[Wolbachc]

I just need to share with anyone who will listen. Today I went for my spinal tap. Keep in mind that I had one 50 years ago at the age of 6 and remember vividly being in pain and screaming. Of course I was anxious. This facility uses their Lumbar Puncture Team which consisted of 2 residents and a neurologist that I had never met. They knew nothing about me medically. They were there to get the job done. Sort of liked the idea that a team existed as it only makes sense the more you do something, the better you get. I was greeted by a lovely young woman and said she was the doctor.

She was smiley, talkative and upbeat. When I asked her if she was a neurologist she answered yes and said she had being doing this for 2 years. She then sort of corrected herself and said that she was a resident and left bringing back another resident as per her lab coat and an older gentleman who was the neurologist. I don't remember him even introducing himself. No questions about me or my history which is very unusual and very complex.

I was placed sitting facing the wall and the neurologist and one of the residents started to prepare for the procedure. None of which was really explained to me but I am a nurse and that was not the end of the world. I did have concerns due to a remote history of a spinal infection as a child with spinal fusion in addition to numerous herniated discs. A resident designated herself to answer the questions.

I asked the neurologist if it was ok for me to ask questions while he was working and her indicated that it was ok with him. My question involved quinolone toxicity and whether they knew of anyone that specialized in that. The resident of course not knowing anything about me asked me why I was interested and when I said that I was suffering from that immediately went into Encyclopedia mode saying that probably wasn't true and minimizing such a disorder. Unfortunately I took the bait and tried without success to tell her my story which is substantiated by neurologists in 2 different cities. In the middle of the conversation I now tune into what the neurologist is saying behind me to the resident and it becomes crystal clear to me that he is giving step by step instructions to the resident on how to perform the tap.

I emphatically say I need to talk to the neurologist now before you go any further. I ask him if he is teaching the resident how to do this procedure and he answers yes. I then tell him tearfully that I apologize and know that as a health care professional myself who was in the learning phase years ago I totally understand the need but that in this particular situation, because of my lengthy illness, stress level and surgeries over the last 8 months, I do not want the resident to perform the procedure.

His response was "this is a teaching hospital and that is the way it is done here".

I say "I know this is my right as a patient to refuse to have the procedure done by a resident and if he did not want me as his patient to perform the procedure that I would get dressed and leave. I said this crying and looking at the wall.

Dead silence for 30 seconds and finally he says to the resident that he would be performing the tap.

I was never spoken to by anybody for the rest of the procedure and they left after it was over. I cried through the whole thing because it hurt, I have sciatic neuropathy and I am depressed in general and now I cannot believe I am being treated this way. Basically I was a laboratory animal with no rights.

I was allowed to lie down for 5 minutes and was told that I needed to exit the room because they needed it for the next patient. I have difficulty walking and my friend asked for a wheelchair which was denied. I was told by the resident that if I walked in, then I could walk out and now walk across the street to the lab where blood needed to be drawn or the spinal tap would need repeating.

I am still crying as I write this. I think I have post traumatic stress disorder just from this experience alone let alone the trauma I have endured over the last 7 months of going from a fully functioning professional to a totally disabled person who spends most of her day in bed due to pain caused from a anesthetic block given during a surgical repair of a ruptured tendon last December. I just feel hopeless and I need a hug.