Birthing dudes too.

Yeah, they use it whenever they need to do something below the waist... They offered me one for my surgery in the Army... Of course after I said "sounds fine" then they throw in the little disclaimer about "...we _could_ hit a nerver in your spine crippling your forever..." Even half drugged I caught that part and said wait a sec....

A month or two ago, I didn't know that there were epidural for other purposes. An epidural is a shot into the spinal column. For women in childbirth it's for immediate pain relief or blocking (I don't know if there are two kinds- I saw reference to an epidural block). For Thomas, a disc in his lower back is leaking fluid which is very irritative to the nerve. The irritation radiates down his leg via the sciatic nerve resulting in intense pain. So they recommend cortisone which is the strongest anti-inflammatory. They can inject that and it's supposed to cause relief for up to 3 months. Giving Thomas the opportunity to take physical therapy and alleviate the problems causing the pain.

He didn't get the epidural yesterday. The physical therapist had indicated that he would likely get the epidural before seeing the Spine Clinic doctor. But we saw the Spine Clinic doctor. So he will get an epidural on Monday if not before. He's on some ASAP list. Meanwhile he got a mega dose pack of steroids.

Oh and for Tony's comment on potential paralysis. I learned yesterday that the spinal chord does not extend down to the L4-L5 lumbar area which is Thomas' problem area. In the lumbar region there are only nerve roots. So paralysis wouldn't occur but they could nick a nerve root and cause more pain.

Today's lesson has been brought to you by the letter 'Q' and the number '8'.