Tuesday I was told that I had to do a bone marrow biopsy and, although I kept my game face on, I was not happy at all! I had one of these done 18 years ago and it was, to say the least, barbaric! Back in the day, they doped me up pretty good and then went to town with attempting to nail me to the bed via my back hip! At least that is what it felt like. They were unable to get a piece of my bone, so they tried 5 different times..while I screamed, pulled my hair and nearly yanked my moms hand off...finally they left me alone. So...with this experience in my back pocket, you can imagine that I was not too excited about having to have this done again.
So...Thursday night I get on the internet to look up isolation after bone marrow transplant, I just wanted to see what it was going to be like. This took me to a youtube diary that I watched a little of and to the side, there is another video that is showing a bone marrow biopsy being done - and I click on it like a dumbass! I watched a little of it, got sick to my stomach and turned it off. Then I took a vicodin a little earlier than I was suppose to and went to bed...the vicodin did not help my pain that night, nor did it help me sleep...I was up a lot freaking out.
Friday morning Bret took me to meet my sister-in-law Missy, as she was to be my chauffer for the day :o) We went to the oncologist office and Kelly met us there. Missy was to be the driver and Kelly was to be the hand holder - since she is a nurse we figured she could handle it the best. They call my name, my stomach drops...then they inform us that no one can be in the room during the surgical procedure..WHAT!!!!! Now I am picking my stomach up off of the floor..and I think Missy and Kelly were too! They did let Kelly go in there while they were taking my blood and prepping me though...like that was going to get me through this right?
Soooo we are sitting there and there is the tray of tools that they are going to use, they are not covered up. I see a needle or something that is about 8" long...thank god I do not have a weak stomach, or I would have been on the floor right there! Kelly told me later that she saw it too and was just hoping that I had not looked at it...DUH that was the first thing I did!!! hahahaha After the nurse, Henry, took my blood I asked him "So, you are going to give me drugs to dope me up, right" and he said "no, we just numb the area and then number deeper, near the bone" my first reaction was "SHUT UP!!!" hahaha I think he was stumped, he just smiled...Kelly laughed. Now is the time where they make Kelly leave and they get me ready...I am semi-freaking out, but it is gonna happen one way or the other so I had to put my big girl panties on and deal with it!
A girl named Raquel did the procedure and I am now in love with her!! hahaha I am not going to say that it didn't hurt, but it was nothing like I remember and it was not nearly as painful as I was anticipating. There was a lot of pressure and when she was getting the tool into my bone, there was some pain down my leg..but overall it was mainly a lot of uncomfortable pressure and it was done very quickly. I am no longer afraid of bone marrow biopsies (as long as I can have Raquel do them when I need them - hahaha). When it was over, they let Kelly back in while I had a 5lb weight on my back to control any bleeding, then they cleaned me up and I was free to go. I was hungry so we went for burgers!
Missy took me to a couple of other places and then brought me home, just in time for the pain to kick in. I got to lay down for about 2 hours and then we had to go to opening ceremonies of soccer for Daylon. I should not have gone, and I was pretty much miserable most of the time, but I want to be able to do these things before I can't for a while...so I did - and don't give me shit and tell me I should have rested - I know this hahaha!!!
So, that is the story of the bone marrow biopsy!
Light the Night - we now have 10 walkers and we have raised $550.00 for the cause...I am so grateful to everyone that is walking, volunteering and donating! Remember, every $5.00 counts, so if you can...please donate to my team - Team Joni!
http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/Teamjoni
xoxo- Joni
I don't blame you one bit for going to the soccor ceremonies. When changed with such a life altering experience you dont want to let go of certain things. My biggest thing after my experience was not letting a chance go by to tell someone what they mean to me. It irks some people, makes others uncomfortable, but I'd rather them know that they made an impact on my life in one way or another than to die again and not get the second chance! Now if you had said "I just had to clean (fill in the blank)" then you would have gotten a LOT of shit!
ReplyDeleteLOL..
Love you brave girl!