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Dimnos · #76

It used to be a show about popping pills. But nooooo they had to go and clean that up.

Kitsa · #77

Spinal taps I've had aplenty, and they're not that bad. In my opinion, the worst part of a spinal tap is the vulnerability. There's a bad moment of anxiety as your back is swabbed and you feel the paper shield being affixed. There's a slight stinging sensation from a superficial anesthetic shot, the old "bee sting". The actual tap doesn't hurt, but you can feel the sensation of the needle in your intervertebral space and that's definitely unpleasant and oogy. That's the second part of the procedure I dislike.

The third comes about half an hour to two hours afterward, when you may or may not get an excruciating headache. Mine have always been in my forehead and you feel like if you could just shove your head into something hard enough, the pain might be relieved. Sometimes it makes you puke. But it eventually goes away.

Having had the unpleasant honor of comparing the two, I can tell you that it's not nearly as big a thing to fear as a bone marrow aspiration.

I've had enough big bad tests to know the warning signs that things will get ugly.

1) If they tell you that you might feel "discomfort", it will be unpleasant. If they tell you that it'll be "unpleasant", it'll hurt. If they tell you it'll "hurt", it will hurt like hell.

2) The more people in the room that are necessary for the procedure, the worse it will be for the patient. If there are non-nurse techs present, they know something about holding you down that you haven't seen coming.

3) Wrapped surgical bundles fresh from the autoclave are never a good sign if you think you're going in for an easy little test.

4) A big audience of physicians is a bad sign. You're essentially having something done where a physician, who reckons his or her time as infinitely valuable, is stopping everything else to say, "I gotta see this."

5) If the diagnostic has to be carried out by no less a personage than a physician, that's a bad sign.

6) If there's a crash cart suspiciously wheeled into the room or fresh suction tubing has been unsheathed and prepped, that's a bad sign.

I'd go on at length with horror stories, but I think I'd end up sounding like one of those cartoon guys at the fishermen's bar with peg legs and arms.

Colonel Flagg: Exactly.

Dimnos · #78

I think my fear of a spinal tap is more to do with simply the idea of them shoving a needle in my spine.

As far as the headache. I had an uncle who had to have a spinal tap done once. I dont remember what for, I was really young. At the time his best friends dad as an anesthesiologist. I think I remember he said his friends dad did something to put liquid back in his spine? To re-float something? That made the headache go away. Know anything about that?

Dimnos · #79

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitsa

6) If there's a crash cart suspiciously wheeled into the room or fresh suction tubing has been unsheathed and prepped, that's a bad sign.

I know its not funny but...

Kitsa · #80

The actual needle-in-the-spine part is probably not what you might imagine it to be. The sensation of something in that intervertebral space is just a sensation of something feeling very, very wrong. Something you'd be protecting yourself against if you had a chance, on an instinctive level. I had a spinal procedure go bad last year and one of my nerve roots got skewered...pretty much lost the use of my right leg that entire summer. I am in a very bad place with spinal needles right now and had to have heavy IV sedation before I even got near a spinal block for a surgery this past June.

They might do some sort of backwash thing, I'm not sure. I've never heard of it being done to me. The headache seems to be a hit or miss thing. I know that I've had extra stuff in my cerebrospinal fluid, various anesthetics and some myelogram dye that's still stuck in there, but it never benefited me any.

And the suction tubing I actually ended up being thankful for. They were experimenting with a biopsy, never did it before (this was a major big-city teaching hospital with a stellar reputation) and were literally just making stabs through my tongue with a needle that was about 4" long. They ended up stabbing through to my throat and, as I mentioned before, I choked on my own blood. So I guess it was good the suction was there, although it was terrifying and painful and I was shaking so badly I couldn't walk out of my own accord.

Colonel Flagg · #81

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimnos

Fuck yeah. I cant believe they do it without giving you something. This is probably my 2nd most feared medical procedure, right after a spinal tap.

If they didnt plan on giving me something before they would have to just to get me back there.

Actually, a spinal tap is not too bad, just so long as you get someone who knows what they're doing. I've had a couple. The bone marrow procedure, however, sounds like it's right out of the Spanish Inquisition. If I'm ever to get one, I'm demanding Michael Jackson-worthy pharmaceuticals.

