Walking out East and an Epidural

Jim had a good day yesterday.  We had planned to ride the road bikes, but it rained during the night.  I hate riding on wet streets, the bikes don’t like it, either.  So we drove out east.  That’s Tiger Mountain, shrouded by clouds and fog.



Do you remember the TV show, “Twin Peaks”?  I never watched it, but I do remember the thing with the damn fine cherry pie.  This is the home of the cherry pie, Twedes.  It’s in North Bend.



We ended up at Rattlesnake Lake.  There are no rattlesnakes in this area, so it’s unknown as to why it’s called that.  It’s a pretty lake.  It’s on the edge of the Cedar River watershed, which feeds the Cedar River, which is the main source of water for Seattle.  There is a lovely walking path along the edge of the water.



The weather was trying to clear.



This is the former location of a town named Moncton.



In 1912, the city decided to build a masonry damn to increase water storage for a hydroelectric plant.  Construction was completed in 1915.  The dam was water tight, but the surrounding area was not.  The hill sides were scraped and formed by glaciers, and they leaked like a sieve.  Within two months, the town of Moncton was submerged, and Rattlesnake Lake was born.



Today was Jim’s birthday.  He was gifted with a very early get up, and a trip to Valley Medical for a steroid epidural.  It’s an interesting procedure.  The interventional radiologist had studied Jim’s x-rays and MRIs beforehand.  She used a hand held wand that emits x-rays.  It’s called fluoroscopy.  She could see the area in question in real time on a monitor.  They numb the area, and then inject steroid at the site of the pinched nerve.  It took about 15 minutes.  We were expecting a lot of pain and misery, but Jim reports it wasn’t terrible. The third push of steroid gave him a brief lightning bolt down the nerve in the leg, but it was brief.  A few hours later he has a dull ache at the injection site, but no real change in things.  If you find yourself in need of this procedure, you need not approach it with dread.

Hopefully this will improve things on the pain front.  Surgery is scheduled for August 22, we’re going to be here for awhile.