Everything You Wanted To Know About A Bone Marrow Biopsy

What's better than a PICC line?  A Bone Marrow Biopsy!  OK, maybe not.  Still, it is a necessary evil that sounds scarier than it really is.  Mostly.

First of all the biopsy can happen at a hospital, clinic or doctor's office and every place has their own way of doing things.  At Hackensack's John Theurer Cancer Center, they only give local anethesia, but you may hear other people say they were given general anethesia.  Local anesthesia allows the patient is awake to answer questions during the biopsy procedure.

Now let's talk about pain because that's really the thing driving the fear, right?  So...does it hurt? Yes. How much is hard to say because everyone's different.  It is no walk in the park but it also isn't excruciatingly painful.  OK maybe that's not helpful.  Personally, I'd rather have a biopsy than a migrane headache.  Perhaps because a biopsy only lasts about 30 minutes and you're not in pain the whole time.

So my doctor has me lay on my stomach and applies a topical anesthetic before giving me the first shot of local anesthesia, and that hurts like hell (to me) but it's quick.  Because I'm on the "thick" side, I also get a shot of anesthesia deeper in the surrounding area of the pelvic bone where the biopsy will be done.  Yes, that hurts too but again it's pretty quick.  My doctor waits a few minutes for it to kick in before doing the biopsy.

At this point I try to focus on talking to my husband.  I try very hard not to think about what is actually happening back there otherwise I'd probably pass out.  I think there is definitely an element of mind over matter that is critical to getting through it.

To me it feels like a lot of tugging and pulling and wrenching that should hurt but doesn't.  It just feels like pressure.  When we're done, the small wound is bandaged and you're free to go.  It can be uncomfortable to sit in the car (or anyplace that will put pressure on the wound) but again, it's nowhere near unbearable.  I never do a biopsy without my husband because it's easier not to have to drive.  After a day or two it mostly becomes a distant memory.