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Has anyone had a painful biopsy? What was the explanation?
Hi all--thank you for this warm and compassionate space for sharing experiences and encouragement. I have already learned a lot.
My question--if you have experienced a painful biopsy, did you ever get an explanation for the pain? And did you find anything that helped?
I have had three ultrasound-guided biopsies now for a cancerous tumor in my left breast. The tumor is attached to the chest wall. Several lymph nodes are affected, and the oncologist has assigned me to stage IIIb.
The first biopsy was just one core sample. It hurt like hell.
The second was a few core samples, and the placement of clips in the tumor and the lymph node. For this biopsy, I felt the pinch of the needle administering the lidocaine, but the actual procedure was not painful.
The third biopsy involved about 6 core samples (I have enrolled in a clinical trial that requires fresh samples and a mammaprint). One of the injections of the numbing agent stung quite a bit. And then the biopsy needle--my god. I think I might have scared the radiology team with my response-- gasping and crying! Eek! And yet--the last two core samples were just fine--some pressure, but very little pain.
Now, I do not want to alarm anyone who is heading into a biopsy procedure--I think the vast majority of patients have very little pain--just like my second treatment and some of my third! But I see that there are just a few people who report a more difficult biopsy.
If you had a painful biopsy, did you ever figure out what was going on?
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Just had mine done today. I was super anxious after reading all the forums, I HATE needles and I get super anxious rly easily and all the time. Ive had biopsies before and i was still scared out of my mind. The only part that was painful was the lidocaine shot but it actually wasn’t even that bad. It was just a sting for 1 second and then maybe another sting for like half a second. Then I felt absolutely nothing. Whole procedure was very quick and the nurses really did reassure me probably because I voiced how anxious I was and kept asking them questions non stop. If you want, put on numbing cream before the shot but I don’t think my numbing cream even kicked in, and it was still fine. It was just a normal shot
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3 ReactionsWell, 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.
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4 Reactions@briarrose To be fair - an MRI guided biopsy is a different experience than a regular biopsy. For starters, the tissue being probed is more likely to bleed than with a regular biopsy. My MRI doc explained that, so I wouldn't be alarmed. (He was right - it was fairly bloody!) But if your team is as calm and reassuring as mine was, you'll get through it just fine, and it will render much more detailed imaging results than either a mammogram or ABUS. (One of my tumors didn't even show up in. a mammogram, ABUS OR biopsy. It took an MRI-guided biopsy to find the smaller tumor - which I'm grateful they did!) It's like tooking for cancer with a microscope as opposed to a magnifying glass. In this fight, it's great top have the best artil
lery possible! You can do this! Good luck!
@engelwags Yes, I know. I already had the procedure - MRI guided biopsy. Thank you for your good wishes though! 🙂
As I posted, no walk in the park but got through it.
And like you, another tumor was found due to this procedure.
You were a bit fortunate, in the sense, your MRI doctor explained to you, the tissue being probed is more likely to bleed more than a regular biopsy.
Unfortunately, my MRI doctor told me nothing about the procedure beforehand. Making it more tough for me than needed to be...rendering everything a quite uncomfortable surprise for me. But that was then, this is now - 6 months out post bilateral mastectomy.
Wishing you all the very best as well!
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1 Reaction@briarrose Patient communication can totally be a problem, can't it? I really believe that when doctors take a minute or two to explain what they're doing, it can result in a better outcome for a patient overall. We're already navigating a forest of procedures, language and terms, you-name-it that has us a bit frightened. Just clue us in and it would be better all around! Wishing all of my fellow warriors great communication from your doctors on the battlefront!
The biopsy itself wasn't a problem. The area was well frozen and I was only startled by the sound of the needle. Putting in the marker was quite difficult as he had to manipulate the nodule to get the marker into the right place. It took a week to recover from the bruising, but only in that area. Please remember that your situation may be quite different from mine.
It was only then that I realized that my problem was more serious and more complicated than I had thought. It's all part of the procedures that we have to deal with in order to get our health back.
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1 ReactionMy ultrasound guided biopsy was extremely painful. My MRI guided biopsy was in a different facility- one where the equipment was better and all they do is woman’s imaging. I made sure the radiological knew I was prone to fainting and she understood my level of anxiety and the pain with the first biopsy. She took it slow. Lidocaine twice, I think l. She asked me each step if I could feel anything. She made sure my breast tissue was numb. I think it was the facility, their expertise, and compassion that made the difference. Almost no pain with the MRI biopsy and I had no complications. Good luck. 🙏🏻🙏🏻💕Advocate for yourself.
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1 Reaction@briarrose sorry for your bad experience! My biopsy was ultrasound-guided & the doctor was very calming. In fact he made a lot of jokes throughout & I finally had to tell him to stop because I was afraid I'd laugh too much & move his needle! You're right, the doctor makes all the difference. Why they can't all be compassionate & reassuring is beyond me!
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5 Reactions@briarrose
It sounds so awful! I’m sorry that you went through such a horrendous experience with unsympathetic doctors. I understand that surgeons are in no nonsense business, but being kind does make a patient’s experience less painful. Maybe they need to be on the other side to know what it feels like. You took it like a champ!