(FULL DISCLOSURE: Depending on your tolerance level, some of the photos and/or text that follow may cause ooogi-ness, queasiness, hair loss, an erection lasting longer than 4 hours, or an oily discharge. OK, so I made up that last one…..)
Didn’t sleep well at all last night – very restless and woke up a lot. But after my favorite breakfast of blueberry waffles with sliced banana, and a great cup of coffee, I took Jake for a walk and felt rarin’ to go. Let’s get this party started!!!!!
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| The BESTEST daughter! |
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| Ready to go. Let's get this show on the road! |
My Lymphoma Goddess and Hero, Carol Ann, met Amanda and I at the oncologist’s office – with a bunch of gorgeous, yummy-scented bright yellow freesias.
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| Kicking lymphoma's ass. |
She didn’t know
until later that I had chosen yellow as my “cancer color,” the hue that I can
turn to for its energy, vitality, warmth, happiness, and power. The sun is the essential life force of
everything, and it’s what makes the desert my sanctuary. I decided early on to channel the symbolic
power of yellow – and the sun of my beloved desert – into this lymphoma
journey.
Carol Ann likewise
had a bone marrow biopsy (BMB) when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,
and knew what it was going to be like – I am grateful to her that she didn’t
divulge the details! The research I had
done on BMBs kept mentioning “discomfort,” “pressure,” etc. Yeh, uh-huh…..
Andrew, one of Dr.
Glenn’s awesome nurses, started the shenanigans by taking my blood
pressure.
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| Mildly shocked at how high my BP was, but I guess that's to be expected when one is about to undergo BONE PIERCING..... |
No billowy
hospital gown this time – I got the ever-popular paper drape. Everything off from the waist down, and I was
ready to rock.
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| Please, Terry, can we lighten things up a bit and not be so serious? |
Skin was cleaned
and disinfected with Betadine. Dr. Glenn
had such a gentle touch, it felt more like a spa treatment than surgical
prep.
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| I seem to get either the too-big hospital gowns, or the too-short tables..... |
Next was the “bee
sting” of Xylocaine to start the numbing process. I’m glad I couldn’t see what was going on,
because I heard Carol Ann say that’s one big mother fucker of a bee…..
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| TGFX - Thank God For Xylocaine |
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| More, please..... |
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| Pease, love, and numbing agents. |
Dr. Glenn pulled
out her bag of tricks and got started.
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| SO glad I couldn't see this..... |
A small nick was made in my skin and the biopsy needle was inserted. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. Didn’t feel a thing. This’ll be a piece ‘o cake, right?
The bone marrow
aspiration was done first. Dr. Glenn
used a syringe to pull up a sample of marrow cells. According to Caring4Cancer.com, “It is common
to feel pressure as the needle is pressed into the bone, and a pulling
sensation when the marrow is removed.”
Now that’s an understatement.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! That’s when
the expletives began to fly out of my mouth.
It’s hard to describe the “sensations.”
The tissue from the skin down to the bone is numb, but the bone itself
can’t be anesthetized. How do you think it would feel to have a thick-ass SPIKE
puncture your BONE? Yeh, that’s how it
felt…..
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| Calm on the outside, but yelling FUCK FUCK FUCK on the inside (OK, on the outside, too) |
But worse than the
actual puncturing was the “pulling sensation” as the marrow was drawn up into
the syringe. It felt like my entire
abdominal insides were being sucked up into a vacuum cleaner. I was trying to do rhythmic yoga breathing,
trying to stay calm, but my eyes were squeezed shut and I was sweating and
shaking and cussing like a drunken sailor.
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| Nice pillow to bury my face into (and not in a good way.....) |
Dr. Glenn then
performed a core biopsy, by inserting a hollow needle (a.k.a. SPIKE) and
removing a small, solid piece of bone marrow.
Again, pressure and pulling and sweating and cussing.
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| Your eyes would be squeezed shut too, if you had a surgical tool sticking out of your back. |
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| Apparently I couldn't squeeze my eyes shut enough and had to use my hand to make sure they were closed. |
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| Dig for it, Dr. Glenn! |
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| Did I mention how glad I am that I couldn't see what was going on????? |
The greatest single
word I heard today was when I asked Dr. Glenn if that was it? Was she done?
And she said YES.
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| Thankfully DONE! |
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| Tying everything up into a neat little package to send off to Pathology. |
The biopsy needle was withdrawn, pressure was applied to quell bleeding, and I flipped onto my back to keep pressure on the site for a few minutes. Turning over from my tummy to my back was no easy feat: I was securely pasted to the paper covering the table by the considerable quantity of sweat that had poured out of my body. Apparently for me there’s a third response to perceived danger: fight or flight - or perspire.
Back in an upright position, it was time to don panties, shorts, and flip flops and head down the hall to make the follow-up appointment.
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| Panties tossed from daughter to mother = good times. |
Amanda was visibly
relieved that this latest thrill ride in Cancerland had concluded!
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| Not stressed in the least, is she? |
Then it was off to
Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
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| Finally - food and sunshine! |
It’s about 4 hours
post-biopsy as I write this, and my hip bone is achy and sore now that the Zylocaine
has worn off, but doesn’t feel too bad.
I’m glad this step is finished and out of the way, and that I don’t have
to wait three more weeks to have it done.
I’m grateful for Dr. Glenn and her skill and sense of humor, and SO
thankful that Amanda and Carol Ann were there with me today.
Next step: follow-up appointment with Dr. Glenn on May
25 to go over all the test results – PET and CT scans, lab work, and bone
marrow biopsy. That will determine what our
next adventure in Cancerland will be!
For now, though, I’m
going to enjoy the rest of the day, maybe get a little bite to eat, perhaps a
glass of wine, and take pleasure in a vase of beautiful freesias.
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| Yellow - my color for energy, vitality, warmth, happiness, and power - and kicking lymphoma's ass! |
