Well, I had 2 biopsies in each breast before my bilateral mastectomy in May this year.
It was done under a MRI for exact location. Because I have difficulty in laying completely flat I was seated and wheeled into the machine, had to hold grab bars, sort of bend over and let my breasts hang down. This was no walk in the park for sure. The procedures took over 2 hours. I ended up holding the hand of one of the assistants present. And it was not just 4...that needle was moved around in my breast to get as much suspicious areas as possible...as we all know.
The team kept asking me "do you want to stop?" but I would simply have to come back again so I decided to get it all over in one shot. The lidocaine was nothing...but the doctor had to inform me beforehand "we can't give you a lot of lidocaine, we are allowed to give only a small dose". Lovely. I don't want to scare anyone but it was tough. Plus I bled after each one so the doctor had to "squeeze" my breasts to stop the bleeding and she sure squeezed! I think she put a bit extra on those squeezes and I am not big so she had my whole breast in her hand.
Personally I feel the doctor presented as tough, a bit cold and rough. I was a cooperative patient. Sure, I let out lots of "ouches"...but wasn't yelling or crying. I sat still during the entire ordeal. As crazy as this may sound, I completely blamed the doctor for my awful procedure. The assistants in the room were very kind & understanding but she was a "no nonsense" kind of physician, very serious to the point of making me very nervous. I know right from the get-go with 4 biopsies done, I was going to receive positive results. And I did. On all 4 biopsies. So, in my experience I believe it could have so much less traumatic for me...if I had a better physician working on me. I put the onus completely on her...and I actually wondered if, in fact, she was a bit sadistic. But ultimately I got through it all.