Biopsy into the "done" pile

Leonardo Da Vinci

Bone biopsy can now be checked off the "to do" list.

It was neither as bad as I feared nor as easy as I wished, but it's over with now and I'm on to keeping random unknown pathologists and lab technologists in my prayers (If you're a pathologist or lab technologist and feel kind of weird and blessed at the same time, well, there you go.  Now stop reading blogs and go do a great job testing that little bit of bone I just gave up for you.).

When the interventional radiologist came by before the procedure to give me my informed consent chat, he mentioned (in answer to my question about where exactly they were going in) that there were actually 2 lesions on my pelvis, although he was only going to biopsy one of them.

I hadn't known there were 2.  I guess it doesn't really matter but somehow it felt like a bit of a blow.

On the other hand, thinking on it now, it makes a lot of sense given the different times I'm feeling pain and where I'm feeling it.  It's probably a better thing that it be 2 different spots than one lesion big enough to cover both areas.  Plus, it's still apparently confined to the left pelvic bone, so that's also good (it always seems kind of odd what counts as good news when you're talking about cancer, the bar just seems to be a little low here).

He also mentioned that they would give me something so I wouldn't feel pain, but the feeling of pressure couldn't be drugged away.  I'm glad he mentioned that, because it certainly was true and it wasn't pleasant.  Quickly over with, but unpleasant in the way of things that just feel so completely wrong that you can't help but wince and want it over with immediately do.

They also gave me something in the IV that was supposed to make me feel "relaxed."  Don't know that I felt all that relaxed, but certainly tired and pretty loopy for a little bit there. And really, unless the loopy IV drug made time seem faster than it really was, the whole thing (in the procedure room, anyway) was pretty quick.  A bit of CT scan, a bit of measuring and marking, a needle or so of lidocaine, more CT scan, the whole puncture and press into my bone thing, and the next thing you know I'm done and on to recovery.

Something about it all made me pretty nauseous when it was over.  My money's on the "relaxing" drug, but I could also have just been the whole "needle through my flesh and into my bone" experience.  But, like lots of things, with a little bit of time and some kindness (my husband and some awesome nurses) the nausea eventually passed.  And once I was feeling a bit better, they let me order supper, which also helped, so maybe my money should have been on not being able to eat past early a.m. causing hunger nausea, but either way it's done now.

I know, especially with this new worrisome situation, I should probably be eating nothing but free range eggs, mushrooms, and acai berries, but you know what? I just didn't feel like it. The nurse gave me a menu--I don't know if most hospitals are like this and give you menus to order whatever you want any time all day and night and my mother just uses the one dud hospital that brings whatever the decide during the scheduled hour and you better like it 'cause that's all you'll get, or the other way around, but clearly this is the better way!--and I ordered good old fashioned spoonable porridge, comfort food in a bowl.  With brown sugar and not a single vegetable.  I usually eat pretty well, but enough is enough.  It was a long day and I had had it.

Now on to waiting about a week to find out how my bone looks and what we do about it.  And on to waiting for that "bone deep" puncture wound to heal.  And on to continuing to manage the original hip pain until we have the answers we need to do something more useful about it.

But at least I'm no longer "on to a bone biopsy." It really wasn't that terrible, but still, I'm glad it's done with and hoping not to have to repeat the experience any time soon.