Well, that was a little more involved than I was thinking, but ultimately not a really big deal. I get to the Dr’s office, and get shown into the “sterile” room - big fancy chair to lay in, et cetera. I had been thinking that this was just a fancy type of shot, more like a tetanus booster, so I start to get a little … concerned.

The nurse took my vitals, gave me the ever-so-classy paper shorts to change into, and was kind enough to bring me a couple of magazines to read while I waited. After I’d changed, she came back in and liberally coated my right knee with iodine, explaining that not only did she need to get the injection site, but since Dr. McCarty would be wearing gloves, this gave her a sterile place to rest her hands while she worked.

After the doc came in, she had me lay on my left side and run the iodine down further towards the back of my knee. We talked about my runs, my knee, and my asperations for Sunday. Then she injected me with some novocaine/lidocane solution - a little prick, but not bad. She explained that she would mix some of it in with the cortisone to act as an additional pain-killer.

Then the big needle. Not that big, actually, but certainly bigger than the last one. I just stared at the wall ahead of me, gripped the edge of the table, and tried to keep breathing slowly and steadily. She was going to slide the needle underneath the IT band, and into the bursa sack beneath it that was swelling up. The initial entry wasn’t a big deal, but every now and then she’d hit a nerve. Not extremely painful, and just momentary, but it was hard not to twitch. She took a while getting the needle in and out, it was probably in for a minute or two total, but all told it wasn’t that bad of an experience. She did say that this was much easier than actually going inside a joint. The iodine was cleaned off, a bandaid applied, and I was ready to go. No special after-care, just keep it clean, ice it if it hurts or swells, and be careful.

So - that should take care of the bursa swelling, and tomorrow’s massage should take care of the remaining stiffness. If all goes well, I should have no problems with the knee on Sunday! All that I have between now and then is an upper-body workout at 2pm today, and a 3 mile run tomorrow (probably on the treadmill if it continues to rain like it has been) - then its all downhill to the big day. Wish me luck!

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