My Experience

I was in the emergency room because I had an extreme and ongoing headache, muscle pain, light sensitivity, vomiting and the chills. The symptoms were consistent with the possibility of meningitis — inflammation of the protective membranes covering the spinal cord and brain — so the doctors advised that they perform a lumbar puncture.

I was at a teaching hospital, so an attending physician would supervise a resident who would perform the procedure. The attending told me that my role was the most important part of the procedure: that I needed to lay on my side in a fetal position with my chin tucked into my stomach and my knees pulled up towards my stomach. This position would give the best access to my spine. He also told me to lie very still. He said the total procedure would last approximately 20 minutes, and would include numbing my back, inserting the needle into the spine and collecting the fluid.

I was not happy about having the procedure done, but I knew it was important to get the proper diagnosis. I curled into the requested position and breathed deeply in a controlled manner to calm myself and help remain still. I do not like needles so I told both doctors that I didn’t want a play-by-play description about what they were doing: instead, I just wanted them to let me know as we moved through the different stages.

The resident finished preparing for the procedure and soaped up my back and disinfected the skin. She then used her fingers to find the correct spot on my spine and pressed down with a pen to mark the area. She was ready to start. The attending physician said “she is going to numb your back now and for the next 30 seconds we will not be your friends. I hope we can be friends after that.”

The resident then inserted a needle into my back to begin numbing it. The anesthetic stung and it was painful, but not as painful as I had anticipated and it only lasted for 10 seconds or so. I was glad that the doctor had oversold the duration of the pain.

The resident told me I was doing great and I really appreciated the words of encouragement. She continued to praise me throughout the procedure and it made a big difference; it boosted my sense of control and took my mind off what was going on.

She next inserted a needle into my spine but I only felt pressure. The hardest part now was holding still. She placed the needle correctly on the first try, which I was very happy about. After 5 more minutes, she announced that they were in and the hard part was over. Now the time would be spent collecting the fluid.

After another 8 minutes or so, she announced she was finished, withdrew the needle, and cleaned up my back. I then received a band-aid and was extremely grateful the procedure was over. Overall, it was not as bad as I had anticipated.