MysticOma

Hello everyone,

I am new to this site, found it while googling about spinal taps and proper/ethical procedures.

I was admitted to the hospital last Friday due to buzzing/tingling/numbness in my right leg as well as a few other symptoms. After doing a CT scan, MRI, chest x-ray, much blood work, the Neurologist decided to do a spinal tap. Now the day before he had told me he was considering it and would be back the next day to discuss the results from the CT scan, MRI, etc and if they were all normal we would talk about doing the Spinal tap.

I waited all the next day; finally at 9:30 pm told the nurse I wanted a sleeping pill. She brought me ambien. At this point my mind is very foggy due having taken the ambien...but the neurologist shows up at 11:30 PM woke me up, told me my brain was normal. Then he tells me he is doing the spinal tap, and does it while I am sitting up in bed leaning over the table food tray. Evidently during the procedure I sat up straight, became stiff, started vomiting and passed out, I was out for 10 minutes. He told my daughter n law this on the phone after the procedure was done. My daughter n law says that during the time she was on the phone with him the nurse came out three times to tell him she could not get me to come to.

I never signed a consent form, nor do I remember him discussing the procedure with me, and I feel it was very unethical for him to do this procedure while I was under the influence of ambien. I now have had severe back spasms and a headache (the spinal tap was done on the 17th) so bad I cannot sit up for more than 5 minutes, and I understand this can happen afterwards.

Is how the doctor proceeded to do this normal/typical? If it is not then I want to find another neurologist. He is the one that was assigned to me while I was in the hospital.

Thank you
Sharon