For anyone who has had a Bone Marrow ... - ITP Support Assoc...
For anyone who has had a Bone Marrow Biopsy, were you sedated or not when you had the biopsy done ?
Please select one:
I was not sedated and my eyes still water now thinking about how painful it was ! I think I was just so naive that I opted not to be sedated. After it was all done I did ache a bit for a day or so but the pain during the sample being taken was the worst thing I have ever experienced. The pain was only for a very short time but I would not wish to go through it again .
I had the exact same experience...terrible pain to such an extent that I made the doctor stop the procedure before he was done. He did have enough of a sample to make a diagnosis, though. I could not believe that I had to be subjected to such a procedure without any anesthesia. Barbaric.
Barbaric was my sentiments exactly! I think the doctors like to practice on unsuspecting patients.
I was not sedated but had a local I only felt pain when the biopsy needle was going through the bone, otherwise nothing. I could feel the marrow being drawn out which was rather a strange feeling. Maybe a gentle doctor or 'no sense no feeling'
in my case 
I had a local anaesthetic and insisted on having loads of it! I could just feeling pushing. Unfortunately he didn't get enough bone marrow to be able to test it properly and we both decided not to try again.
I was not sedated. it was not a pleasant experience but i think alot of my upset came from worrying what they might actually find. i cryed after the procedure just with relief it was over. Im so glad ut was done for piece of mind. i thought of my children all the way through to help me get through it.
I refused to have it done unless I was sedated. I was terrified and the thought of doing the procedure without sedation was barbaric. I still went aghhhhhh when they drew the biopsy but can't remember much. There was no way I was going to have it done without & they won't tell you you can be sedated unless you refuse without. All about cost cutting and not patient care.
I have had 2!!! OMG I hear you say. The first was 13 years ago obviously a lot younger than I am now. The first one was done privately and I don't remember it being horrendous and I wasn't sedated. Second one done about 6 months ago. I was given no information until I arrived and was handed a leaflet which stated I could have gas and air. When I read this I jumped at the chance and said I would like it. The nurse said you can't because we have to authorise it with a doctor and book it in advance. My response...had you given me this leaflet in advance, I would have booked it in advance.....!!! I insisted and got it. All I can say...IT'S BETTER THAN NOTHING.
Thank you all for your responses. The reason that I asked the question is that when I had my bone marrow biopsy I was like most people I guess very worried because I just did not really understand what the test was for, what they were looking for, how painful would it be, how long would the pain last etc ? I did ask all these questions but they were sort of brushed aside without much real explanation. SO having been through the process I thought it would be useful to relate my experience so that others could be better informed if and when they have to go through the bone marrow biopsy. As a follow up question I will ask something else in a new poll in respect of the bone marrow biopsy because the system allows me to ask just one question per poll.
it really doesn't hurt, you think its going to but it doesn't.
I think women have a higher pain threshold than men. you feel a pressure where they are pushing into the bone , but honestly I didn't feel any pain. Thank god, must be lucky I guess.
I was refused anything but freezing despite repeatedly requesting conscious sedation because local anaesthetic does not and has not EVER worked for me (not just that I need more than most people.....you could literally give me shot after shot after shot and it will not numb me at ALL) and it was without comparison the most excruciating experience of my entire life. I also had the pleasure of listening to the doctor crack jokes like "it's always the skinny ones who need the most freezing". Had I been physically able to converse at the time I would have informed the woman that a) that was extremely rude and b) like I told her and everybody else already, freezing has never worked on me, period. Not when I was 310 pounds and not now at 140. Size is irrelevant. "does not work" means "does not work". She also took an hour and a half to do what I was told would be a 15 minute procedure. After the second failed attempt while I was hyperventilating, nearly throwing up and sobbing so hard that I couldn't stop shaking, the doctor just stood there and kept saying "you need to stop. you need to stop moving. you're moving the needle and i'm going to have to re-do it. stop moving." as though I was being ridiculous and I should simply have more control over my body despite the fact that she had been digging around in it for an hour by this point without the benefit of any pain management whatsoever. This was the most horrifically painful and humiliating experience of my life.
Saw I am so sorry!! Just hearing that, I want to punch her for you. How would she like to go through that??
right? having watched several instructional videos on how it's done, given a set of mirrors I literally probably could have done it faster on myself. and surprise, surprise....nothing wrong with me. I'm sure people would think "hey that's a good thing, right?". sure, but we already basically knew that, considering the fact that the hematologist actually said "your numbers don't warrant this test, I'm only ordering it because I thought the donor hospital would want it just to be on the safe side". So I was made to go through that (and have had nightmares and anxiety attacks since....which i've never had before in my life) for absolutely nothing.
aaaand, p.s....found out she was so inexperienced and new at this that they actually scheduled someone to come from another hospital a few hours away to help with what might as well have been her first attempt at this. he didn't show up, they never said a word and let her use me for practice anyway, even knowing I couldn't be frozen.
I was sedated and didn't feel a thing. The only way to go! Why suffer if you have an alternative.
I insisted on sedation. I had it done as an outpatient. As it turned out they took a piece of bone marrow from 3 places. I'm a coward - so I insisted on being put out. It only takes a few minutes.
I have had it 3 times. Once in the sternum and twice in the hip. Local anesthetic in the hips. I understand that the test is to see if your bone marrow has stopped producing platelets or if you system is just destroying them too fast.
I was not sedated just a local anaesthetic to the hips. I felt pushing and pressure on my hips during the procedure. The pain after the anaesthetic wore off was similar to having had a kick from a horse in each hip. My bone marrow was producing enough platelets unfortunately my spleen was wiping them out faster than my spleen could make them.
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