I'm sorry your life turned out so hard, Eugene.

Ok so on Thursday, I had cortisone injected right on my little nerve root. I didn't go into much detail about it the other day because I was in a hurry. I heard a lot people say they have had these injections and they were very painful. Like painful to the point of crying. I didn't really want to take any "relaxing" drugs or pain meds but they (nice nurse people) thought maybe I should go ahead and get doped up because of my *cough* blood pressure. So I was sitting in that little waiting room with a little Versed in me thinking about the agony and screaming that I'd soon be experiencing. When my time came, I was a little disappointed. They had a screen up in front of me and if I craned my neck around, I could see the x-ray of my back and see the needle poking around in there. I thought he had laid the needle on my back before he got started. That's what it looked like anyway but that needle... that HUGE needle was actually poking around inside me and I didn't even know it until he injected the medication. And that really didn't hurt. It felt like someone squirted ice water into my back and I felt it get cold all the way down my leg. Not my whole leg, just where that nerve went. On Friday, there was no change really. My back/leg hurt easier than before but no worse. I had given up hope but when I woke up Saturday morning, something seemed different. It took me a while to figure it out. When I got out of bed, I was standing straight up. That was what was different. Every morning for over two years, I've gotten out of bed and could not stand up straight. It was freakin' weird! I would say my pain has decreased 90% in these last two day. I haven't even had to take a Tylenol! (except for a headache.) Out of habit, I'm still trying to stand leaned forward a little but when I realize I'm doing it, I can actually straighten up to my full 5'2" height. Yay (so far)!