Day 5 – Tuesday (8/28/18)
*NOTE* – If you are queasy, you may want to skip today’s blog. I intend to describe the biopsy from my point of view. It was the coolest, strangest, grossest thing I have experienced since watching the miracle of childbirth of my two children (now THAT…. was disturbing… o yeah… and “beautiful”, haha).
Today was the big day. Honestly, I was not even too nervous about the biopsy procedure. I had done some reading on it. Put a needle in, use another needle to go into the first, remove sample, done. All was going to plan. I arrived at the hospital a few minutes early. The lab technician drew blood to get my clotting specifications. They sent me up to the radiology waiting room, and I sat with my mom and wife and… you guessed it… waited. The nurse came and picked me up from the waiting room right on time. We walked back to a “pre/post” op side room, and got ready. The doctor came in and went over how everything was going to happen. He then proceeded to tell me I needed to sign a form that said I understood that I could (1), have a lung collapse, (2), get an infection, (3), have internal bleeding, (4) the needle could hit a major blood vessel. Wow… thanks doc. So much for not being nervous! I was doing great until you read me the list of possible side-effects! He then said, “sign here”… unless you don’t want to sign, then we can just skip the biopsy. You have the choice to just live with the mass… or have the docs just go in and cut it out… but they won’t… because they don’t know what it is. Is it just me, or does this feel like the EULA agreement we all have to accept from Apple before we are able to use an iPhone? I signed the paperwork.
Once they wheeled me back to the CT scan room, they got me setup on the scan bed. They put a “marker” on my chest that would act as a reference point for them to locate where they should insert the needle into my chest to make first contact with Blobby. They did a CT scan, then took measurements from the reference and put an X on the entry location. The first step was to sterilize and numb. The numbing was a shot, similar to numbing your teeth before a filling. I excepted this and was good, until suddenly he jabbed it deep and said “got to make sure we are numb down in there!”. A little freaky seeing a needle sticking straight into your chest. With the numbing done, the doc took a scalpel and made a small cut, then pressed the large, “outer” needle into my chest (about the size of a pencil). Honestly, I did not feel this at all. They ran me back into the scan machine and scanned again. A little right, a little left, hold on, too far… back a little… THERE! “Alright, now for the deep plunge”… “I’m sorry, time for the wh…”… too late, “ugggggg”, deep plunge done… we just busted down Blobby’s front door. That plunge… that hurt. However, once it was “in”, I just felt pressure. The doc then put the “gun” needle into the outer needle and started “popping” samples. You could only get one sample at a time. I lost count, but I think he got about 7. I picture this as the police, having knocked down Blobby’s door, proceeding through his leased property, and taking one item of interest from each room of the apartment. “Ohh, that looks like a good one”, I heard the doc say. Hey, I like the sound of that! After the last sample, they pulled the needle out and had a band-aid on me in no time. They did one more scan to make sure everything looked okay. I was monitored for about 30 minutes, then I was allowed to leave.
Now the waiting game. 44 hours, 45 minutes, 15 seconds, 14, 13, 12, 11…. Haha. Not like anyone is counting down to the results, haha. Jokes aside, I should have results for sure by Friday morning.
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for keeping me calm today. The whole time I was listening to “side-effects”, laying on the table, etc… I knew I was in Your hands. You were guiding the doctor’s every move, and he did a fantastic job. I’m thankful that you have gifted and led people into the various medical fields. I’m not going to lie, waiting the next 48 hours will be tough from a patience aspect, but I know you have it all under control. I look forward to the results, and I look forward to the journey ahead as You show me how to have a more intimate relationship with You. Help me to be an encouragement to others through this process. I thank you Lord again, for all You do, amen.