Biopsy #9

I had my 9th bone marrow biopsy this morning.  The first was in Feb 2005 and I have had 5 since the first going into the BMT at the end of April.  I won't know the results until next week, but this was one of the easiest.  Each time, I have about three holes drilled in my hip bone, typically alternating between the two sides.  They need about 5 cm of bone marrow that is about 3mm in diameter.  Then they extract 3 vials of blood with a separate needle that does not use one of the marrow sample holes. These holes heal and form scar tissue which make it more difficult during future biopsies.  This was done under just a local lidocaine injection and  no other pain killer since I drove myself today.  It is the aspirate part that hurts the most because of the pressure change within the bone marrow where lidocaine has no effect.

On another note, my blood test today showed my hemoglobin going up to 12.4, the highest it has been since I started recording in June 2005 when I had my first blood transfusion.  For the record, I have had 46 blood transfusions and 93 units of blood, though only 3 and 6 since just before my BMT.  My white cell and platelet count went up a little today as well, though all blood counts are still below normal.  My CMV test from last week was also negative.  I look forward to getting the biopsy results next and seeing where I go from here.