Having an incurable cancer is a lot worse than bearing the transient discomfort of a biopsy which, if done by any experienced professional, is NOT a big deal. I have had three -- and in each case, I forgot about it within 15 minutes.
People spread too much fear on this site. I wonder how many people are hypochondriacs here: is there a selective enrichment?
Forums
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
Yes, Joe Blow - having an incurable cancer sucks. So does the pain of a bone marrow biopsy. Why experience the pain if you don't have too. Hypochondriacs - really? I read the Beacon forum almost daily. What is with all the negativity in the last 24 hours?
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rumnting - Who do you know with myeloma?: husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 4/9/11
- Age at diagnosis: 54
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
Yes, there's a few minutes of pain with the bone marrow biopsy. Then it's over and, most of us have a little discomfort for a day or two.
The more experienced the person doing it is, the less painful it is (in my opinion). George at NIH probably has done thousands. He was the least painful compared to two other doctors at different hospitals.
Some of us could tolerate the pain. Some can't. I thought of being sedated, but I don't like the feeling I have after being sedated.
The more experienced the person doing it is, the less painful it is (in my opinion). George at NIH probably has done thousands. He was the least painful compared to two other doctors at different hospitals.
Some of us could tolerate the pain. Some can't. I thought of being sedated, but I don't like the feeling I have after being sedated.
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Stan W. - Name: Stan
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: SMM-April 2012
- Age at diagnosis: 58
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
When I had my first BMB, I was given oral Valium plus a local anesthestic; but the instrument was dull and the procedure was not completed - but no pain. So I returned for a second try and turned down the Valium as I didn't like the sensation it gave me. I had a local anesthetic and zero pain.
About five years before the first BMB, I had a spinal tap with just a local anesthetic and zero pain. My last BMB was last year at the NIH and I just had a local again - there were a couple of short twinges, but it was totally bearable.
I will say that the first BMB and the spinal tap were done by older doctors who must have done hundreds and hundreds of procedures before I had mine done. I now have a young hem / onc and am wondering how the BMB will go when I have it done next year, as she won't have nearly as much experience as the older doctors did.
Kay
About five years before the first BMB, I had a spinal tap with just a local anesthetic and zero pain. My last BMB was last year at the NIH and I just had a local again - there were a couple of short twinges, but it was totally bearable.
I will say that the first BMB and the spinal tap were done by older doctors who must have done hundreds and hundreds of procedures before I had mine done. I now have a young hem / onc and am wondering how the BMB will go when I have it done next year, as she won't have nearly as much experience as the older doctors did.
Kay
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Kay - Name: Kay Wilson
- Who do you know with myeloma?: SMM
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 72
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
This has been the most unpleasant test my husband has had to endure. First time was very painful and the painkiller was not given time to be effective, or it was not what we requested. Second test involved morphine and it was tolerable for him.
Please insist on adequate pain relief. Results include very helpful information for doctors.
Please insist on adequate pain relief. Results include very helpful information for doctors.
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
I just had my first BMB and it wasn't nearly as bad as I had convinced myself it would be. It was more uncomfortable than painful. I did take 1 mg Ativan (lorazepam) and 5 mg Percocet (oxycodone + acetaminophen) before the procedure. It helped relax me.
Also, the whole thing took about 5 minutes and then I was on my way. I know a lot depends on who is doing it, so ask around. The nurses assured my that my doc was very good and fast at them, and they were right.
Also, the whole thing took about 5 minutes and then I was on my way. I know a lot depends on who is doing it, so ask around. The nurses assured my that my doc was very good and fast at them, and they were right.
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ALH
Re: dreaded bone marrow biopsy
I've had 3 bone marrow biopsies in the last 6 months done by an experienced physician using lots of lidocaine. She's very careful in checking whether she's causing any pain as she goes along. I normally have a little soreness for a couple of days, which has been described as feeling like a bee sting (don't know, as I've never been stung!).
To go back to part of the original question, it's not much fun as a procedure, but essential for finding out what's going on in your bone marrow. The blood markers are indicators, but don't give the full picture. For example, after 6 cycles of RVD (Revlimid, Velcade, dex), my IgG is now normal, kappa/lambda ratio is normal, and M-spike is 0.5. But I still have 15% plasma cells in my bone marrow, and therefore needed more treatment before getting into ASCT (autologous stem cell transplant).
To go back to part of the original question, it's not much fun as a procedure, but essential for finding out what's going on in your bone marrow. The blood markers are indicators, but don't give the full picture. For example, after 6 cycles of RVD (Revlimid, Velcade, dex), my IgG is now normal, kappa/lambda ratio is normal, and M-spike is 0.5. But I still have 15% plasma cells in my bone marrow, and therefore needed more treatment before getting into ASCT (autologous stem cell transplant).
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Villa fan - Name: Paul Gater
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: February 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 56
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
Dear Joe Blow:
the people who post here either have multiple myeloma, MGUS, are health care professionals or caregivers to folks with multiple myeloma.
There ain't NONE of us who are hypochondriacal. We 'won the lottery." In the world of 'when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras," we not only got the zebra, we got the one waaaay over on the edge there with purple and orange stripes.
When you think of the old joke about the tombstone with the epitaph that reads: "I TOLD you I was sick!"
That's us.
I wonder how many of us, afraid that we would be dismissed as hypochondriacs, didn't go get the help we needed soon enough? How many of us WERE dismissed as having our symptoms 'be in our heads" before the unremitting pain – and perhaps a broken bone or two –forced someone to pay attention?
I, for one, have given birth to five children, sans anesthetics. I've had my knees replaced and have gone through the grueling, and very painful, physical therapy that enabled me to sit cross legged on the examining table on my six week checkup, so that I could see my surgeon's jaw drop. I've gone through the misery of the bone marrow transplant, complete with C. diff, without griping too much.
