Bone Biopsy #1

Well, right away from the title of this entry you can guess that I had to go for more than one biopsy. TaDaaa! You are right. I won the booby prize.

First of all, a bone biopsy was not the fearsome horrible gut wrenching painful experience everybody from my MD to the LPN who performed the procedure told me it would be.

She laid me on my side on a regular examination table. A quick pinch for the first injection of Lidocaine. Brief circular massage on the spot. The next injection gave me a bit of that searing feeling when she pushed in more Lidocaine. But the last injection I didn't even feel. Once she put in the big needle, I did feel it tap the bone. But it didn't hurt until she had to move a bit further in to get the toothpick sliver of bone. Okay. It hurt. But if you've ever been barefoot and stepped on a sharp stone, you have felt worse pain than that biopsy gave me. At least that is the level of discomfort I had. No biggie. Really.

When I was there to meet my Oncologist the first time, he introduced me to his pet vampire. She is very practiced and I didn't feel a thing when she took 17 or 18 vials of my red stuff. When I went over to discuss the lab results from the biopsy three days later, the Dr had the blood analysis too.

It was a good news / bad news day. The blood work showed no other evidence of any other type of cancer. And they had a small pond of my blood to look for any one of over a dozen different cancers. {Um, yeah. Myeloma is a cancer. I didn't want to use that word earlier. But my new doctor is an "Oncologist" and those are the kinds diseases this doctor deals with. So a new word that fits into a description of me. Anyway, back to the results --} The blood work does confirm that I am anemic. The biopsy, however, is 'non-conclusive' meaning the sample they got did not contain monoclonal cells. That means that if I have myeloma it is probably single site, not the big bad friend of the pharmaceutical industry, 'Multiple Myeloma.' Single site is also called 'plasmacytoma' myeloma.

The bad news is that I won a trip to see a radiologist who will have to use a CT scan to place the biopsy needle directly into my sacrum. Apparently since the sacrum is at the base of the spine there would be a risk of damage to my spine or other nerves if they just 'took an educated guess' to place the needle.

Since the first biopsy was no big deal, I didn't really mind. The news that the myeloma is not in wider circulation is really good news.

I had the 2nd biopsy last Thursday. The small army they had there to hold me down to the table were left standing around without anything to do. When I asked them if my experience was common, they said "No" and "Good thing or we'd be out of work. This holding down the victim until they stop squirming is good work, you know."

I am now waiting for the analysis which should come by Wednesday next week. Hopefully the results will be 'conclusive' and I can hear what they want to recommend as a treatment.

Once I have a full diagnosis, I will go to another Oncologist for a second opinion. I already have the appointment set for the 6th of October with a top-gun at his New York City clinic.