Yesterday, I had a bone biopsy. This meant light sedation (awake but very relaxed), no unclear liquids after midnight (black coffee is a clear liquid and I am so, so grateful for this), couldn't drive myself to or from the hospital, etc. The biggest challenge is not accidentally doing the normal things I would do out of habit (mostly: eating breakfast).
I've had a number of regular biopsies, and I don't enjoy them because the numbing process is painful and unsettling, and then I'm sore for several days after. They're fine. I'm happy to get them done. They just aren't any fun. I expected the bone biopsy to be worse, because it's a bone biopsy, but actually it was a little easier! For one, they were able to use my port for the first time to do a blood draw and then set the IV for the medicine I'd be getting during the procedure.
The port is awesome. It means I don't have to get stuck in my arm for any of that stuff. There's already an access point. This was the first time it was used, and the nurse walked me through everything she was doing so I'd know what to expect. It's very cool. It's a little bit like being stabbed in the chest by a LARGE pushpin when they put the needle in (not bad! just unsettling!), but in future visits, I'll have had time to put some numbing cream on it so I won't even feel that. It's taken more than a week for me to get used to the sensation of the port under my skin, but I'm finally feeling pretty normal about it and getting to see how it works was really cool.
The main things about the bone biopsy (they were trying to get a sample from a lesion on my spine) that the nurse and doctor mentioned was that I shouldn't feel anything (aside from movement. pain is not normal, movement and pressure are normal, as the other biopsy surgeon liked to repeat) but I might hear some weird stuff. "I might have to use a mallet to get the needle into the bone" and "there is a very small chance of spinal column injury but it's extremely unlikely" are not sentences anyone wants to hear, but it went very quickly (shockingly quickly, to the point where I was like "What, really?") and I didn't even really hear weird stuff. I was very relaxed, it didn't hurt at all, and I am feeling good today. My back was sore for the afternoon, but it was more like a muscle tightness than anything else. The biggest challenge was getting the original dressing removed and putting a band-aid over the spot by myself. It's very difficult to do when the spot is in the middle of your back and you are using a mirror as a guide! But I did it.
The results should be back in a couple of days. The biggest concern is that they missed the lesion and just got regular bone, in which the results will be inconclusive. But everyone seemed confident that they'd have everything dialed in to get the samples needed. I'll update when I have more information!
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