Epidural placement

[Guest guest]

>> Thanks for sharing your story Sherry.

Would you be referring to post #108669? If so, I was happy to

report my experience, as I also enjoyed reading what others went

through. (BTW, my name is SheLLy, there is a SheRRy on the list and

I think it would be best if people didn't get us mixed up, lol).

Anyway, my theroy is that the more familiar a person is with the

procedures they will be experiencing, the easier it would be to go

through it themselves. Also, if a procedure is being done in an

entirely different way than expected, then the patient could ask

questions and find out why changes are being made.

>> I have only seen epidurals placed with the patient sitting bent-

over a little...

Unfortunately, I had only read one other story regarding the

epidural placement, plus the experience I'd had many years ago when

getting an epidural for a C-section. My previous epidural was done

with me lying on my side and rolled into a ball, and didn't really

hurt. The other epidural story I'd read was where the woman was

sitting up and bending over, and I didn't recall any mention of a lot

of pain then, either. So let's just say I was surprised this time.

(I hate surprises!)

Anyway, at one point I did ask if I could sit up for this, and

believe it or not, was told that it's just not done this way! They

said that laying flat is the only way to properly increase the space

between the vertebrae for ease insertion of the catheter. Another

person on another list posted that her catheter was placed while

sitting up, and she had her surgery done at the same place, so I

personally think that the Pain Management Team was just doing things

the way they wanted to, regardless of anything else.

I did report this to my surgeon (post #108839), and he said he'd

look into the matter, and that in cases of pain, I should have been

sedated under 'twilight sleep'. I can only assume that because

everything was in such a hurry, they didn't have time. Either way, I

won't allow another epidural again unless I'm sure that the pain can

be controlled.

Hugs,

Shelly