The dreaded lumbar puncture!

Monday 16th was the day of my lumbar puncture, and it's fair to say I was somewhat nervous!

I arrived at the neurologists office for my 8.30am appointment. My back was cleaned with Betadine, then numbing medicine was given via a shot, and that stings so much they should give you a pre-numbing shot!! HAHA! Then a small needle was inserted between the vertebrae and I immediately felt a lot of pressure down my left leg, so I told Dr Adams that and he removed the needle and reinserted it.

It didn't take long to collect the CSF, when the procedure was over he showed me the four vials and I was very surprised to see how clear it was, just like water. So that was it, nothing much to complain about really! I was then told to go home, and lie down for 6 hours and drink a lot of caffeine! Apparently this helps avoid the dreaded Lumbar Puncture headache which is incredibly painful. After lying down in the doctor's office for about 45 minutes, I had to go to another office to have some blood drawn and then Chuck took me home where I spent the rest of the day lying in bed, swigging copious amounts of Coke!

I don't normally drink anything with caffeine in, and I paid for it during the night! Although I was tired I slept poorly! My back was sore and I slept for an hour and had to get up to pee, slept for another hour, had to get up and pee, slept for two hours, asked Chuck to get me some painkillers! It was a long night and I felt terrible the next morning, so Chuck called in sick and stayed home to help out with the boys.

Now I have to sit and wait. The CSF is sent to Minnesota and the results will take about ten days or so to come back. And right now I don't really care if I do have Multiple Sclerosis, I just want to start on the correct medicine for me, and start to feel better and be able to do things again!