Spinal tap #5...yay.

So, yesterday I had my fifth of six total spinal taps. This was only the fourth in which on top of removing spinal fluid for analysis, they also injected chemo directly into the final fluid to make sure there are no lymphoma cells in my spinal fluid. As you may have read in previous blogs, I do not do well with spinal taps for the most part. There was only one in which I did not get what they call a spinal headache. This is in response to the spinal fluid being removed from the spinal column. Then when you stand up the fluid runs out of your brain to fill the void in the spinal column. Thus your brain has no fluid cushion and therefore rests directly on your skull...which, as I'm sure you can imagine, is not pleasant. Take every headache, migraine, etc. you've ever had and multiply it by a hundred and you're getting close. The last spinal tap I had before yesterday I contracted what doctors call chemically induced meningitis. This is, as my feeble brain understands it, a type of meningitis caused by the harshness of the chemo that was given during the procedure. This landed me in the hospital for ten days, and could only be treated with massive amounts of steroids. So my doctors decided that this time , not only were they going to try a different kind of chemo, they were also going to "throw every drug they could think of at me", in hopes of stemming any headaches, caused by meningitis or not. So they put me on a five day regiment of steroids, and upped my dosage of anti-seizure meds as seizures have been known to result from messing with the spinal column and brain...go figure. They also had me come in to the clinic today to receive two liters of fluids..we all know how I love getting fluids intravenously. But they sped it up today, so I was only there for four hours instead of eight.

As you all know, I am what you may call a medical anomaly. Whereas the body is supposed to completely replace your spinal fluid every hour and a half or so, my spinal headaches have never started until 36-48 hours after the procedure. So we've reached this crucial threshold...everyone wish me luck. I'm hoping that I'm going through the worst of it now...which has been almost constant hiccups for about the last 24 hours. My guess is this is caused by the steroids and/or extra doses of the anti-seizure meds...I'm hoping. Hiccups have also been known to precede migraine headaches. Yippee. So who knows what the hell is gonna happen.

Sorry this blog was not riddled with humor or wit, but I'm just a wee bit nervous as to what will happen in the next 24 hours or so. I just wanted to give you all an update as to what's been going on with me lately. And to quote the famous Bartles and James ads from the 80's, "and we thank you for your support.". I know, some of you may be too young to remember those, but I'm convinced at least some of you will get that one. Until next time folks!