To start off, my mother and I came up with the idea that we would stay at the Hilton that she works at the night before my procedure...so as to beat traffic in the early morning and instead drive the 5 minutes it takes to get from the hotel to the interventional radiology department. So the day before the biopsy, we signed into our room, unpacked, and as my mom set off for work downstairs, I decided to make a day of it and take the shuttle to Tysons Corner Mall. I don't have a whole lot of money to splurge but I did go to the bookstore there where I got 30% off the new Harry Potter book, then got two bath bombs from Lush and got an order of pizza to take back to the hotel for my mom and I to have for dinner. I also got to look around at most of the other stores there which was cool since I never really have the chance go to that mall.
Anyway, so I head back to have dinner, a shower, and started getting ready for tomorrow. Sadly the next day already started off on the wrong foot by waking up to find that I was soooo sore from the hotel bed as opposed to the bed at home. I rolled out of bed, put on some loose clothes, packed up and started heading over to the Kaiser building. When we got there, the first thing I had to do was bloodwork not only for the procedure but also for my upcoming immunotherapy treatment. Got that out of the way and started heading down to where the interventional radiology department was. There aren't that many Kaiser sites that have these special radiology rooms. They look like a mini (3 bed) ER used for doing biopsies and procedures while also using scans and ultrasounds (which is what they used on my neck to find the perfect spot to stick me...it's the safest way in my case).
We signed in at the front desk and then waited. My stomach was already begging for food and water but because I was going to be sedated, I wasn't allowed anything. An hour of playing solitaire on my itouch passed and they still hadn't called me back so I decided to check what the issue was. I asked the front desk and was told that the patients before me needed more time (perhaps something went wrong with them or they needed more time coming out of sedation?). I then asked how much longer it would be and I nearly burst out laughing at the response I got....ANOTHER HOUR.
By the time I was called back I had been waiting there for 2 hours and 10 minutes in a waiting room...I was absolutely appalled and it was at that time my mind started racing. The battle with anxiety was about to begin.
When the nurse called me back, I could already feel blood pressure beginning to rise and despite feeling so prepared last night, I started getting serious worries. I worried about how safe the procedure was, how sedated I would be, how much pain, etc....by the time they were about to start my IV I was already entering a full-fledged panic attack. My breathing was off and it was actually rather terrifying having all these thoughts going through my mind. It wasn't until they started kicking in the sedation that I started to settle down a bit. The procedure went as well as can be expected, though the numbing process felt like my neck was on fire. They stuck me 6 times for the needle biopsy to make sure they had a large enough sample. I was actually really grateful for the doctor performing the biopsy as he knew my concerns and walked me through it at a pace I could tolerate.
When it was all over and I managed to drink a little juice and some crackers, my mom decided to take me over to the Silver Diner down the street to get a bite. I got my usual lunch whenever I go there, a grilled cheese. I felt pretty ok despite a really really sore and swollen neck. I was told that once I got home I needed to put some ice on it every once in a while throughout the day. As we headed home I started to feel a little queasy though. I thought this was because the country roads were a bit bumpy. I tried to sleep through it and had some fresh air coming in, but the moment we entered my hometown, was just horrific terror. In the middle of a one lane street my mom had to stop as I threw open the car and said goodbye to my first meal of the day. Obviously the sedation hadn't completely wore off in time and it was very unsettling to my stomach...not to mention tear jerking to think of.
The rest of the day I spent lying down on a mountain of pillows to support my neck and ice pack. I sipped on some soup which was the only thing I could keep down, and napped through several hours. It was quite the bumpy road that I truly wish I never have to travel down again. I should have my results in next week and from there we decide on what to do in terms of my treatment plan. My bone marrow biopsy will still be the finish line...this is just the detour we have to make to get there. In the meantime I just had my 5th immunotherapy treatment and I can already feel the fatigue slapping me in the face. Oh well...it isn't gonna stop me from trying to be productive as much as I can...but for now....
zzzzzzzzzzzz
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