December 17, 2001 I had my MRI of the brain (this time he included the spine) done on the 6th and saw the Neurologist on the 11th. Turns out I have Multiple Sclerosis. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I have two lesions on my brain and one on my spinal column. I am having a Lumbar Puncture done tomorrow. The neurologist has prescribed copaxone injections for me. I have mail order prescription coverage with my insurance. Once I get it I will have someone come to my house to teach me how to do it. I see the neurologist again on January 11, 2002. I still have nerve pain in my right thigh and right arm. It's a burning pain from the inside out. I didn't get too much info from the doc, he just gave me some brochure and a video. I've been to some really great informative site on the web, but right now I'm so new at MS I have information overload. I have to say I'm terrified!

December 20, 2001 Well I had the lumbar puncture done. That was very scary. At the hospital a nurse took all my vitals and history then I was taken to radiology where I changed into one of those beautiful hospital gowns. I had to lay on my stomach on the hard x-ray table, that hurt so bad. My chest, hips, knees and feet were killing me. The tech explained what would happen and how long it should take. I told him I could never lay perfectly still on that table. I got another pillow to put under my chest, that helped a little. The Doctor came in and explained it all again. I told him how much it hurt to lay like that, he agreed we needed to do something. They put a big fluffy towel under my knees and feet. They started by cleaning my back with betadine and then they used a machine (sorry I don't know the name of it) that showed my spine on a monitor. The Doc said we needed to open up my spine, I immediately panicked! but he explained that they would put a special curved foam type pillow under my rib cage and that would help to open up my spine. He should have said a rock type pillow, it was so hard. Anyway that did the trick. First came the injections for deadening the area. Tiny little sting then pressure as it is put deeper in. He injectes, waits about 10-15 seconds then goes deeper in. This is repeated three times, I kept thinking it was going to come out my belly button. He waited about 3 minutes and then started with the other needle. I could feel it, he stopped and did another injection to deaden the area more. He said everyone was different and need different amounts.

Once the procedure started I had no pain, except from the table against my bones. The doctor needed to fill 5 vials with spinal fluid and it took from 5-10 minutes to fill each vial. They raise the table to a 45 degree angle so the fluid would fkow faster. Of course this made me very nauseous, so he lowered the table a little. The doctor said sometimes the pressure from the foam/rock pillow against the rib cage can do that. The table being lowered slowed the fluid rate so once it passed they raised the table again. By the time the last one was filled I was in agony. Next I was moved to a real bed and a recovery room where I was told to lay still and flat for 4-6 hours. This was not a problem. I just closed my eyes and went to sleep.

I have several bruises on me, one along my rib cage and one on each knee. This was just because I am so boney!! The next two day were ok, no pain or problems. But on the third I got a headache. It kept getting worse by the minute. By Friday afternoon I was in bed unable to do anything. I called the Doctor and he sent me to the hospital. I was given an injection in my spine called a blood patch. It still took another two day before I could stand without getting sick. Christmas was nice and quite. I see the neurologist again on January 11, 2002. I'll let you know how it goes.
Till later-
~Jan~

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