Champagne Supernova

I did a lumbar puncture today!  I know, several of my friends have been performing surgeries and delivering babies, but since I've been on Psychiatry and Neurology the past two months, the only procedure I've gotten to do so far was removing a Foley catheter.  So this is a big step for me.  For those of you who don't know, a lumbar puncture is a diagnostic procedure in which a needle is used to remove cerebrospinal fluid from the sac that contains the brain and the spinal cord.

Before I walked into the patient room, I prayed outside the door that the procedure would go well.  I was terrified that either (1) I wouldn't be able to penetrate the dura and arachnoid mater or (2) I would pierce the spinal cord and end up poking all the way through her intestines... which is actually impossible to do with a three-inch needle.  Thankfully, the procedure went well, and Dr. Southerland even went as far as to e-mail the rest of the team to let them know that I got a champagne tap (no red blood cells in the first two tubes) this morning in clinic.  As a reward, Dr. Chatman is bringing me a bottle of actual champagne on Monday!

Sam [jokingly]: These are the vials of your cerebrospinal fluid that we collected if you'd like to take a look.  It's clear because it's actually from the faucet.  We just numbed you up and didn't do anything.
Dr. Southerland:  And that's why it's called a spinal tap.

ZOMG he is so much punnier than I will ever be!