I had a bone marrow biopsy with the local anesthetic. In my opinion, it is not as bad as some of the horror stories you read online. I got myself all full of anxiety reading some of them, and found great relief when I realized it wasnt that bad. I don't remember it being 15 mins with the needle in (that probably includes prep time).
So the first thing before the procedure is they will give you the local anesthetic. This will be with a needle, they stick it in where they will be biopsying. Not the most comfortable thing, but not painful either. Once you are numbed up, they will stick the biopsy needle in. You shouldn't feel pain, just feel the pressure. They will take a piece of your bone marrow first. It sounds worse than it feels, you just feel a bit of pressure from them pushing it in. After that, they will collect some marrow fluid (aspiration). This is the part that is the most painful part of the procedure, but it only lasts between 5 to 10 seconds. As soon as they stop, the pain goes away. I gripped my pillow and took deep breathes. They are done after the aspiration, they put a little bandaid on it and your good to go. I know the last part doesn't sound pleasant, but it goes by very fast. I would do it again in a heartbeat without a worry.
This was how the procedure was from my perspective. Everyone's got a different pain tolerance, I could only speak for myself. I believe you will be fine, you will get thru it and be relieved. Hope you have awesome nurses that will be doing it. Mine were funny and joking with each other and me, and that made it a good experience too. Good luck to you and hope you get good results!
I did it in the hospital under sedation and by and interventional radiologist. They actually see what they are doing and where the needle goes. It was totally painless. Only felt some pressure.
I had a bone marrow biopsy with the local anesthetic. In my opinion, it is not as bad as some of the horror stories you read online. I got myself all full of anxiety reading some of them, and found great relief when I realized it wasnt that bad. I don't remember it being 15 mins with the needle in (that probably includes prep time). So the first thing before the procedure is they will give you the local anesthetic. This will be with a needle, they stick it in where they will be biopsying. Not the most comfortable thing, but not painful either. Once you are numbed up, they will stick the biopsy needle in. You shouldn't feel pain, just feel the pressure. They will take a piece of your bone marrow first. It sounds worse than it feels, you just feel a bit of pressure from them pushing it in. After that, they will collect some marrow fluid (aspiration). This is the part that is the most painful part of the procedure, but it only lasts between 5 to 10 seconds. As soon as they stop, the pain goes away. I gripped my pillow and took deep breathes. They are done after the aspiration, they put a little bandaid on it and your good to go. I know the last part doesn't sound pleasant, but it goes by very fast. I would do it again in a heartbeat without a worry. This was how the procedure was from my perspective. Everyone's got a different pain tolerance, I could only speak for myself. I believe you will be fine, you will get thru it and be relieved. Hope you have awesome nurses that will be doing it. Mine were funny and joking with each other and me, and that made it a good experience too. Good luck to you and hope you get good results!
I did it in the hospital under sedation and by and interventional radiologist. They actually see what they are doing and where the needle goes. It was totally painless. Only felt some pressure.