Needle Core Biopsy

We had to be at the Rowlett hospital at 10:30 to register for the biopsy at 11. I was relieved and comforted that the same young lady, Erica, was going to be doing the sonogram part of the biopsy that would show the radiologist where the tumors were for him to do the biopsy. I got undressed from the waist up. I was cold and asked David to put my coat over my legs. It was to be the first of many things he did for me as we started this journey.

Erica coated my right breast with iodine stuff. The tray of instruments was on my left, when the radiologist came in the room. When he came in, he asked that David wait outside. David told him that he had been a policeman and it wouldn't bother him. The guy says, well, but it may bother her. I told him immediately that I wanted David there with me. So that settled that. He picked up a syringe with a long needle on it from the tray----it was to deaden my breast. He then rolled the tray of instruments over to my right side of the bed I was on and that was the last thing I saw. I closed my eyes tight and didn't want to see anything else.

He deadened the area and then made a small 1/4 inch slit for the biopsy. It took the poor man FOREVER to get the samples from the tumor. It was very dense and that made it difficult for him to get the instrument in there. David said it looked like he was using a very long Phillips screwdriver on me. He kept apologizing over and over again to me because he was having to lean over on my stomach and chest area just to try to get the instrument inside the tumor. I could feel something running down my side as the biopsy went on and on, but I told myself that it was the iodine stuff (and not my own blood.) He took 8 samples from the area. When he finished, Erica came to clean me up. She put a bandage over the incision area, which bled for a while, so I knew then that it was my blood running down my side.

The radiologist told me that my OB/GYN should have the results of the biopsy Monday. I was pretty bruised and hurting in the afternoon.