This is Spinal Tap

Today I was admitted to Martha Jefferson hospital for round 3 of chemo. This week, there's a new treat in store for me - my first intrathecal chemotherapeutic treatment. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, intrathecal is the term which is used for 'spinal tap'. Yes, Spinal Tap, as in the band.

I have to admit, I've been a little freaked out about the prospect of getting this kind of procedure, but the doctors and nurses assured me (albeit sheepishly) that the procedure was easy and that the pain would be minimal.

On the first count they were pretty much right - I had no issues with the procedure - the guys in radiology are great and reassuring. Using an xray, they pinpointed the place where the needle would go. There was a quick pinprick with a local anesthetic to numb the area, and the rest was just me lying on my stomach while fluid drained into tubes for testing. I'm not sure when I get the results. The doctor then injected chemotherapy liquid into the spine. And that was it! Not much pain, nothing exciting. Afterwards, when the nurse asked me what my pain was on a scale of 1 to 10, I was able to say three.

So all was good - until around 2 pm- about 4 hours later. Something kicked in. Some pressure built up or something. Because at that point, my head began to hurt - then my shoulders - then my neck. Pretty soon, I had a much higher level of pain. We're working to treat it and some associated nausea now. Hopefully this will all be done and better tomorrow.

Right now - if were asked again, - I'd say, "It goes to 11" :)