Colonel Flagg · #82

Jesus, Kitsa, you're an effing medical laboratory.

Colonel Flagg · #83

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitsa

The third [part of a spinal tap procedure that I dislike] comes about half an hour to two hours afterward, when you may or may not get an excruciating headache. Mine have always been in my forehead and you feel like if you could just shove your head into something hard enough, the pain might be relieved. Sometimes it makes you puke. But it eventually goes away.

Yeah, this is a bitch. I get a headache just thinking about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitsa

A big audience of physicians is a bad sign. You're essentially having something done where a physician, who reckons his or her time as infinitely valuable, is stopping everything else to say, "I gotta see this."

I sustained a tramatic injury at 13; my somewhat disjoint memory of the incident includes a stay in a darkened examining room where it seemed that as many as 7 physicians alternately poked, prodded and otherwise examined my injuries. This was "back in the day" where trauma surgery was in its infancy, and they tried to get me stabilized prior to surgery. Bad idea.

My guess was that these were interns who had never before seen injuries of this magnitude on a live patient.

Nowadays, if the same injury was sustained, they'd just do an MRI or a sonogram and wheel me into the OR stat. As it was, I'm very lucky that I made it out semi-intact, mostly none the worse for wear.

Kitsa · #84

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

Jesus, Kitsa, you're an effing medical laboratory.

Pretty much

I more or less grew up in a hospital and have never known life without medical weirdness and anyone in a white coat wanting a poke at me. I could go positive and say it's life experience or go negative and say my life sucks, depends on what mood I'm in.

I'm glad that you've recovered from your injury. Sometimes I'm amazed when people survive, given the timeframe when the illness/injury happened. It was even more brutal back then than it is now.

Colonel Flagg · #85

Yes, it was "brutal back then". Way to make me realize yet again how old I am.

Seriously, during the entire recovery process, I was pretty nonchalant, figuring people were visiting me making such a big fuss, but that Jeez, it wasn't that big a deal, get over it! Only now that I have some perspective do I realize that it was about 98% certain that I would die on the table.

On the flip side, it has given me a little more appreciation of life in general. I don't let too much crap bother me anymore.

You must be pretty far along now - things still moving along as expected?

Kitsa · #86

If it makes you feel any better, I was also referring to my 1970s-era experimental radiation therapy as "brutal back then". I can't watch The Exorcist now because of the 70s medical equipment they show for her neuro tests- I get flashbacks. I'm 32 and I've felt like I've been in my late 40s since I was about 14 years old.

My great-grandfather was radiated for lymphoma in the 60s and I'm amazed he survived another 20 years.

I'll be 7 months in a week or so, things are looking good so far. As of yesterday, we were both still alive, anyway.

Tadao · #87

I bet House could cure you.

Colonel Flagg · #88

Kitsa · #89

He'd have a hard time after I kicked him in the balls and told him to stop faking accents.

george · #90

i hate it when threads turn somber.

i have never sustained a major injury of any sort. the worst thing i have ever had was a massive sinus infection, and surgery to fix crossed eyes (same day, i was released home to my parents).

next to zombies, having to stay in the hospital is my greatest fear.

Kitsa · #91

it's only somber if you let it be. I have cancer, I also have high arches and red hair and two pairs of khakis.

I'm just saying the show needs to be more honest because vulnerable people are watching that shit and are going to be misled.

Tadao · #92

I always assumed that when people find out they have a life changing disease, they research everything about it for months on end. So I assume the people misled will never know because they won't go through it.

Kitsa · #93

from what I've found, there are a lot of reactions. Some people research. Some people are just so completely terrified that they don't want to hear anything about the disease, don't want to know anything, basically want to stick their heads in the sand.

Some people form an intense affiliation with one specific doctor and say, "I will do whatever this doctor says and then everything will be okay."

And then some people act casual on the surface but are frantic on the inside, and they're the ones who listen when people come up to them with stories about so-and-so's friend's brother-in-law's neighbor who had cancer or when something about cancer's on TV.