Newbie wanting to share experiences

Hi everyone I am from the land down under Australia (Gold Coast). I am 48 divorced and jobless due to illness and feel about 100 today.
Finally I have found a good forum with heaps of info and others who are rowing the same boat! I really just need to vent and to talk to someone who knows what it is like as I am all alone, no family and nobody that understands what this is like. Everyone thinks I am just plain lazy.
I have been unwell for a number of years and ended up in the Neurology Department recently due to chronic unexplained facial pain. The Neurologist ordered an MRI which showed numerous lesions in my brain and wanted to follow up with more blood tests and a Lumbar Puncture (Spinal Tap). He did not tell me what he thought might be wrong so I did as much research on the net before I went as I also have degenerative disc disease and a very painful back and I was concerned how the LP would impact on my back pain.
I rang the clinic and begged them to sedate me as I know I don't cope with this type of thing too well. (Walked out of an operating theatre once because the anaesthetist wanted to give me an epidural. I completely fell to bits!)

Turned up on time for the Lumbar Puncture to be told there were no beds so I would have to wait. That was at 1pm. At 2.30 I was sent down to the day surgery department and told to change. I sat and sat and sat. At about 4.30pm some unknown Doctor introduced herself and said she would be doing the procedure. Apparently they had forgotten I was there and she knew nothing about me what so ever only a brief discussion with the Neurologist who I was led to believe was to do the procedure. (He must have had something more interesting to do)
She said "You know that the Neurologist wants this done to confirm that you have Multiple Sclerosis!!"
(Gee thanks for that bedside diagnosis!)
I asked about sedation and she said she couldn't arrange it and not to worry I would be fine, doesn't hurt much etc etc. A nurse in attendence said she could make a few calls and may be able to arrange it but I think the Doc wanted to go home, more important than me of course! The day clinic closes at 6pm so there would be nobody to monitor me and there still were no beds available, I was sitting in a chair.
"I'll talk you through it she said. You'll be fine, you won't feel any pain, only the local anaesthetic"
I guess you can imagine what happened next. Completely lost it in the O.R. cried like a baby. Well, I have never had pain like that in my life! I've had some fairly nasty ops over the years and had natural childbirth but this was sheer hell and the pain unexplainable. Gave me heaps of local which didn't work at all. The pain shot first down my right leg, then down my left leg then through my back to my stomach and I screamed and screamed and begged her to stop. I will never let anyone attempt that ever again without being out to it. I don't want to scare anyone and I know that probably most people don't have any trouble at all. I told her about my disc disease and took the MRI of that with me, she didn't even look at it.
Now two days later I have shooting pain down both legs blurry vision and a foul headache. I feel a bit dizzy and I am physically exhausted and have to keep lying down because I also feel like vomiting. I am too scared to go back there in case something else goes wrong. Has anyone had a similar experience and does the pain in your legs get better. Definitely sciatic nerve pain, as I have had this for a long time in my left leg due to disc disease and have just recently got it under control. Bang goes all those years of physio and pilates!
I just can't stop crying! I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy! I haven't come to terms with the fact that I have MS let alone cope with the dramatic alteration this is going to have on the rest of my life. I am just so terrified and scared!

Thanks for the reply. I will go to the hospital if the headache etc doesn't improve. I will definitely tell the neuro what I think about how I was treated. On my N first visit he rubbed me up the wrong way as he made a couple of snide remarks. I read somewhere else on the net about a patient who went to a Neuro and was told to stop drinking and that she had an alcohol problem. She did not have any problem with alcohol. I drink socially, happy hour I call it while I cook my meal at night I enjoy a glass or two of wine. I don't think this makes me an alcoholic but because my LFT came back abnormal the same accusation was made to me. When he was doing the Neurological Test I call "Walk the Plank" in other words heel to toe, he said now lets see how much alcohol you REALLY do drink. I felt very insulted. I completely flunked the test overbalanced every step. I understand that this is not necessarily the result of drinking too much alcohol but can be related to other conditions including middle ear disease amongst other neurological conditions
As you say probably won't make any difference to me but hopefully others reading this can take steps to protect themselves from unnecessary pain.
Again thanks for taking the time to write to me, it means a lot to have someone to talk to.

Cocoa,
I had the blood patch after lying about 3 days straight with terrible pain.As soon as they did the blood patch it was gone minutes later.Do not suffer, there is help!!!!!

I hope you feel better soon! I, too, had a horrible experience with my LP. Never was offered the patch either, and was in bed for days and when I finally attempted to get up, I vomited everywhere - back in bed!

If it is MS, please find a support group, or at least go to your local MS Society and talk to someone, it can really help since you have very little support from your family.

Do you have your MRI films? If not, I would recommend getting all of them in your possession. THEN, show them to your family! Usually BIG BRIGHT SPOTS on the brain will say it all! (even tho they are not as big as they look! lol). Good luck and let us know your results of LP

Please do come back.  We'll be glad to offer some suggestions, and share our experiences.  I tend to be a bit blunt, but I'll not offer something if I'm not pretty sure it's accurate, so ignore the bluntness and just read the rest and you'll be fine 

So, have the results of the lumbar puncture come back? Do you have a confirmation that you have MS?  Here in the US, primary doctors can treat you for all your ailments, including MS. I've not been to a neuro in over 12 years, now (I've had MS for at least 23). My primary doctor, a lovely woman, does everything for me including everything related to my having MS. She'll consult with specialists on my behalf, then we'll talk about (and generally implement) their recommendations. Saves me a lot of time (don't have to go to other doctors!), and she has the benefit of having a total picture of my health situation.  You might see if that will work there, if you really don't like your neuro. Sometimes specialists like to diagnose -- but not treat -- patients, so they tend to be arrogant and dismissive.

Keep us informed about what your doctor says, once the spinal tap results are available.