On 3/15, I had 4 levels of lumbar spine done and on 3/29, I got the SI done. I've had both procedures done before (once for lumbar and 3 previous times for SI) and never had anything happen other than pain/inflammation for the short term and pain relief for the long term. This time was different.
Got through lumbar part pretty well 2 weeks ago. Got through the procedure for SI well, but then it got weird. No different meds (other than I was on Humira this time as opposed to Enbrel the last time). Never had trouble laying on my stomach for 1 to 1.5 hrs before either. Always abide by the 'NPO' instructions and never have anything but a sip for a pain pill (ok) before my procedure. At the end of the procedure, doc said I spoke up and said I felt weird (I don't remember this completely due to the Versed). She said she asked me to elaborate, but I could only tell her I felt weird. Then said my throat hurt and my nose hurt. She thought it might be nausea and gave Zofran and turned me on side. Then got moved to recovery and she ordered chest xray and EKG, then went to talk to my hubby since I was delayed. (It must be tough to get good information from a patient on Versed and Fentanyl...LOL)
All that stuff was normal and I was feeling better and more alert as meds were cleared out of system. After 2 hrs in recovery, they let me go home. At that point, I gathered ice packs, retired to my recliner and watched TV the rest of the afternoon/evening. Then phone rang about 8pm. I didn't get to it in time to answer, but saw it was a blocked caller. Voicemail pinged and I went ahead and listened to what I figured was a wrong number. It was my dearly appreciated pain doc!!!! I called the office and left message with answering service and gave them my number. She called me back, saying she was concerned and wanted to make sure I was doing okay. She guesses it was a small bout of reflux, but xray showed no aspiration and my heart was fine. O2 was still hooked up and my O2 sat was 100% throughout. I told her I was planning on resting the rest of the night, but had to work Saturday. She said if I had to go home early, let her know and she would write a letter excusing me.
I worked the whole shift and only got sore...not too bad. Today, however, much more sore and stiff.
Off Monday and back to work Tuesday. Great doc, huh?
