Technology came to my rescue today.. I suffer from reduced disc spaces in my spine, pinching a nerve from my right leg, causing me to wake up 3-4 times in agony every night (sitting on the bed for ten minutes each time reduces the pressure) and unable to stand up for more than 5 minutes at a time. While I didn't hurt while sailing my TI, pack up time back at the ramp was taking over an hour, as I had to sit down after every task (still, the view of the TI was not unpleasant LOL)
So yesterday the radiologists (conveniently just across the road from me) slid me into a CT scanner, and the doc then used the scanner to guide a huge needle precisely into a tiny gap between two vertebrae, to inject cortisone into the confined space where the nerve passes through. (I have highlighted the needle, as some of it was on the next "bacon slice" of the CT scan)
While the local anaesthetic is still working as well as the cortisone, it is awesome to be able to stand up straight for the first time in months. Realistically however, the effect of the cortisone alone will only last about six months, and then surgery is probably inevitable. But hey, I just got my summer back!
Tony (relieved!)
