There are certain physical occurrences in life that are notorious for their level of pain. I'm not referring to horrifying or traumatic events like a gunshot wound or a severed limb, but rather events or medical procedures such as giving birth or passing a kidney stone. I acknowledge that the former is a level of pain that I will never experience. And I have lived through a few episodes of the latter (and yes Ang, I realize that passing a kidney stone - even a "staghorn stone" - is NOT as painful as having a baby).
As a person with Multiple Myeloma (MM), a Bone Marrow exam is the definitive test to confirm MM and the degree of involvement. The two-part event entails a bone marrow aspiration (where a needle is used to withdraw a sample of the fluid portion of the marrow), and a bone marrow biopsy (where a needle is used to withdraw a sample of bone tissue containing marrow). I have had these done three times so far along my journey; the most recent being just this past week. When I have shared news of this pending process with family or friends, it is generally met with a wince and sympathy - as this seems to have a reputation for being pretty painful. It seems like it would hurt - sticking a needle into your bone - but I am here as your cancer canary-in-the-coal-mine to reassure you that it does have a level of discomfort, but no Ang, I'm NOT saying that it is as painful as giving birth.
The patient (me in this case) lies on their stomach for the roughly 15:00 procedure, so I didn't see anything (which helps me manage the anticipation or actuality of the pain). And like so many uncomfortable out-patient type operations that we are subjected to, the first "pinch" (and slight burn) of the needle of lidocaine was more noticeable than any aspect of the Bone Marrow exam itself. I mean, we can put a person on the moon and we can make a good tasting decaffeinated coffee, so it would make sense that modern medicine can create an effective, targeted pain management tool that could override the potential discomfort of a needle in the bone. Within seconds of the lidocaine introduction, I couldn’t feel anything in the posterior area, and even the momentary pressure of the biopsying itself felt weird but not painful.
Like so many things (in life), the thought of the soreness was greater than the reality, and the poke of the anesthesia injection (which lasted literally a second), was instantly replaced by numbness. We often get ourselves worked up about how much we think something is going to "hurt," when in the end it's much less of a pain in the ass-piration than we conjured. Sometimes all it takes is: a relaxed mind, a belief that the agony will be manageable, and a good dose of something-caine - to quickly get to the end.
