It was a real experience!
Got there at 6:30AM and they started the prep.
Anesthiologist came in and talked about the spinal and the anesthesia. I told him I would prefer to just be sedated and he and the nurses said "No you don't". I said I knew the placement of a few needles would be unpleasant but it would be OK. At that point they said it was going to be 18 needles and the placement had to be precise and I had to be under. That convinced me.
I woke up around 10:45 as they were removing the tubes that connected to the needles. I could see the reflection from a screen and it looked lke a bunch of spaghetti coming from my perenial area. They then moved me to a post-op area and said we would do the second zap around 2:30. I had to remain very still to avoid causing the needles to shift. The spinal started wearing off and they asked me to try to flex my toes and ankles. No problem with that but as expected I got some pretty uncomfortable lower back pain.
They took me back in and I got to watch the reflection as they reconnected the tubes. The actual radiation treatment took about 30 minutes and then another disconnect session. Still no major problems until the doc said "OK, this will be unpleasant, please stay as still as possible." When he pulled the needles out it felt like my testicles had been hammered. I casually mentioned that to him and he said that was pretty normal.
Then it was back to postop and waiting for my legs to start working again. We finally got out of there @ 5:30 (with a cathater still attached) and told me to come back the next morning to get it out.
Everything went pretty well until about 8:30 and then I started having bladder spasms. I tried to tough it out but by around 9:30 I chickened out and called him. He said the only thing to do was take it out but if I could not pass urine I would have to get another put in. He talked me through removing it and said keep him informed. I had to go to the bathroom about every 30-45 minutes all night long and could pass small amounts but it was not fun.
I am VERY sore but it gets better as time progresses.
I get to do it again next Monday and now that I know what to expect, I really dread it. I talked to the doc earlier this afternoon and he said they would use a drug to try to avoid the spasms this next time. I can only speculate on how sore I will be this time next week.
Now that I have vented.........I know it will be worth it. It IS going to work.
Bill