woozy medical update: not for the squeamish

Thursday: The swelling in my lower back ballooned to twice what it was yesterday, perhaps due to all the prodding and poking from the various medical professionals who assessed my condition. I called the physician's assistant this morning and she had me come into the office today. My doctor was there, so he stepped in to look. We all decided to extract the fluid, and see what happens before "taking more aggressive action."

One numbing injection, two large gauge needle pokes, and seven syringes later, I surveyed a row of syringes filled with 163 ccs of straw yellow colored fluid that had been in my body. The PA had to leave the room two or three times to get more syringes; she was surprised at how much fluid she could extract.

"We all agree, you're a unique case," she said.

"So I've been told," I replied.

After the first extraction and needle poke, she had to use another needle and just screw the syringes on one after the other. So I lay on my side in a pool of this stuff that oozed out of the needle holes. She stopped extracting when the puncture stopped oozing and the suction started to make an audible sucking sound.

I looked up measurement conversions at OnlineConversion.com (http://www.onlineconversion.com/) to see what 163 ccs amounts to in more easily understandable measurements. That's over 5.5 ounces, if that gives you a better idea of how much that is. Icky. It makes me woozy to think of it.

"That's a sight I won't forget," I said on my way out.

I was directed to go home and lie down flat for the rest of the day and tomorrow to try to avoid the dreaded spinal headache. If I DO get a spinal headache, then we have a clue that there may yet be a slow leak. The yellow color of the fluid indicates that it has been there for a while in the same state; I wonder if they have a medical term for "stagnant." If it had been clear that might have indicated a probable leak. It's not good, it's not bad, it's what it is.

I suspect all of this is WAY too much detail to post, but there it is. There you have it.