Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Liver Biopsy

I had my liver biopsy today as well as paracentesis to relieve the fluid buildup. I started out with a BMT Clinic appointment where I also brought in a 24 hour urine sample that the lab will test. My regular blood counts were normal with my hemoglobin now back up to 14.4. The Dr thought he heard some irregular heart beat and ordered an immediate EKG, but no problems were found. They also monitored my EKG during the biopsy.

It took a total of 5 hours for the procedures including 2 hrs of prep and 2 hrs of monitoring afterward. It was really nothing to fear compared to the many bone marrow biopsies that I have had. They started with a quick ultrasound to decide where to poke the needles and selected both on the right side (where the liver is of course). They drained off 4 liters of fluid which weighs about 8 pounds before getting a couple of liver samples. I had a couple local lidocaine injections to numb the areas where the needles were inserted and had some other IV sedative for the biopsy itself. But I was able to see the needles on the ultrasound screen during the action and mostly felt the one as it entered the liver.

Because of the sedative, my daughter drove me to the appointment and my son picked me up. I am feeling much lighter, easier to breathe and generally a whole lot more comforttable. Hopefully, the other fluid in my legs and around my lungs will also dissapate as well. I should learn more about the testing of the fluid and liver samples next week.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the update. Glad to hear that there is something they can do for these conditions. Sorry that you are having to go through it. MBH