Growing up is hard to do. As a 24 year old, just starting out in the working world, being diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma can be a big blow. Here's my attempt at putting it behind me as smoothly as possible.

30 August, 2005

Bone Marrow Biopsy

I was really worried about today's procedure. Had some bloodwork first (I don't know why they have to do this every single time I go!!!) then I sat in the operating room for a bit in my gown with my Dad. Dr. Blahey showed up, kicked my Dad out (though I'm sure he didn't want to be there), and told me what was going to happen. Two bone marrow samples and a bone core sample. They got me to curl up in the fetal position and froze my back where your hip bones are. They made an incision and pushed something into the bone, I think to break open a hole. That didn't really hurt much, but it was a lot of pressure. Then they stuck in a needle and withdrew bone marrow twice. This was a really sharp pain, but it went away pretty quickly as well. Next he got out what felt like a hand drill and he cranked away for a couple minutes to get the bone core sample. It was really weird and was scary thinking about what was happening. All in all, I think it went better than I was expecting.

They told me that I can't have a bath for 24 hours. Now I'm in a bind! No showers or baths! I think my girlfriend will be leaving me shortly! I am all scheduled for the next appointments now. PET scan tomorrow, an appointment with Dr. Blahey to talk about my chemo/radiation on September 13th and my first chemo session is September 14th. I guess it's all underway now...

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