So, How Was Your Biopsy?

(Editor's note: Due to the results of the biopsy and the uncertainty regarding the implications for the future, I've held off on posting for awhile. Although some things are still up in the air (more on that in a later post), they have settled out somewhat, so I should be posting again more regularly.)

Well, first off, thank you to my friend, G., for driving me to the appointment in the morning (timeline check: this was on Thursday, July 8th). Olivia had an engagement that morning so we arranged for her to come by later to pick me up. I had a 9 o'clock appointment and they told me that there would be an hour of prep beforehand, about 15 minutes of actual process and then about an hour afterwards recovering as the drugs worked their way out of my body. We arrived a half hour early and luckily they took me in immediately.  First, they had me change into a standard hospital gown, lay down on a gurney and then they connected me to all sorts of recording devices: blood pressure, pulse and a hook up for an IV. Then I lay there for almost 2 hours. Not a lot to do but wait. Luckily, I had my iPod with me for music and reading. The biopsy itself was very interesting. The drugs they gave me were a mix for anti-anxiety and amnesia so I was still somewhat awake. Something like the state you're in between waking and sleeping when you're sort of aware of what is going on around you but you really don't care. From what I remember, there wasn't much discomfort (unlike when they extracted the bone marrow). There was just a sense of something's going on back there but it didn't feel normal. I was lying face down on the CAT scan table and they would slide me into the CAT scan to triangulate and then out so they could proceed. After they finished I was rolled back to the same room I started in and waited for the drugs to wear off. The most exciting part of the whole process was the trip to and from the scanning room. Due to construction in their office I was wheeled around as if it was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. First we rolled to the front office to drop off the nurse's purse, then around quick corners and down narrow hallways as people opened and closed doors, just missing my gurney.

In the end, the timing was perfect. Olivia showed up just when I was ready to be released and so home we went. Then, as before, came the wonderful time of WAITING FOR THE RESULTS. Unfortunately, real life is not like an episode of House. The head doctor doesn't snap off a witty remark, then bark "Test him for _______!" and violà!, they are sitting next to the patient's bed explaining what they found. And so, I'll will leave you as we were left, waiting for the results until the next posting.

Blessings on you all.