My sister had a bone marrow and bone biopsy last week which went very well. Despite the severe damage to her spine, the doctor managed to perform it pain free.
But something happened that shook me. A nurse in the room was responsible for handling the syringe of bone marrow and blotting it onto several glass slides. I watched her from the other side of the room as she then took the clean glass slides and spread the marrow samples across the glass. From what I have read, this is done to spread out the stem cells for the lab to study.
Amazingly stem cells can be seen with the naked eye as red dots on those slides. So this nurse leans in close looking at these samples and bolted upright, looked at me with a thousand yard stare, and went pale. I thought she was about to cry.
Without a word, her look told me something was very, very wrong with those samples. What could she have seen or not seen that would cause a reaction like that??
She didn't say a word to me for obvious reasons, and I knew I couldn't ask her anything, but I can't get this out of my mind. The results of the biopsies are due September 29th and I am bracing myself.
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Re: Unsettling moment during bone marrow biopsy
I'm a nurse, not a lab person, but I can't think of anything she would see with the naked eye that would be that alarming. Perhaps it just unsettled her when she realized her work was being watched so closely.
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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: Unsettling moment during bone marrow biopsy
Hello Sol:
I would have to agree with rumnting. Experienced medical professionals doing BMB do so all the time, and see all of the samples from near 0% to above 90%, and they take it in stride. It might be that the person has not done many BMB's, and wanted to see it. Good luck. JPC
I would have to agree with rumnting. Experienced medical professionals doing BMB do so all the time, and see all of the samples from near 0% to above 90%, and they take it in stride. It might be that the person has not done many BMB's, and wanted to see it. Good luck. JPC
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JPC - Name: JPC
Re: Unsettling moment during bone marrow biopsy
The nurse’s actions seem kind of odd looking close at the slides like that. But the nurse is not a pathologist, and I cannot imagine what she could possibly see with the naked eye to make any conclusions. And stem cells are red and can be seen with the naked eye? I have never heard that before and doubt it is true.
I do not believe it is possible to make out an individual stem cell no matter what color it may be as an individual dot on a slide. They are simply too small to be seen as more than individual dots like that. And even if you could, I believe there should be a great number of them, and that would make it hard to pick them out as individual dots, no more than you can see individual red blood cells in blood with the eye.
I think it would be more of a coloring of the sample as a whole. Keep in mind when you see pictures on the internet of different cell types that have color, the cells in those pictures often have already had a stain applied to them by the pathologist to make them stand out from other cells and be visible for analysis and photographing. Often the cells' natural color before staining is transparent or nearly invisible. And it is the cancerous plasma cells, not the stem cells, that are the concern. You want stem cells.
I think you may be reading too much into the nurses actions. There is a lot that does not make sense. The pathologist report is what matters.
Eric
I do not believe it is possible to make out an individual stem cell no matter what color it may be as an individual dot on a slide. They are simply too small to be seen as more than individual dots like that. And even if you could, I believe there should be a great number of them, and that would make it hard to pick them out as individual dots, no more than you can see individual red blood cells in blood with the eye.
I think it would be more of a coloring of the sample as a whole. Keep in mind when you see pictures on the internet of different cell types that have color, the cells in those pictures often have already had a stain applied to them by the pathologist to make them stand out from other cells and be visible for analysis and photographing. Often the cells' natural color before staining is transparent or nearly invisible. And it is the cancerous plasma cells, not the stem cells, that are the concern. You want stem cells.
I think you may be reading too much into the nurses actions. There is a lot that does not make sense. The pathologist report is what matters.
Eric
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Eric Hofacket - Name: Eric H
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 01 April 2011
- Age at diagnosis: 44
Re: Unsettling moment during bone marrow biopsy
That nurse was probably looking for bone marrow "spicules" on the slide so they knew they actually had bone marrow and not just blood. Being a retired medical technologist, we used to help with bone marrow aspirations all the time.
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Richard Beach
Re: Unsettling moment during bone marrow biopsy
I was in an OR, scrubbed & gowned, as an observer. It was a Total Hip Procedure. 2005 ?
At a critical juncture, the CRNA (seated on a stool) reached down for a tube or something, and loudly passed gas. Before he could apologize,...
The room went silent...then everyone started laughing, except for the 2 student Nurses, who thought it not professional to pass gas so noisily during a procedure. They reminded me of the floating Nun in the Blues Brothers--completely colorless, judgmental, and dour.
Yes, there were following discussions with lots of --" what kind of gas, are you passing to the patient?" jokes.
Thus, there could be a myriad of benign reasons why she had a "concerned" look on her face. I don't think she has microscopic vision,...so wait until the results are back. The 29th ?
Til then, take care of yourself.
Good Luck.
At a critical juncture, the CRNA (seated on a stool) reached down for a tube or something, and loudly passed gas. Before he could apologize,...
The room went silent...then everyone started laughing, except for the 2 student Nurses, who thought it not professional to pass gas so noisily during a procedure. They reminded me of the floating Nun in the Blues Brothers--completely colorless, judgmental, and dour.
Yes, there were following discussions with lots of --" what kind of gas, are you passing to the patient?" jokes.
Thus, there could be a myriad of benign reasons why she had a "concerned" look on her face. I don't think she has microscopic vision,...so wait until the results are back. The 29th ?
Til then, take care of yourself.
Good Luck.
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Rneb
Re: Unsettling moment during bone marrow biopsy
Rneb,
Your OR story reminded me of when I had arthroscopic knee surgery back in 1992. I was sedated, but at one point in the procedure I "woke up." I asked the surgeon how things were going. He said, "We have a medical term for your knee - trashed." Then he gave some signal to the anesthesiologist, and I don't remember anything more.
Your OR story reminded me of when I had arthroscopic knee surgery back in 1992. I was sedated, but at one point in the procedure I "woke up." I asked the surgeon how things were going. He said, "We have a medical term for your knee - trashed." Then he gave some signal to the anesthesiologist, and I don't remember anything more.
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mikeb - Name: mikeb
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2009 (MGUS at that time)
- Age at diagnosis: 55
Re: Unsettling moment during bone marrow biopsy
I agree with Rbeach. As a med lab technologist, I have been in the room during sampling. Cells need to be stained. Probably just looking for appropriate sample but caught in the act of someone watching her.
Kim
Kim
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