The Trauma of the Bone Marrow Biopsy
Since my cancer diagnosis, I’ve been through a lot — surgery, port implantation, chemotherapy, radiation, brachytherapy, the list goes on. But last Friday was my very first bone marrow biopsy.
Prior to this biopsy, I had heard horror stories about how painful it is. Luckily for me, my oncologist set me up to have some “twilight” drugs, that would allegedly put me under for the procedure.
Unfortunately for me, the experience still felt traumatic AF.
I’m not sure what it was exactly, but something in me broke during this exam. As I lay on a CT scanner, bare ass up in the air, and medical staff fluttering around me, my anxiety got the best of me. As the scanner raised up — a sign the procedure was beginning — I nervously asked “Am I being sedated? I’m really nervous.” The nurse held my hand and gave me the first dose of Fentanyl. A few minutes later, I heard the drill they would be digging into my back hip in order to extract the bone marrow from my body.