Bone marrow!

I had the bone marrow biopsy Friday morning, and it wasn't quite as horrible as expected, thank goodness. The worst part by far was preparing for it. The nurse had a really difficult time finding my veins. She went in through the underside of my forearm, instead of in the crook of the elbow. Going in through the forearm hurts worse than the crook of the elbow! She went in twice before calling someone else to do it. I guess this is why having the port-a-cath will be good.

I got a fairly high dose of morphine to calm me down, and a shot in my hip to numb the skin. Of course, they can't really numb the bone, so not much could be done there! After numbing the skin, they make a small incision in the skin down to the bone, because the needle they use is fairly thick. They then used something that was like a cross between an apple corer and a corkscrew to drill about an inch and a half into my pelvis (it took about 90 seconds of pushing). Let me tell you, feeling something grind through your bone is a very weird sensation, and not at all pleasant. Strangely enough, it sends a really really sharp pain shooting up and down your leg. LUCKILY, they got enough material the first time they went in. Apparently, they often have to drill two or three times to get enough material. They showed the bit of bone marrow to me, and it was a little over an inch long and maybe one or two millimeters thick. Not much material for so much fuss!

The morphine left me feeling really dizzy and out of it. I had to lay down, completely horizontally, for about fifteen minutes, and then sit in a semi-reclined position for another fifteen, before I could stand, and even then I had to move really slowly because the room was spinning. Mom drove me home and I collapsed onto the couch and slept for about five hours. I missed the quiz I was supposed to make up that afternoon, since I'd missed it on Wednesday for the heart scan and CT scan. I feel bad, because I've missed like four consecutive classes for Digital Signals Processing, and I'm missing on Monday, because Monday I'm going in for another biopsy and to have the port-a-cath put in, which is basically a full day at the hospital. Luckily, I don't have to stay over night! It'll just be an outpatient procedure, but I am going to be asleep for it. Unfortunately, my classes on Tuesday are going to be really hard to make up, because it's labs and stuff, so I'm going to make every effort to be in bright and early at 7:30 Tuesday morning for my first class.... and unfortunately, there till 9:30 PM for my last lab. Grar.

After that, I'm NEARLY done with my many appointments. I have a short appointment for a pulmonary functions test, and then chemo starts up Thursday :( I'll be there from 10:30-5, so anyone who is in town Thursday afternoon and isn't working is more than welcome to come sit with me and distract me... they welcome and encourage visitors (KIM, this means YOU).