Update 2...back surgery (kinda)

I have been dealing with the oh so glorious back problems again.  I went back to the pain management doctor the week of Thanksgiving and had injections in my spine again.  He got the right nerve this time and aside from the pain during the procedure, I felt no pain.  That was the best night of sleep I had in years.  I was pain free in that area for 3.5 weeks, which is amazing.  The only thing that caused the pain to start again was that I tried beginners yoga at a retreat and the stretching/twisting caused me to aggravate that area.  I wasn't too worried though because I have prescription pain killers to help with the pain.  I don't take them near as often as I'm allowed to, mainly because I don't want to be dependent on them to deal with the pain.  I try to wait till it hurts pretty bad or I sense it will be getting bad soon, and then I'll take medicine.  I just hate the idea of being dependent on medication to feel better. 

So I went back to the doctor today (well yesterday now that it's after midnight) and had what's called a RF procedure completed.  RF stands for Radio Frequency and is where the doctor essentially burns or cauterizes the nerve that is causing the pain.  I was having a serious panic attack when I got to the doctor's office because they told me there was not enough time to give me a zanex for my anxiety.  The nurse is friends with my brother and the older sister of my brother's ex-girlfriend, who is also my friend.  So she tells me that she text my brother this morning to make sure I'm there early so the zanex has time to kick in before my procedure.  Yep, sure didn't get that message.  So I ask if I could have the IV conscious sedative this time because I had it last time.  I didn't want it because it burned like hell and made me cry the last time, but it was better than nothing at all.  They tell me that they don't have any there right now so I was SOL.  As the nurse is telling me this and explaining for me to get in my gown and little surgery hat and to leave my socks and undergarments on, the surgery nurse pops open my "holding area" door and says they are ready for me.  I have a full blown meltdown at that point and start to panic, telling them I'm running out the other door.  The nurse explains that I wasn't given the zanex and there is no conscious sedatives there so what does she do because I obviously really need one.  The surgery nurse asked if I have a driver (yup, my big brother goes with me since my hubby is gone during the week) and says to give me two zanex because it would kick in almost immediately. 

So I go in the room and lay down on the surgery bed, face down...well I lay my head sideways on this cool little pillow cause I like to stare at the weird things they have on the wall.  I asked the surgery nurse what to expect.  I've had two sets of injections before and wanted to know if it would be similar to those or different.  She told me that they will initially inject a local anesthetic into my spice to numb the area, and then the doctor will use fluoroscopy (it's like a live version of an x-ray) to guide the placement of his needles.  Once the needles are in the right place he will shoot me up with more anesthetic.  Then they will send electrical current to the nerve to make sure the needle is exactly where it will be.  They said the electrical current shouldn't hurt, but I might feel a little tingle or pulse type of thing.  Once they do that and determine if the needle is in the right place, they numb me some more and then they cauterize the nerve.  Apparently one of the needles is a special heating needle that heats up to 80 degrees Celsius and it cauterizes the nerve.  They said I shouldn't feel anything when that happens because I will be numb, but if I did feel anything to let them know immediately and they will stop and add more anesthetic to the area.  I'm pretty sure he numbed me 6 times, in multiple locations because they cauterized 2 or 3 nerves.  They gave me a squishy stress ball to squeeze during the procedure...which was mainly to distract me, and it helped for the most part!  I only felt pain when he was inserting the needles initially and when he was injecting the anesthetic.  No joke it felt like 1,000 bee stings at once with every needle poke.  The injection of the medicine was excruciating pain, but I was so thankful for it after I was numb.  The entire procedure lasted about 30 minutes roughly.  They said I will be really sore and in pain for 24-72 hours and then the pain will slowly start to dissipate.  After that it should be 6 months to 2 years with no pain in that area at all. 

So my brother and I decided to go get lunch after I was done.  I figured I owed it to him to buy him lunch since he took the morning off work (for the second time) to go with me to my appointment.  I'm extremely thankful that my brother's boss is understanding and willing to let my brother do these things without much notice.  So we went to eat at Chipotle...which was amazing as always.  My brother drove me to his work and then I drove to my mom's house across town.  I could tell the double dose of zanex was starting to kick in so I needed to go home soon.  I live 30 minutes from my mom's house, 50 minutes from my doctor.  My mom asked if I wanted to have my stepdad drive me home and have my grandma pick him up.  I said no I'm fine.  She said do you want grandma to drive you home and have Cliff, her husband, follow you and pick her up.  I again said I'm fine to drive.  Little did I know, she could tell I wasn't fine, but I honestly thought I was fine.  My eyes were barely open and I felt 100% exhausted.  I just wanted to get home and go to sleep.  So I had a soda (that was unfortunately caffeine free) and some New Kids On The Block that is a high energy CD that I used to keep me awake.  I did fine until I made it to Chapman, which is the half-way point to my house.  After that I noticed my eyes started to get blurry and a couple times I was driving in the middle of the interstate (yep driving on the dotted white line).  I'm surprised other cars didn't call 911 and report me drunk.  I successfully made it home alive without killing anyone or myself.  I let the dogs out for 5 minutes to potty, and then we went to take a "nap."  I slept for 5 hours straight.  I woke up at 6:00 pm all confused as to why it was dark outside and why my clock was reading 6 pm.  I suppose that's what taking 2 xanex will do to you!  All 4 of my dogs slept with me during my nap.  My rottweiler laid next to my back, with his back up against mine so none of the dogs could accidentally kick me while we slept.  Since I woke up, I've been really sore, lots of pain on my right side (the side of the procedure), and I'm walking extremely slow.  I went to Dairy Queen for dinner because I couldn't stand the idea of standing in front of the stove cooking a meal in this kind of pain.  So I of course treated myself to a milkshake as well!  :)  Now that I have taken all my pills and my pain pill, I'm relaxing until I can fall asleep.  My dogs are being amazing, they are walking with me anytime I get up and move.  They are playing quietly for once and taking turns checking on me or sitting next to me.  I don't think I could ask for better caregivers!