Sure, the BMB didn't take long -- labor was a lot longer. But the point is, labor without anesthesia has a point; it's better for the baby, and in the long run, better for Mom. Physical therapy and the pain THERE has a point; a goal.
The pain associated with a BMB has NO point. It's preventable. Going through it with only a local for the first time? Fine, quite a few people, including you, evidently, do just fine. My father, when he had one, did well, too. However, others, like me (and I have a pretty high pain threshold, ordinarily) don't do as well.
To call me, and anybody else who chooses not to suffer through that sort of pain twice, a 'hypochondriac?"
Tell you what, Mr. Blow. YOU go experience the pain of giving birth just once and then tell me that I'm a hypochondriac for choosing sedation for this test. And I, for one, am not about to put myself through that pain again just to make you, or any other disapproving onlooker, think better of my character.
the people who post here either have multiple myeloma, MGUS, are health care professionals or caregivers to folks with multiple myeloma.
There ain't NONE of us who are hypochondriacal. We 'won the lottery." In the world of 'when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras," we not only got the zebra, we got the one waaaay over on the edge there with purple and orange stripes.
When you think of the old joke about the tombstone with the epitaph that reads: "I TOLD you I was sick!"
That's us.
I wonder how many of us, afraid that we would be dismissed as hypochondriacs, didn't go get the help we needed soon enough? How many of us WERE dismissed as having our symptoms 'be in our heads" before the unremitting pain – and perhaps a broken bone or two –forced someone to pay attention?
I, for one, have given birth to five children, sans anesthetics. I've had my knees replaced and have gone through the grueling, and very painful, physical therapy that enabled me to sit cross legged on the examining table on my six week checkup, so that I could see my surgeon's jaw drop. I've gone through the misery of the bone marrow transplant, complete with C. diff, without griping too much.
Sure, the BMB didn't take long -- labor was a lot longer. But the point is, labor without anesthesia has a point; it's better for the baby, and in the long run, better for Mom. Physical therapy and the pain THERE has a point; a goal.
The pain associated with a BMB has NO point. It's preventable. Going through it with only a local for the first time? Fine, quite a few people, including you, evidently, do just fine. My father, when he had one, did well, too. However, others, like me (and I have a pretty high pain threshold, ordinarily) don't do as well.
To call me, and anybody else who chooses not to suffer through that sort of pain twice, a 'hypochondriac?"
Tell you what, Mr. Blow. YOU go experience the pain of giving birth just once and then tell me that I'm a hypochondriac for choosing sedation for this test. And I, for one, am not about to put myself through that pain again just to make you, or any other disapproving onlooker, think better of my character.
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dianaiad - Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Officially...March 2013
- Age at diagnosis: 63
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
3 BMB's to date ... "A littlebee sting (lidocaine)" is all I felt ... and later felt a little pressure.
Gee, Joe, What do you expect when someone literally jams a corkscrew in yer high a-- to get a spicule of bone from the cortex / medullary space of your posterior Iliac crest / posterior pelvis?? Some it bothers, some it don't.
Now, do you wanna talk about the ill performed drain removal from a Iowa Head and Neck protocols Flap Procedure / skull reconstruction on day 4? That sucked.
Seems the senior resident forgot to cut the 2 stitches in my scalp, which held the drain solidly in place, and I needed a few more afterwards, it seems.
Birthing 'dem babies would suck, too.
No whiners here, just people with different somatic nerve distributions.
I do appreciate the zebra analogy -- it is a favorite maxim. "When in Missouri and you hear hoofbeats ..."
Gee, Joe, What do you expect when someone literally jams a corkscrew in yer high a-- to get a spicule of bone from the cortex / medullary space of your posterior Iliac crest / posterior pelvis?? Some it bothers, some it don't.
Now, do you wanna talk about the ill performed drain removal from a Iowa Head and Neck protocols Flap Procedure / skull reconstruction on day 4? That sucked.
Seems the senior resident forgot to cut the 2 stitches in my scalp, which held the drain solidly in place, and I needed a few more afterwards, it seems.
Birthing 'dem babies would suck, too.
No whiners here, just people with different somatic nerve distributions.
I do appreciate the zebra analogy -- it is a favorite maxim. "When in Missouri and you hear hoofbeats ..."
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Rneb
Re: Dreaded bone marrow biopsy
I had a bone lesion biopsy today, which is a little different to a bone marrow biopsy, however I thought my experience may help others going through a similar thing!
I had a CT core bone biopsy of my iliac bone and was give a light sedation through IV.
I felt the local anesthetic go in, and this stung a little as I remember frowning, however it didn't really bother me. You should also know, I am really bad with needles. Up until recently I hated even having a blood test! Anyway, after the local, I didn't feel a thing. At one point, for a second, I felt a low dull ache and said to the specialist that that hurt. Apart from that, I felt nothing!
I was awake and walking about within an hour and feel fine right now!
If you can have some sort of conscious sedation, just even to help relax you a little, I would recommend it is as it makes the procedure a breeze!
I had a CT core bone biopsy of my iliac bone and was give a light sedation through IV.
I felt the local anesthetic go in, and this stung a little as I remember frowning, however it didn't really bother me. You should also know, I am really bad with needles. Up until recently I hated even having a blood test! Anyway, after the local, I didn't feel a thing. At one point, for a second, I felt a low dull ache and said to the specialist that that hurt. Apart from that, I felt nothing!
I was awake and walking about within an hour and feel fine right now!
If you can have some sort of conscious sedation, just even to help relax you a little, I would recommend it is as it makes the procedure a breeze!
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lilyrosexo
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