Spinal Taps and Google Maps. #Lupus

I had a spinal tap done yesterday. I had one about 5 years ago that went terribly. With that experience, I really wasn’t looking forward to having another one. Luckily, it went differently.

First off, I’m going to say that if you have to have a tap done, get it at a major city hospital where the doctor probably does dozens of them a week. The problem with my first tap was that it was done by a local doctor who didn’t have the confidence to do it, so she fucked it up. I’ve had ongoing weakness in my lower back since then. I don’t know what the hell she did back there, but I barfed afterwards and they had to give me Valium because I had a panic attack.

I was originally scheduled to go next Thursday, but my doctor called the hospital and they were able to squeeze me in yesterday morning. I was happy to get it over with rather than worry about it for a week.

If you’re nervous, and you have Xanax with you, take it before you check in. Once you’re admitted you’re not allowed to take anything. I learned that the hard way, and sat there with heart palpitations. I felt like I was in the waiting room for an eternity.

Some dude at the front desk told my mom she wasn’t allowed to be there with me. I panicked a little on the inside. My mom followed me back just to take my bag for me when it was time. The nurses and doctor didn’t say one word about her being there, and even offered her a chair. One of the nurses handed her some post-procedure information and said “here’s some bathroom reading”.

If you’re a funny nurse, it makes being a patient suck a lot less. Thank you for that, and be proud of it. It’s the little things, y’know?

I’m built like a feather, so I was able to lie down for the procedure. I was on my side, knees pulled up to my chest as far as they could go (apparently, I’m pretty flexible, despite feeling like the Tin Man most of the time). For my first tap, they made me bend over a table, which isn’t unusual, but lying down is much more comfortable. I recommend it, if you can choose. The nurses were really nice and reassured me that it wasn’t going to be as bad as I thought. The doctor came in and prepped my back, and made some jokes about having to do taps on people that weigh 300lbs. He used ultrasound to find the right spot (a technique that was not used the first time) and marked my back with a pen. They first injected the area with Lidocaine to numb it, which is honestly the worst part of the whole deal. It can really burn sometimes but it wasn’t too bad yesterday. This doctor really knew what he was doing. After they do that, the tap needle goes in. They used a pediatric needle, another thing I recommend. It takes longer but is less traumatic in the end. I didn’t feel pain really, but I wasn’t completely numb either, I felt everything that went on. When the needle goes in, you’ll feel a weird pop, it’s hard to describe, but not really painful. Just strange. Sometimes, some people get an electric shock pain that shoots down their leg and makes it kick. It happened to me the first time, but not this time. It can be painful. Somehow they managed to avoid it altogether yesterday. Once the needle is in, you can feel pressure in your lower back, but it wasn’t really painful. It is uncomfortable, though. As the fluid was being collected, I felt some tingling in my lower spine. The doctor had to ask me to relax because I was tensing up, making the fluid take longer to collect in the vials. It took a while anyway, because they used a really small needle, but given the choice, I’ll take the small needle over a big one. There was a point during the procedure where I thought I was going to panic, because reality set in and I remembered how it went the first time. I focused on this picture on the wall and started singing the lyrics to some song in my head. I can’t remember what the picture or song was now, but I managed to somehow talk myself out of the anxiety. I wasn’t able to count because I couldn’t see, but my mom said they took 5 vials that were fatter than your standard blood vials. The nurse said it was nice and clear, which is great news.

After I was done, I thought I’d have to lie on my back for an hour. Since the needle was so small, I was able to get patched up and go right home instead.

The ride home was hard. Traffic was stop-and-go for part of the way. After the adrenaline wore off, reality hit me and I just wanted to cry the whole way home. My back has been pretty sore on and off. I’ve also been having pain and tense muscles in my butt and legs. My neck has been pretty stiff. Spinal taps cause headaches in some people because it can create a small air bubble in your cerebrospinal fluid. Luckily, I haven’t had any major headaches, just small ones.

When I got home, I crashed. I couldn’t stay awake. I slept for about 2 hours. My body doesn’t handle stress well because of my adrenal insufficiency.

I’m not sure how long it will take my back to heal completely, but I have to keep the bandages on it for 2 days and skip showering to keep the puncture site sterile. My muscles are pretty sore. I can’t bend over or lift anything. I have a back brace to wear when the pain gets bad.

I will get the results when I go back to my rheumatologist in a couple weeks. He is looking for the cause of my chronic daily migraines. Even though the SPECT scan showed vasculitis, it didn’t determine the specific cause. The Rituxan does not seem to be helping at all. Once we get the results, we can figure out if the Rituxan was the right move, or if I need another lupus medicine.

I love you Mom.

On the way home from the hospital, I saw a Google Maps car. I’ve never seen one before so I was strangely excited about it.