With apologies to Neil Young, it's a case of out of the arm, and into the back. That's probably enough of the song lyric mash-ups too. The blood patch is a procedure where they draw some blood out of your arm, and inject it into the spot where they previously did the lumbar puncture (or epidural block, or whatever). The blood congeals, and closes up the hole in the dura and thus stops the CSF leak. That's what is supposed to happen, and the good news is that it worked! The headache subsided after a short time and have all but gone. I've been resting all weekend, and looking forward (not!) to another infusion on Monday.
I found the protocol differences between Australian hospitals and the Mayo clinic to be quite interesting. At the Mayo, lumbar punctures for the purpose of extracting some CSF are mostly done by a technician without the aid of imaging, and they only require you to rest for 30 minutes following the procedure. When I had mine done earlier this year, they did it under x-ray to make sure they found the right spot. It could be my neuro requested that because he knows how much I hate needles, and to make the experience less uncomfortable. The other thing they do here is make you lie flat for 2-4 hours afterwards, to ensure the hole closes, and minimize risk of a CSF leak.
This might just mean that my Mayo Clinic experience is finally over, some days after my return. Have been reflecting on the whole thing, and will post about that shortly.
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