22 mmHg, which is up 1 mmHg from the surgery. The goal is to have the pressure be in the mid-teens. So he drained off some fluid until my pressure was at 18 mmHg, pulled the needle out, gave me a band-aid, and sent me off to recover.
My only participation was to just breathe deeply when requested, so I had the easy part. The happy juice he gave me wore off fast, and when I was dressed in another 20 minutes I probably could have walked out under my own power, but they wheeled me out on a wheelchair per tradition. (The drive back to the hotel was less than 5 minutes and I walked from the parking lot to our room)
Beth made me a big lunch which I enjoyed in bed with a Coke and a smile. Later that afternoon, I had a nap for an hour or so. That evening, we went out for po boys! Yum!
It was another typical day in Todd’s journey: sleep, experience some new drugs, get a needle stuck in my spine, eat, sleep, eat some more.
Hi Todd,
I’m glad the spinal tap was not too bad. The myringotomy sounded like it would be painful…was it? Or when he suctioned out the debris?
On to more pleasant topics, your walk in the forest today sounds nice…I think that is great that you walked that far for that long.
Hope you continue to feel better.
Dorothy
The myringotomy wasn’t nearly as bad as expected based on my experiences getting tubes in my eardrums about 12 years ago. The big difference was using a spray-on topical anesthetic instead of something injected by needle. The anesthetic needle was the real source of the pain way back when.
Getting the debris suctioned out was uncomfortable, but not painful. It was very loud!
Hi Todd, I was diagnosed with SSCD last fall and I will be having surgery in 11 days. I am a little less concerned about what I am about to go through because of you. Thank you (and Beth!) for blogging about your experience.
You’re welcome!