spinal tap
Todd’s big event for Friday January 16: spinal tap. And I mean that with lowercase “s” and “t”. Though I’m a huge fan of the band and the film, this was my first opportunity to get my very own spinal tap. Well, in all fairness, I did have one before (last Thursday in fact), but I was unconscious for it. So here was my chance to experience one live!
Preparation was simple but unpleasant. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight. I was supposed to show up at 11 AM at the outpatient surgery center, and so this only meant skipping breakfast. Once I got there, I did the usual routine of slipping out of my regular clothes into a hospital gown. This time they had little booties to help keep my feet warm, which was a nice touch. And I think I had 2 or 3 blankets on top of me because the place was so damn cold. I told the nurses how I was looking forward to going back to the Rocky Mountains where the weather’s warm.
They asked me a bunch of questions, took my vitals, put me on an IV, and then we sat in a holding pattern for a while. Once the anesthesiologist was ready with his previous case, they gave me some happy juice, cleaned up my back with antiseptic goop, and stuck me in the back with a needle.
The first needle was to numb the area so they could then put in the mother of all needles. Once that went in, they were able to take a sample of my spinal fluid (it looks like gin) and measure its pressure. Yesterday’s pressure was 22 mmHg, which is up 1 mmHg from the surgery. The goal is to have the pressure be in the mid-teens. So he drained off some fluid until my pressure was at 18 mmHg, pulled the needle out, gave me a band-aid, and sent me off to recover.
My only participation was to just breathe deeply when requested, so I had the easy part. The happy juice he gave me wore off fast, and when I was dressed in another 20 minutes I probably could have walked out under my own power, but they wheeled me out on a wheelchair per tradition. (The drive back to the hotel was less than 5 minutes and I walked from the parking lot to our room)
Beth made me a big lunch which I enjoyed in bed with a Coke and a smile. Later that afternoon, I had a nap for an hour or so. That evening, we went out for po boys! Yum!
It was another typical day in Todd’s journey: sleep, experience some new drugs, get a needle stuck in my spine, eat, sleep, eat some more.