After much pushing and poking with long long needles of various gauges and hole punches doing much punching I am done for now.
All the samples were sent to the lab and I should know if further slicing and dicing is necessary in about a week.
This time was like its supposed to be, I think.
The tech and doctor believed me when I told them about the local anesthetic not lasting more than 5-10 minutes (the tech has had the same issue her entire life so I had a sympathetic tech!). You have no idea how nice it is to be believed.
All I had to do was say “owwww” or “‘k, that hurt.” and they’d do another shot in the specific spot they were cutting.
The anesthetic had already worn off by the time I was dressed after they finished so it does wear off really quickly.
The doc was awesome! Funny, conversational, smart (duh..), and aware of his patient. When he saw how closely I was following what was going on he explained stuff to me as he went.
I was watching the sonogram as he worked. You could see the needle go in, push push push, puncture, poke poke, snip.
1 of the 4 areas was a cyst that they were aspirating so I watched as he drained it, cool!!! And there was an amazing amount of fluid in there too! Like 30 mL! How does that much fluid hide inside non-lactating breasts?
He showed me what the fluid looked like too after he took it out (it was going to the lab for analyzing as well).
I think the procedure took about an hour and half once he actually started with the needles, the set up took about 30 minutes. Clean up took almost no time at all.
I’m very sore now, there will be a fair amount of bruising. But he did all the core biopsies through one incision (no scarring!) and the needle aspiration is small enough it won’t leave any mark even though it was at a different spot.
I’m not supposed to lift anything heavier than a soda can with my left arm until saturday; this is difficult because I’m left handed but I’ve only screwed up a few times so far. At least I’ve remembered so far to give Keegan her lift/boost with my right arm, but I’m not near as smooth that way.
Ow. Sore.
But if you women ever need to have these done, watch what’s happening; it may be interesting enough to banish your fear of the procedure.
Homeless Adventures 
Anonymous
/ February 22, 2012I’m glad that over for you!
Alyce
LaurieB
/ February 22, 2012I had it done years ago but I couldn’t watch. I’m a needle coward. But, my cysts went away after I went through menopause so there’s hope for you. Sending healthy thoughts your way, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you, Take care
Laurie
Homeless Adventures
/ February 22, 2012Laurie,
I’ve been getting these about every 4-5 years since I was 28. Lots of cancer in my family and breast cancer in particular for the women. So far all of the tumors have been benign but they did need to come out. The last one was apparently a very fast growing one, the doctors were concerned enough I was concerned. It went from the size of maybe a mini-bouncy ball to a golf ball in just a couple months.
This time around there were 3 solid masses all bunched together so they want to see if they’re all part of one mass and then if they’re dangerous (non-benign or fast growing).
This is the first time I’ve had a biopsy where they didn’t just go ahead and take out the masses during the biopsy. I’m guessing because this mass/series of masses is too large to be taken out easily with a local anesthetic.
But I’m optimistic.
Homeless Adventures
/ February 22, 2012Laurie,
PS.. I am looking forward to menopause. I know it brings it’s own difficulties but I’m ready for some *different* difficulties. 🙂
Jack
/ February 23, 2012Good for you for taking care of yourself, Rachel.