Day+99 “Bone Marrow Biopsy”

Clinic Visit- Thursday, March 20, 2008

You know that feeling you’d get in your stomach before an important exam or before a first date? Well, that is the exact feeling I had in my stomach today before my bone marrow biopsy but worse. I think it was made worse by the fact that I had to “fast” for the blood work. I think it felt worse because some where in the far reaches of my mind there is the thought that the cancer isn’t gone, that just one cancer cell is hiding somewhere… I hate how cancer can create doubt. But I’ve learned that cancer cannot take away hope, faith, love and courage. (And believe me it takes a little bit of courage to get up on the exam table to have a bone marrow biopsy.)

I think I’ve used the phrase “BEST YET” a number of times recently but I sure have to say that today’s biopsy was ‘best yet” (that’s if you could apply those words to having bone marrow aspirated from the hip.) Jay, the nurse, had the IV line in without any problems, gave me an extra dose of Ativan ahead of the procedure and gave me the full dose of Versed.

I still think I have a tolerance to Versed, the drug used for “conscious sedation”. Jay says that most patients float in and out of awareness, usually not remembering anything. For me the experience is usually being completely aware of what is going on, being able to feel everything and not being able to react to it. A strange and helpless feeling.

Like I’ve said before the Lidocaine injections are the worst. The numbing is done in several stages so that the area is numbed all the way down to the bone. Then the biopsy needle is inserted and forced through the bone to the marrow where they aspirate and take samples. This was my fifth biopsy and by far the best. Although I still felt the pain of the procedure and squeezed Todd’s hand very tightly, I was definitely more relaxed, more talkative and even joked around and I felt calm.

After the procedure was over, I was able to rest on the exam table until Dr.V came in with my lab work. She told us everything was looking good. She ordered another injection of Aranesp which I received before leaving. She revisited how my GI discomforts had improved from the previous visit. I told her they had improved especially one specific problem. But that I was still experiencing nausea. She said she will give the Entocort a little more time and if it doesn’t clear up all of the GI discomforts she’ll add a low dose of Prednisone.

Dr. V is the sweetest physician. She is so genuine. Dr. V’s staff: Laura, the PA, the nurses and techs are such special people. I am not just one of the successful transplants to them. They know that I am also a wife and a mother to four active children and I have a life that I want to catch up to. And they want me to catch up too.

Dr. V always goes over every detail of the reports, answers any questions straight forward. And when it's good news she always has a twinkle in her eyes, the prettiest smile and a joyful laugh. I feel so blessed to have been able to see that smile and hear that laugh for almost two months now. I’ll just be waiting for the "good news" signs until she gets the biopsy results in a few days.