What was your experience with bone marrow biopsy?

I must be an anomaly. I had local anaesthetic and felt no pain, just a great deal of pressure. But when I went to stand up afterwards, I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg. The pain in my hip was excruciating. I had to be put in a wheelchair to leave the hospital. The pain lasted a couple of weeks, but had subsided enough that I was golfing again in about 5 days. As people have said, each person has a different experience.

Not something one looks forward to. With a tiny 27 g needle, local anesthesia is only a sting. If done well, rest is just the emotional reaction to the scrape and suck. Best done in output OR with anesthesia support. You want an experienced surgeon, not a first time resident or pathologist who does one a month

Agree, not something to look forward to, but local anesthesia helps the incursion pain but pressure of the needle into the bone is a bit challenging, but very tolerable knowing the info gathered will aid the treatment plan. Hopefully it is not something that needs to be repeated often! Hope all goes will for you!

I have had four so far. The first was at the James Cancer Center when they suspected my MGUS levels were progressing. The nurse performing the procedure was very professional. She used a lidocaine for the local. The first couple samples weren’t a big deal. She prepped me for the last sample and said it was going to hurt pretty bad, but I would only feel it for a couple seconds. Everything occurred exactly as she described.

The second one was at a hospital in Phoenix that I’m not going to name. Since I had one previously, I didn’t have any concerns with just having lidocaine as a local. I suspect that was a combination of not doing many of these previously and a complete lack of skill. Even the first samples hurt pretty bad. Everything she described to me that was going to happen was wrong. I thought I knew what to expect from my previous one. That last sample that would hurt the most, she didn’t get a sample. She wanted to cancel the procedure because of the pain she caused. The hospital was a hour away from where I lived and I was not about to make another trip taking time off work. I told her to proceed with another attempt. There was significant pain, but she got the sample.

Fortunately for me, the hematologist at that hospital recommended that I continue care at the Mayo. I wasn’t aware that there was one in Phoenix at the time. It turned out it was only thirty minutes away, so it was a big win for me. I have had two more biopsies at the Mayo within the last sixty days. Because of my previous experience, I didn’t what to play the skill set lottery again. I went with the general anesthesia for both procedures. I had a different nurse for each one with the same anesthesiologist for both procedures. She did her undergrad at OSU, so we had a lot to discuss. All involved at the Mayo were extremely professional. Everyone described what was going to happen and what happened was exactly what they said. The procedure even with the general anesthesia only took about a half hour. Zero pain was experienced with no issues experienced afterwards. The general may be a bit of an overkill for this procedure, but why experience any discomfort?

I can say that all the providers of care at the Mayo Phoenix have been very caring and very professional. The experience so far has me optimistic that I’ll be in good hands when I start my path leading up to my SCT on Friday.

Perhaps the reason for my pain after the procedure was because it was a resident hematologist who performed the biopsy….perhaps she needs a bit more experience. 😉 Mind you they DO need to obtain that somewhere….just sorry it was me. 🤪 The good part of this was the extra time she spent explaining to me not only about the procedure but also about ET, which is what they wanted verification from the biopsy.

Well I must be an outlier ...I will admit that a took a Xanax 1/2 before and glad I did..She used lidocaine bur I wasn't content with that. It didn't hurt one darn bit. I promise you anytime I have a bone marrow I will have a z
xanax on board. Hope this helps. These diagnosis are hard enough if we can soften them some then we should. I only took 1 mg.

@rv10 Sending you all good vibes for a successful stem cell transplant this Friday! what a way to start the New Year! I hope you will let us know how it all goes, okay?
Ginger