Tired, frustrated and hurting like hell

So... yesterday was my procedure. So not fun.

I was a little nervous, but was actually more looking forward to it than dreading it. I was going to go to sleep, they were going to do their thing, I was going to wake up and be cured. Or something like that. Actually, it was nothing like that. By, " we'll sedate you" they didn't mean, "we'll put you under." Oh no. I was fully aware of the needle being poked into my back, because I needed to be able to tell them when it hurt. Great.

I was in the pre-procedure room and the nice med student gave me my IV. Well, she tried to. It wasn't too horribly painful, but I was a little relieved when my doctor came in and showed her how to do it properly. I'm pretty patient with med students. For one, I know some people that have been/are in med school and I know that they need to learn how to do it so they can fully treat others later. You have to learn somewhere. She was a sweet girl, and I she chose to do this rotation because she felt it would help her prepare for her future in family meds. Her whole job in the procedure room was to hold my hand.

Anyway, they rolled me into the room and I had to lay on the x-ray table on my stomach and my arms stretched in front of me. They put some medication in my IV to make me relax. "You'll feel like you had a few drinks" is what they told me. Yeah. I need to stop believing everything my doctors tell me. I didn't feel the least bit like I had a drink. They started on the left side and put some numbing medicine in my back. Holy shit! It hurt like hell! Then, they started putting needles in me and that hurt like hell. I yelled out and they asked me where it hurt and what it felt like. I was trying not to be a smart ass, but I was like, "it feels like you poked me with a needle and it hurt like a needle was going through my back." I held off on the, "jackass" afterwards. :)

After a few pokes, they finally got it in where it didn't hurt. They then started on the right side. They didn't put enough numbing medicine in the first time and had to add more. Yeah, the numbing stuff is what hurts the most. It hurts because (duh) there is a needle going through your back, and then it burns like crazy. They decided to put more stuff in my IV so I could relax a bit more. That worked, because shortly afterwards I told them, "Yeah. I feel like I had a couple of drinks. I'd much rather be at the bar right now though." The nurse looked at me, smiled and said, "honey, we'd all rather be at the bar right now."

The right side hurt a lot more, but they finally finished. I don't really recall how I got from the procedure room to the recovery room, but I was pleased to see a basket of crackers and juice waiting for me.

After we (my mom took me) got back to my place, my parents, JP and I had dinner together. My dad brought me cheesecake and a bowl of tulips. Which, how can that not cheer you up? I was hurting pretty badly and my back hurt like hell, so I wasn't in the best mood. My pain level was still where it was when I went in, so that frustrated me a lot. They told me it may take up to 3 days for any relief to come, which really disappointed me. I want to feel better RIGHT NOW! So, I need to be a little more patient and hopefully this will work. Seriously, even if it does I'm a little apprehensive to go through this again. It was seriously the worst medical test/procedure I've ever gone through, and I've done a lot.

Anyway, I was pretty upset last night and was in a really pissy mood today, but trying to be optimistic. Hopefully the next couple of days will show some postive results. Thanks to all who were sending me good thoughts yesterday!