” Birth date?” The nurse types in my response. It’s June and I’ve answered these medical questions before now a couple of times. Little did I know that by October I would be able to answer in rapid fire mode. But for now I’m sitting in the waiting room of the out patient facility for the local hospital. I’m hear for a spinal tap which, before all the waivers they had me signed, I thought wouldn’t be a big deal. I thought I would go in, bend over, lift up my shirt, be stuck with a needle, and call it a day. I was very wrong.

“Do you have a will?” That’s a new one! I look at the nurse. She’s smiling, having guessed my answer but she has to ask anyway. “No,” I say. A will? Why would I have a will? I’m twenty? The most valuable thing I own is probably my laptop, which my parents bought for me. What would I even leave in my will?
By this point they have all my information and my mom and I are back to sitting by the window. As we wait I’m trying to imagine what my will would contain. “To my sister I bequeath all my jewelry.” But we have such different tastes, so I can’t do that. She wouldn’t want all my jewelry. My brother might if he was allowed to sell it (Our future Donald Trump). The most valuable items I own (besides my jewelry) are my phone, and my laptop, which I guess are really my parents since they did the purchasing. I’m struck in this moment by how young I really am, even though I’m legally an adult.
That theme has continued throughout this whole ordeal. I’m at such a weird age it seems. I’m to old for most pediatric specialists but at the same time I’m very young for most adult specialists. I have to sign all my medical forms and forms that allow my mother to receive my medical information even though my parents are the one that pay the medical insurance. At this out patient center I’m definitely the youngest person there (most of the others are there for heart surgeries)
My mom can’t even come back with me while they get me ready for the spinal tap. They tell me I need to change into a hospital gown and socks, then the nice nurse will be back to get my IV started.
Now might be a good time to mention I don’t do well with needles. Also I’ve never had a successful IV. Notice I said successful not attempted. I had gotten super dehydrated on a mission trip. They tried four times to get an IV in me but with no luck. But I’m in first world country this time. In a hospital so I reassure myself that this time won’t be anything like that… right? The nurse tries in the back of my right hand first, After the needle goes in she tries to situate the IV and it blows. Onto attempt number 2, with the other nurse and the other hand, no such luck there either. Bring a another nurse for attempt number three. “Surely they can’t beat my record of four” I think. Wrong(with a huge bruise for evidence). Attempt number four smaller needle. I feel bad for my poor nurses. I’ve given up trying not to cry by this point. They have let me squeeze their hands as they rotated attempts. NOw they call in The IV Team. The IV Team, turns out to be an elderly women pushing a cart. Donis has been at the hospital for probably half a century, and is the all time pro at IV’s. She takes my arm, looks at my veins, and before I have time to get too nervous the IV is in. I feel the four of us (me and the three nurses) exhale. My nurse smiles at me and calls me a “trouper”. ” I’ll go get your mom for you sweetie,” she tells me. My mom comes in not very long after and I can tell by the look on her face that shes knows what just happened. “Oh, sweetie,” she says with tears in her eyes. I give her a weak smile and a big hug. She comforts me and I do my best to laugh and make jokes about it ( how I’ve beaten my personal record, how I may ask them to just leave the valve in for future use.. etc). I then get rolled to radiology. The nurse there tells me what to expect and after asking if we have any questions, escorts my mom to another waiting area. The doctor gets there rather quickly and I roll onto a table and get situated on my stomach. My doctor is super nice and chatty. He lets me play music from his i-phone. He injects Novocain into my back which hurts a little but doesn’t last long. I hear him say he’s in. I ask him is my spinal fluid is flowing. It is but slowly. Before I know it he taps my back and says “we’re done sweetie”. I hadn’t felt the needle go in or out. I’m rolled back to the staging/recovery area. I have to lie flat on my back for four hours. My mom feeds my a sandwich and we watch the Euro Cup. This is the most “sick person” thing I’ve done so far. I had never spent so much time at a hospital. It wasn’t that bad all in all and I got to keep the sock. Also I learned that spinal fluid is clear (which was slightly disappointing).