Mary,
What an ordeal. I am sorry you had to go through that.
I have heard of other people needing to have the blood patch redone.
It just sounds like your epidural injection was not done with fluoroscope. Epidurals can be done with not that much pain involved. They have been painful for me and I have had five done, but I never experienced a cerebral spinal fluid leak. I just experienced side effects from the steroid and a couple of days of increased back pain and then I was back to my baseline.
I know you are new to all of this, but epidurals and facet blocks can be relatively painless (not completely painless, but tolerable) and some people can get great relief.
It just sounds like you had an inexperienced operator and unfortunate circumstances. I am glad you didn't have a stroke and I am sure you were terrified that you were having one. My last four injections were done with sedation and i was surprised how much easier they were to tolerate. I would recommend experience, fluoroscope and sedation.
K
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