Bone marrow biopsy: Was it painful?

@hanya

Thank you so very much for your kind words. They are really appreciated. Life is pretty darn hard right now.

My bone marrow test was not painful at all! But, I worried about it for days ahead!

@pillinfo So glad to hear you had a positive experience, and that you advocated for yourself!
Ginger

Hi @pillinfo ,
Yes, I definitely have found that doctors have many very different opinions on many things related to MPNs and joint issues as well. They come up with very different diagnoses and that makes them suggest very different treatment plans. Honestly, at this point I have my doubts about just how much certain doctors, even specialists, know about many conditions. If a person doesn’t fit into the categories they know, the doctor just tries to shove them into one. Many doctors do not seem to be up on the latest information also.

Do you have more problem if you have demineralized bones... i don't really want a needle going side my bone, seems barbaric ....and i can't be put out or use anything in the cane family to numb.

Hi @ladyplumber7 Having osteoporosis shouldn’t effect your having a bone marrow biopsy. I know, it does sound barbaric having a needle inserted into a bone. But the bone marrow biopsy and exam (BMBX) can be a valuable tool for your doctor in determining the health of your bone marrow and its ability to produce healthy blood cells. They’re not done needlessly. Nicer if “needlelessly”. ☺️

The bone marrow is the heart of the blood manufacturing site in the body which makes it the best source for accurate information on the blood cells. The results can show the types of cells, the genetic composition, extent of a disease, etc..

~A possible alternative for a bone marrow biopsy that your doctors may consider if it’s out of the question for you to have a BMBX. Blood work, along with Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been shown to offer results on par with a BMBX. Talk it over with your doctor.

You mentioned that you’re allergic to anything in the ‘caine’ family of anesthetics. Not every anesthetic that ends in ‘caine’ are from the same class of drugs though. There are alternative local anesthetics to drugs from the Lidocaine line (that still may end in ‘caine’. In the dental practice where I worked, we had a couple of patients allergic to Lidocaine. We had other numbing medications we could substitute that worked well with no side effects.
Here is an article that helps explain what I’m talking about.
From Clinical Advisor: https://www.clinicaladvisor.com/features/alternative-treatments-for-patients-with-lidocaine-allergies/

~Also, in larger medical settings a BMBX can be offered under IV sedation. That’s my preferred route to take having had 13 BMBXs over the years.

You mentioned in another reply that you were having a 2nd opinion at F Hutch. That is an outstanding medical facility specializing in blood diseases. If you don’t mind sharing, what was the outcome of your visit with them?

My BMB was 4 days ago, and I have initial results (not my mutations yet but I already know from 9/24 that I have 1q21 gain). The PT used lidocaine and epinethrine and I felt no pain drilling to the bone (illial crest), just mild pressure. With epi you might need someone to drive you home, but not with just lidocaine. My bones are good; the PT did indicate it is a bit tougher drilling into porous osteoporosis bone due to bone weakness). Drilling into the marrow did get a KAPOW of pain shooting down my leg followed by toe tingling for a few seconds (hit at or near the sciatic nerve). More a weird feeling than pain. My BMB results for this week and (in parentheses) from 9/2024 still need to be discussed with the oncologists, but I hopefully am now high enough risk for treatment with the 20/2/20 scale. I'm tired of medical purgatory, although my only symptom is mild fatigue from nasty bits kappa proteins flooding my kidneys. I have high risk IgA kappa FLC smouldering MM (or maybe MM), with plasma cells comprising at least 28% of cells with nuclei (13% in 9/24), CD138 is protein on deranged plasma cells, and that came to 60% of my cellular marrow (15% in 9/24). The numbers get a lot messier, but basically I am still probably SMM. We will see what the doctors say next week.