Spinal Injection Day

Last Friday was the first spinal injection.  I will be having eight stem cell treatments while here – 3 IV injections and 5 spinal injections.

There was a lot of buzz around this first spinal injection (Have you had a lumbar injection before? Is this your first time? Are you nervous? – all followed by Ah, don't worry!). Well of course I was a bit worried...I had no idea what to expect.  I ended up learning what was going to happen as it happened, and the entire process unfolded a little like something out of the Twilight Zone.

The process started at 1pm, at which point I was no longer allowed to eat or drink anything prior to the procedure.  At 3pm the nurses came by my room to start an IV.  Prior to every treatment they do an IV and give you a dose of dexamethasone (to help prevent side effects).  Then there was a bit of waiting (a lot of waiting).  Around 5pm, the nurses came by again and had me swallow a little purple pill (I later learned this was Xanax - to help me sleep afterwards), and then they wheeled me upstairs to the mysterious 4th floor.  We waited in the hallway with several staff and a few other patients...waiting to go behind the closed doors to which various staff members kept coming in and out.  Finally, it was my turn.

Behind the closed doors was a standard operating room...with several masked men (my Xanax was starting to kick in at this point – it all seemed a little surreal).  They hoisted me onto a gurney, had me lie on my side in a tight fetal position, and then did the injection.  They first do an injection of an anesthetic, which hurt for a second but wasn't that bad, and then I felt nothing else after that.  The first spinal injection includes a small withdrawal of your own spinal fluid for testing, followed by the injection of the stem cells.  The total time for the procedure was about five minutes and before I knew it I was lying flat and being wheeled away on the gurney back to my room.  It's important to lay flat for at least four hours immediately following the procedure – to allow your body to realign itself after the disruption of fluid in the spinal column.  So a team of nurses brought me back to my room and transferred me to my bed to rest.  Fortunately for me, I fell right asleep and woke up four later...at 10pm...very ready for dinner!

All in all, I think the anticipation of the event was worse than the actual event...and the best part is, now I know what to expect!