Bone Marrow..comin’ right up

Now that my transplant has been put on hold due to my low hemoglobin, it is definitely necessary to do something to find out why this is happening. I had emailed my nurse last week to find out what the results were of the blood test my doctor had me do the week before. It was some sort of B-cells test. My doctor emailed my hematologist and he has suggested that I do a repeat bone marrow tap.

*sigh*
If you’ve read about what I’ve typed about bone marrow taps before, you’ll know that I’ve said repeatedly that bone marrow taps hurt like a….well…they hurt. Imagine an insanely huge needle being forcefully jammed into your hipbone (or into your lower back), then having the bone marrow drawn out….eglajhwlghe I don’t even wanna talk about it. But alas, whatever I need to go through to find answers, I will most certainly do.
During an appointment with my hematologist, I’ve asked him if it was a possibility to have some further sedation done while getting bone marrow tapped. A numbing injection is used, but it seems so ineffective, I have to wonder how much MORE it would hurt had I not gotten the injection. He said that we’d “figure something out, but ‘we don’t usually do sedation'”. I have to wonder about that, because I know that if I were at, say, Sick Kid’s Hospital, not only would they sedate the crap outta me, but they’d probably put a Wii or a Playstation 3 covered in vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and pepperoni in front of to play while lying on a sandbag waiting for the bleeding to stop.
This bone marrow tap appointment is supposed to occur in the next week or two, so i’ll be updating again with that. Wish me luck..
Florence:

View Comments (1)

  • Oh man!! I'm so sorry. I hope that your appointment will be soon and that they can do more to minimize the pain. That makes no sense that sedation wouldn't be a common part of the procedure!