Last night, I got another transfusion of platelets with the aim of preventing any major bleeding during my biopsy today. This transfusion was a little different from last time though. My blood type is Rh- and CMV-. They didn't have any platelets that matched, so they had to decide whether to give me RH+ or CMV+.
I had never heard of CMV, but I learned it's a common virus. The majority of adults over some age have antibodies for it. But I do not. And I guess it could be dangerous to give me CMV+ platelets with my white counts so low? So they opted to give me RH+ platelets. The only problem with this is I could now develop antibodies for this Rh stuff. Protein. Whatever. Which is really only a problem if I were to become pregnant and the fetus happened to have Rh+ blood. So. This is the second time I've been talked to about fertility (chemo isn't good for that either), and it's a good thing I didn't have any plans to have kids ever.
This morning I had my second bone marrow biopsy. There's really nothing good about having a bone marrow biopsy. It's hard to describe. I've never had a root canal, but I imagine it's almost like having a root canal. In your pelvis. They numb the area really well with lidocaine, then jam a big needle into the area of bone just lateral of the psis, in a flat spot on the iliac crest. I think I mentioned before how rock hard my bones are. They normally do these biopsies on older people with more brittle bones. But with me they have to use a lot more pressure to get through. And that's really the worst part. Just having someone using all their strength to manually drive a big hollow needle into the bone.
But it's over now. I'll just have to deal with a few days of feeling gimpy every time I stand up or sit down. Or walk. Or lay down.
I should hear preliminary results from the biopsy this afternoon. I'll keep you posted.
I had never heard of CMV, but I learned it's a common virus. The majority of adults over some age have antibodies for it. But I do not. And I guess it could be dangerous to give me CMV+ platelets with my white counts so low? So they opted to give me RH+ platelets. The only problem with this is I could now develop antibodies for this Rh stuff. Protein. Whatever. Which is really only a problem if I were to become pregnant and the fetus happened to have Rh+ blood. So. This is the second time I've been talked to about fertility (chemo isn't good for that either), and it's a good thing I didn't have any plans to have kids ever.
This morning I had my second bone marrow biopsy. There's really nothing good about having a bone marrow biopsy. It's hard to describe. I've never had a root canal, but I imagine it's almost like having a root canal. In your pelvis. They numb the area really well with lidocaine, then jam a big needle into the area of bone just lateral of the psis, in a flat spot on the iliac crest. I think I mentioned before how rock hard my bones are. They normally do these biopsies on older people with more brittle bones. But with me they have to use a lot more pressure to get through. And that's really the worst part. Just having someone using all their strength to manually drive a big hollow needle into the bone.
But it's over now. I'll just have to deal with a few days of feeling gimpy every time I stand up or sit down. Or walk. Or lay down.
I should hear preliminary results from the biopsy this afternoon. I'll keep you posted.
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| most of the biopsy team |
I have a feeling, when you've come out on the other side of all of this, you're going to want to go to med school...I mean, that's kinda the only thing you haven't done (oh wait, law school? So you have two options ;)
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