About Us

My photo
In 1977 we hired our first narrowboat from Anglo Welsh at Market Harborough.From that moment our destiny was set. In 2006 we finally purchased our own brand new 57' narrowboat which we named 'Free Spirit'. Our aim is to travel the length and breadth of all the navigable rivers and canals of the UK. This will be our story as it unfolds.

Thursday 15 December 2011

Caudal epidural injection

For many years I have suffered from sever pins and needles down my left leg especially with standing. Its not painful but the discomfort is extreme. As my condition has slowly become worse this last year I finally decided to do something about it. I am so glad I did. My consultant told me I wasn't unique and that a course of injections would sort my problem out. First he sent me for an MRI which confirmed his diagnosis of narrowing of the tubes carrying the nerves to my leg. His words were " Our bodies are not very good in reducing swelling after an injury unless it has a little help" The help he referred to was steroids injected into my lower spine just above the coccis. Yesterday I had my first one. I was a little worried as you can imagine but the procedure took less then a minute and on the pain scale of 1 - 10 it was about a 3. I had to stay in the day centre for another 2 hours just to make sure nothing nasty was about to happen like my leg going to jelly or my bladder and bowels doing strange things ( Not sure what strange things they were on about but as nothing happened I didn't worry about it.) Ian came and fetched me from Derby hospital with strict instructions that I wasn't allowed to do anything other then rest. ( This I was going to make the most of. ) I cant say that I didn't have a few funny episodes. First one came in the form of hundreds of insects running up and down the muscles in my leg. A very weird sensation. Then my left foot started to throb and I experienced quite a nasty bout of pins and needles down the lower part of my leg. Thankfully none of this lasted more then 30 minutes and after that I have felt 100% better and this after only the first injection!! If anyone reading this has similar symptoms I recommend going to see the Doctor about referring you to a spinal consultant. I can truly say that I cant wait for the 28th when I go for the second injection because as far as I'm concerned I am well on the way to being cured!!!

Christmas has finally made it to our boat in the way of a small but perfectly formed Christmas tree. This year Ian has decided to become a bit more festive.  2 Santa's are already stuck in the windows and tomorrow the  external fairy lights will illuminate the outside of the boat. Hopefully the punters frequenting the Steamboat opposite will be suitably impressed!

No comments:

Blog Archive