Hi cdurbin,
I am sorry your BMB was painful. I must have had an experienced nurse practitioner who did mine with one local anesthetic injection. I know she was sent over from UCSD.
It seems so strange to me that I would still have ET if I had not asked for BMB. That is what my blood work alone showed. I know many others feel that blood work alone is all that is necessary. I have high platelets I know. I have no risk factors according to what is checked on two scales for my new diagnosis of Myelofibrosis. I could tell my O/H was very confused about my particular case. She did not know how my platelets could go down so much on my BMB day and then go back up as well as how my hemoglobin mysteriously went way down BMB day and then went right back up to well within normal like it has always been on lab work. She did offer for me to see a MPN specialist who consults about bone marrow transplants who works at City of Hope here in CA, so I will do that this summer just to learn more and get a second opinion also. In the meantime I don’t mind taking baby aspirin daily and doing lab work monthly. I am very blessed I know to have no symptoms.
Positive thoughts for all.