Friday, March 05, 2010

Bone Marrow Biopsy in the Twilight

Talking with other people about the bone marrow biopsy experience brought back memories of women comparing childbirth stories. Everyone has their personal story, and thoughts on how it "should" go. There seems to be a continuum of preferences, from "all natural" to "wake me when it's over."

Since I have a pretty high pain tolerance and don't like anesthesia, I was inclined to just have the local numbing where the needle would be inserted. I decided research this a bit. So I turned to the definitive resource, YouTube. Believe it or not, some people have had their BMBs videotaped! After seeing a couple of patients (with the local anesthetic) cry out in pain and yell at their doctors to "hurry it up!" I decided to go with the "twilight anesthesia."

I decided to find some levity in this upcoming procedure. So I asked my daughter to draw me some "rumper stickers" the night before the big poke. On my right cheek, she wrote "Private Property" and on the left she wrote "Bad 2 the Bone."

When the nurses got me situated on the CT platform, they both seemed surprised when they saw the rump notices. "Let's not tell the doctor -- he'll be surprised!" one of them said to the other. Apparently this does not happen all the time.

The next thing I knew, the twilight juice was flowing and while I think I remember being awake during the procedure, I truly do not know. I could feel some pressure, but it was not at all painful.

It was a long day... we arrived at 9 a.m. for the 11 a.m. procedure. Because of delays in the hospital, my BMB didn't take place until after 1 p.m. After the two hour "observation" period, I was allowed to go home around 4 p.m.

Once we got home, I zonked out for a few more hours.
Now, we must wait for the results -- they should start coming in next week.

The lovenox shots resume again (thanks to Robert and Katrina for shooting me in the belly) as I add the rat poison (warfarin/coumadin) back to my daily diet.
What's that saying? Better living through chemistry.
Yippee!

No comments: