GRATITUDES:
1. No longer being on the hook for taking my kids to driving school every morning.
2. The smell of dry grass once the sprinklers come on
3. A slight break in our heatwave
4. Having an in-depth conversation with my kid

Welp, I had good intentions over posting in a more timely fashion, but there’s that old saying. Road to hell and all that. So here we are.😄

I’m currently parked in the waiting area of the Radiology department of Methodist Hospital, in the “dungeons” once again, passing the time until I’m called for my bone marrow biopsy and intrathecal. I was told not to eat or drink anything after midnight last night and that didn’t go at all well. I’ve had one cup of coffee and a few small sips of water early this morning but nothing to eat, so I should still be okay for the sedation. I hope. I could just tough it out and have local-only anesthesia but those intrathecals can be NASTY. Honestly, what’s pleasant about having a needle inserted into your spinal column? Just thinking about it sets my teeth on edge. Nope, bring on the drugs. Hell, I’ll even take the fentanyl if it means I don’t have to feel much, although I may live to regret that. Opioids do weird stuff to me when I’m coming out of sedation. Wracking chills? Check. That may not sound like such a big deal but when you’re actually going through it, you begin to question all your life’s choices. Anyway, Rory’s with me to drive me home in the event that I’m still a bit loopy from the meds, so we’re good. He’s going to be bored out of his mind but it can’t be helped.

Bleeeeehhh… It’s been eight hours since I was given the little bit of sedative I was allowed and I’m still dragging. The biopsy and intrathecal went quickly and smoothly. I was done with both procedures in well under an hour and then spent another two hours, at least, flat on my back and snoozing in recovery. Because of the coffee I drank this morning I wasn’t allowed to have the Versed or Fentanyl that they were planning to give me for the pain so I basically had no painkillers at all. Two nurses asked me, “Do you have a high pain threshold?” Yep, guess so! Thankfully the doctors who performed the procedures were hardcore pros and I experienced very little actual discomfort. The worst part was hearing the bone drill start up but the sound of the CT scanning machine – a large electronic donut that I was stuffed into during the biopsy process – whirred loudly enough that it lulled me into a comfortable sort of stupor. In the case of the intrathecal, the doc didn’t even use any local anesthetic. There was just a quick sharp pinch and then the needle was in. No horrible searing nerve pain in my leg this time either, just the feeling of cold liquid running down my legs as the methotrexate was injected. So very, very weird.

All is good now and I’m about ready to paddle off to bed. I just made myself a cup of hot chocolate from scratch, so very tasty, and now I’m all warm and snuggly and ready to crawl under a blanket. I’m still feeling the effects of the meds so I probably won’t have any problem getting to sleep!