I am writing to suggest to you that maybe you could get your doctor to
perform a myelogram to get spinal fluid, rather than the lumbar puncture.
When I had my spinal tap, everybody on the fourth floor knew I was having
it(from the screaming). Then afterwards, they made me lie absolutely flat on
my back for a number of hours. When a new doctor suggested that he wanted
another spinal tap, I told him anything but that. He told me that he had a
much easier method of extracting spinal fluid, and it is not even painful. He
was right.
They put you under an x-ray machine, so that while they are inserting the
needle, they can see exactly where the needle is going, rather than poking
and prodding to find the place to go. They extract the fluid, then you go
into the recovery room for about an hour, then go home. You do not lie flat
on your back, rather you are sitting up almost immediately. Although, they
did not mention to me until I was going home, that I had to stay in a sitting
up position and NOT lie down for about 8 hours. So I spent the night
semi-propped with pillows. Which was a LOT better than the spinal tap.
I'm sorry I have no other experience with what you are going through, but
maybe the spinal tap can be a bit less of a problem for you to have to go
through. Keep us posted.
Debbie
dcapen(AT)ivic.net