HIP

Pain sucks. Makes you second guess some things and makes you miss out on a lot of everything. Sure as hell makes you confront your mortality. And your insurance carrier.

MRI fee - $1,200.00
Cortisone Epidural - $1,500.00

I am an outpatient. I am thrust onto the streets of lower Manhattan into the blinding, steamy sunlight, without so much as a thank you, come again. Most patients never remember an epidural as childbirth follows, which from what I understand, pretty much trumps anything else, epidural or no epidural.

But I felt a man slide a 6" needle into my spine and flood it with sweet steroid. Then, just for shits and grins, I saw it on the x-ray monitor when he was done. Yep, a 6" needle. It was right there in stunning black & white.

Anyway, I am an outpatient on the streets and as I walk towards the 6 train, I can feel that needle and the Novocain needle (a mere 2" one) before it. Phantom needle sensation.

I wonder about sitting down on the train as it will bend my body at a 45 degree angle and that, I think, might break the needle in me.

The theory is this: my left sciatic nerve (as a result of repeated lower left back trauma) is being traumatized by some muscular swelling that the cortisone will relax. The theory continues that this is successful in 99% of the cases and I am a "clinical" example. The theory leaves me with the promise that I should feel "dramatic" results in three days. Well, nothing dramatic has happened, although there has been a noticeable lessening of the nerve spasms that would make me want to amputate my left leg.

As I stated at the outset, this kind of experience makes you want to do nothing. So I haven't done anything.

Darenzia, damaged, from last July. It was too hot for a neck brace...

Testing...testing...1...2...1...2...