Yesterday Katie, Bonnie and I left Portland around 3pm. I was debating what to do about my lingering head pain. I decided we needed to stop in Bellevue at the Overlake ER on our way home. The pain in my head was the worst when I moved around and/or sat upright. When I would lie down, it was okay. So, I reclined for the whole drive back to Seattle while Bonnie drove and Katie watched her new favorite movie, Robots, on her portable DVD player in the back seat.
It seemed to take forever to get treatment at Overlake and I almost didn't stay, thinking I could just come back the next day after dropping Katie off at school. Right as I was getting up to leave, they assigned me to an exam room and took us back. Turned out that they agreed with me that I was probably leaking spinal fluid as a result of the lumbar puncture procedure they performed at the ER last Wednesday. I had two options. Wait for it to heal itself or get an epidural blood patch. Well, the pain was really horrible and prevented me from functioning normally, so I decided not to wait for it to heal on its own. I had the blood patch done.
It was the most amazing thing. I felt relief immediately! My pain went from an 8 out of 10 all the way down to about 2 out of 10 in just the few minutes it took the anesthesiologist to perform the procedure. It was amazing. I was so grateful.
We got home last night around 10:30pm and we all went to bed shortly afterward.
Today I have a very mild headache, but nothing like it was before the blood patch and my lower back aches. My orders are to lie down as much as possible for the 48 hours following the blood patch. That's not a problem though. Katie's in school and Bonnie is here with me. I feel pretty wiped out and therefore don't have energy to do much else anyway. I'm just thankful that whole episode is over.
Okay, time to return to my spot on the couch, next to my two very protective kitties.
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