Baclofen Trial Day 1

Tomorrow is the second and most important of the three day Baclofen trial.  I arrived at the rehab hospital around noon today and was taken to my room soon after.  My vitals were taken by the NA and my nurse came in to ask me a lot of questions to assess my needs, history of falls, present/past illness, etc.  My doctor came by to check-in and drew a pattern on my back to serve as a guide tomorrow morning.  I also met with PT who assessed my baseline so they would have something to compare to after I got the medicine into my cerebral spinal fluid.  I will have an IV placed after I take my night meds.  My dad is here and we are getting ready to watch the Home Run Derby, which means the All-Star Game is tomorrow night.  We are celebrating by eating Cracker Jacks.  Our back lab was named Cracker Jack, by we shortened it to Jack because I thought it would be a mouthful saying, "Cracker Jack, come!"

(He doesn't have a ball in his mouth, that's just how it tongue came out.)

The real action ;) starts bright and early tomorrow morning.  I was told I would be woken at 5am and I think my doctor said the procedure would begin at 7am.  I should be back here in my room by 9am.  PT told me I would be checked every hour to see how well, or not well the trial worked.  My doctor said the medicine should reach it's peak at around 1 or 2pm, but I will be checked hourly to see how I do at the beginning, middle and end.  I will receive 50mcg tomorrow and there is a chance I will not get any effect.  If that is the case, they can do 100mcg at a later date.  Baclofen is a muscle relaxant so there is a chance it will relax certain muscles that I need such as the ones in my bladder and colon.  If the intrathecal (cerebral spinal fluid) Baclofen interferes with these muscles I may decide to not go further, but only time will tell.