Biopsy Blues

My biopsy Monday was uneventful, if perhaps a tad tedious. The hospital claimed it was all because of them switching to a new computer system, and maybe that really is true, but either way my biopsy was supposed to be at 9 AM and they didn't actually wheel me away for the procedure until 11:30 AM. The only good part of that is that I managed to catch an hour of sleep on the gurney, making up some of the sleep I didn't get the night before.

The biopsy was much easier than they said it would be. My doctor made it sound like it was going to be akin to a kidney transplant - general anesthesia, pipes, ducts, incisions, teams of medical professionals working at a feverish pace against the clock... Actually, the guy just gave me a local and went in with a device that make a clicking sound as it gouged out small bits of my flesh. I didn't feel a thing, and the only damage was to my dignity. Dignity will grow back eventually, I guess.

It was supposed to be guided by CT scan, but they switched to an ultrasound machine. The node in question looked like a lumpy potato on the ultrasound screen, and it was kind of creepy to watch the needle slide into view from upper right to lower left. The guy (it's always a guy, isn't it?) verified that the needle was in the node by wiggling the needle, which made the whole spud-like node wobble.

But so far, no results. It was difficult for me to relax very long, or very thoroughly, on my vacation in Mexico because my mind kept drifting back to the biopsy, the biopsy results, and its potential consequences. As of this writing I don't know what the results are, and it's now late enough in the day that we can pretty much rule out the chance of the doctor telling me the outcome this weekend.

Sigh... Another weekend of uncertainty. What's a boy to do?