Today I am sharing my
experience of having a lumbar puncture.
Please bare in mind that I
am not a professional and that this post is only me sharing my
thoughts and feelings on the procedure.
So.
In January I was made aware by
my neurologist that I would need to go for a lumbar puncture at some
point in the next few months.
Eeek.
At this point in my life
my only knowledge of a lumbar puncture was what I had seen on House.
You know, people wincing
and crying. GREEEEEEEAT -__-
After a short-ish wait, I
got my appointment through.
It was about two-three
weeks before the actual day of - which was enough time for me to
contact anyone to ask any questions or to re-arrange it.
In the appointment letter
I received a leaflet of what to expect and what was going to happen.
I had been advised by my
neurologist that I may need to travel home by car as I may need to
lay down.
I sorted out my transport
and decided to get a lift home from the hospital.
My appointment was for 9am
*crying inside* so I was up
bright and early for a shower and planned enough time for me to have
something small to eat and try to chill out before having to leave.
I had to take my letter(s)
along with me and I decided to take a bottle of water as I had heard
that I would need to make sure I was hydrated afterwards.
I had to have other tests
on the day before my lumbar puncture,
but I'll leave those out of
this post as I'd like to try to be as concise as I can about the
lumbar puncture itself.
Before I knew it, it was
time to have the lumbar puncture.
I was shown to a bed on
the ward and only had to wait a very short time for the doctor to
come.
She introduced herself and
then began to ask me some questions regarding any medication I was on
etc.
She asked me if anyone had
spoken to me about the procedure to which I said no, so she then
began to discuss it with me.
The steps of what was
going to happen were explained to me and I felt in really good hands.
The doctor then went to
get the equipment.
I was asked to lay down on
my side, she helped me to make myself comfortable and got me in the
correct position for her to perform it.
Obviously I couldn't see
anything that was happening so I can only talk about what I felt.
I was asked to bring my
knees up towards my chest and then she lifted the back of my top.
She then wiped my back –
with whatever they use, like I said, I couldn't see it xD
The doctor had to feel
where my hips are
to which I obviously
responded with “good luck with that!” x'D
she
said that helps her find the correct area of my back.
I
could feel as she was pushing against my vertebrae, again I assume to
find the correct spot.
It
felt uncomfortable, it didn't hurt, just a bit uncomfy.
Once
she had done this several times she then said that she was going to
start injecting the local anaesthetic, some more closer to the
surface and some deeper inside so that I couldn't feel the procedure
being done.
It
felt like the sensation of a blood test – in my back though :/ - so
I felt the sharp sting and it going inside.
I know
that when I have a blood test, after the needle has settled in the
vein I can't really feel it anymore, well that sensation lasted a
little longer because I guess the needle had a little further to go.
After
a short while, (with more feeling of my hips and vertebrae) she began
with the lumbar puncture.
I felt
a short shooting kind of pain in my left leg.
I had
been aware that this may happen by the information leaflet and the
doctor had informed me of this before we started.
I let
her know, she asked which leg and said that it was good as it meant
we were in the right place.
After
a number of times of this happening I felt the pain stronger and for
longer in my leg, I told her and she said that the fluid had begun to
drain.
I
found myself concentrating on my breathing as a distraction.
The
pain didn't last very long after that, it became more of a dull ache.
She
let me know when we were half way through which was nice to know.
I was
only laying there like that for a further minute or two and then she
said that we were finished.
Throughout
I didn't feel pain in my back, it was only in my leg that I felt
discomfort.
I was
surprised by this as I had imagined that lumbar puncture is in the
back = my back will hurt during.
I had
to stay laying like that for a little while as she checked the area,
she said that I wasn't bleeding so a plaster was
applied.
I then
had to lie down flat on my back for 30-45 minutes as it can help to lower the chance of a headache.
I
actually saw the viles with the spinal fluid in which was pretty rad
:)
I
could feel the slightest ache in my back but nothing too bad at all.
After
about 30 minutes another doctor came to give me a blood test and said
that after another 10-15 minutes I could make my way home.
It was
stressed to me before I left how important it was for me to drink
water and to keep hydrated.
Fortunately
for me I'm pretty good with my water intake so this wasn't a huge
ask.
So
then we headed home :)
I had
been concerned about being able to shower the following morning and
the doctor told me that that wouldn't be a problem and that
as I
hadn't had any bleeding I would be able to remove the dressing and
have a shower
woop
woop
The
rest of the day my back felt tender so I didn't sit back fully in the
car on the way home I just sat to the side a bit and
the same for
when I got home when sat on the sofa etc.
I
didn't have any headache or backache bad enough for me to have to
take any paracetamol.
I drank quite a lot of water as I had been
advised, so I feel that that may have contributed to the lack of
headache.
When I
went to bed that night I slept on my side as my back was tender but I
noticed that towards the wee hours of the morning
I was able to sleep
on my back quite comfortably.
I got
up the next day with a similar feeling in my back, mostly noticeable
when bending etc. so I kept that to a minimum... bend with your knees
xD
I took
off the plaster and could only see a little red dot with a small
amount of redness around it, no bruising 👍
The
following day I continued to stay as hydrated as I humanly could.
I had
the most wonderful shower, washed and dried the area carefully and
was at home in my pjs for the day so I took it nice and easy.
The
days after were continued improvements with the backache
(I
wouldn't call it that is it wasn't enough to take anything for it,
but I cant think of a better word for it).
At the
time of writing this post I am 5 days post lumbar puncture and
basically feel as though I never even had it.
The
experience on the whole was much easier, straight forward and much
less scary than I thought it was going to be.
Every
doctor and nurse I came into contact with on that day were absolutely
fantastic, warm and helpful and
they truly made me feel like I was in
amazing hands... and I was :)
If I
knew someone who was going to be having a lumbar puncture tomorrow, I
would say that in my experience, yes it wasn't the nicest thing in
the world but it was nowhere near as bad as I had convinced myself it
would be.
On the
whole it will be something I remember forever and if I ever have to
have another one,
I wont be any where near as apprehensive or scared
as I was this time :)
At the time of posting this, my lumbar puncture was almost 4 weeks ago and it's as if I never had it :)
