Mattie’s in town for the weekend! We spent Thursday night watching cartoons, and Friday night on a game/movie night with friends. Today we’re having very different sorts of days, but I think we’re both having the time of our lives. Mattie’s off at a podcast convention, or “pod-con” to follow after the comicon naming scheme (“podca-con” if you care about syllable count). This convention is the whole point of her visit here, and I’m sure she’ll share all about it in her own AnderSync.
I, on the other hand, have spent my day watching The Office and eating orange chicken. Just showered at 3:30pm, and that only for the heck of it. There was an option to go on a YSA cruise/dance thing this evening, but that would’ve ended up taking like five hours of my already packed day. Opted instead to see about getting a small group of friends together to see Justice League this evening, but half-way hoped no one could come and I’d just end up seeing it on my own; haven’t done that in a while, but I’ve heard it’s awesome.
Thankfully no one took me up on the offer, since it now appears a friend I haven’t seen in a while is putting on a low-key game night tonight, so I’ll be going to do that instead, which I far prefer to spending the night on a packed rowdy boat with almost no-one I know. Sometimes I just have to let the hermit out.
I’ve skipped over quite a bit, so, photo essay time. First up, Thanksgiving!
Miscellaneous game nights / Ugly Christmas Sweater contests:
Mattie’s office tour yesterday:
Lighting up the Cross Kirkland Corridor last night: (an event put on in collaboration between Google and Kirkland)
Tomorrow evening I fly out for one last California work trip. I return Thursday morning; a week after that I fly back to Utah for Christmas / New Years, for a well-deserved break.
Oh, totally forgot about my injection procedure earlier this week. On Wednesday morning I went in to get some corticosteroid injected into my lower vertebrae, to relieve irritation of the nerve root caused by my slipped disc. An MRI revealed that the disc is still quite herniated, so my spinal specialist recommended the injection. I wasn’t allowed to drive myself back to my apartment after the procedure, so I had to arrange for one of my friends who’s currently unemployed (by choice) to come pick me up from the clinic. This presented a bit of a logistical issue, since I’d then need another ride to retrieve my car. I resolved it by just walking to the clinic that morning to begin with; it was only ~25 minutes.
I was presented with the option to receive sedative via IV. While the procedure itself was billed as quite pain-free, many understandably get squeamish over needles going into their spine. I was in that boat, and elected for the sedative. I was then given a laundry list of sedative-specific advice: I may experience amnesia, I should not care for anyone else, make legal decisions, or operate heavy machinery; it was highly recommended that I have someone with me all day to make sure I didn’t hurt myself, as I’d be loopy until the next morning.
At this I asked, “How painful did you say the procedure was?” With the assurance that the only pain would be from an initial local anesthetic injection, I opted out of the sedative. They still inserted a short IV attachment into the back of my hand, just in case there arose complications and the need to rapidly deliver drugs to my system, or in case I chickened out and re-opted for the sedative during the procedure.
A nurse led me to a room with a table and a large C-shaped X-ray machine. This made much more sense to me than the expensive X-ray table I’d envisioned in my head. One end of the X-ray device goes beneath the table, the other above my back, so the physician can get a live view of what’s going on in there.
More properly, the device is referred to as a “fluoroscope”. When I asked what made this device “fluor-ish”, neither the nurse, physician, or X-ray technician knew, only that it referred to the “live-view” functionality of the system, as opposed to having to get still-shots developed. I’ve since learned that the first iterations of this type of device got their live view functionality from a fluoride screen that interacts with X-rays shot through a patient’s body. Primitive by today’s standards, where we have image enhancers, cameras for recording, etc.
Before they laid me down on the table, the doctor asked to confirm which side was causing the most distress. I indicated my left side, as I’d been experiencing what I thought could have been neurological muscular weakness in my left calf muscle – ever since this all started I’ve needed to focus much harder on getting that ankle to support my entire weight, as opposed to my right ankle, when raised on the balls of my feet. However, I admitted that I’d never been able to be sure if it wasn’t some muscular atrophy thing. She had me demonstrate, then immediately nodded definitively, “Yep, that’s neurological.” Wish I would’ve thought to ask what signs she was looking for.
Side note, I also really wish I’d asked the doctor about her uniform/outfit; she looked like she could’ve come out of an operating room 50 years in the future. I think the effect was basically from the fitted X-ray-proof gown, but it was still cool.
Anyways, the doctor then took a pen and marked my left side, just for safety – wouldn’t want to accidentally get things switched up once it was time to actually do the thing. They laid me face-down on the table, positioned the fluoroscope, then started with the anesthetic. That was the only pain I felt, and it was indeed brief.
The next step was to insert a longer needle and deliver some contrast dye, which is not meant to interact with any of the tissue, merely the X-rays passing through, giving the doctor an idea of where things lie, where the steroid would flow once delivered, etc.
Finally, the steroid was injected. The doctor said I’d feel a bit of pressure, and as much as I hate the term for its generality, it’s the best description of the sensation; another term might be “internal swelling”. Apparently this is caused by the medication “pooling”, before dispersing into the epidural space of the spine. I could tell there was some nerve stuff going on, since I could also feel this pressure in the back of my thigh, nowhere near the operating site.
About ten minutes after the procedure began, it was over. The doctor said I earned a “gold star.” I was rolled over onto a gurney and wheeled into a recovery area, while my ride was called. They’d forbidden food or drink for six hours prior to the operation (part of why I wanted to do it in the morning), so they offered me food and drink while I waited. Before discharging me they had me carefully walk around the floor for a bit to evaluate my lower motor control. I could feel some tingling, and I wasn’t super steady on my feet, but I definitely was far more able to get around than the nurse seemed to think. Coulda totally driven myself home afterwards, but I understand the need to protect against lawsuits from irresponsible patients.
Spent the rest of the day in my apartment, alternatively working remotely and watching Netflix. A good day overall. The procedure is billed as taking around five days to come into effect, so we’ll see how well I feel in the next few days.