Biopsy ahead!

On Thursday, I came home to both an email & a phone message from my transplant coordinator. She had the radiologist review my scans, turns out my anatomy cleared and I'm cleared to go onward!! She also booked another appointment for me on August 20/09....the dreaded liver biopsy! ~shudder~ This, I believe, will be my biggest hurdle to date.

The biopsy is needed to rule out any fatty infiltration in my liver. During my initial testing, one of the tests, the abdominal ultrasound, showed signs of fatty deposits. Even though none of my other tests confirmed this, the discrepancy must be addressed and a biopsy will provide the definitive result. ( pretty technical sounding huh? ) Other than the catheter, this is the one procedure I am dreading most....I've had a biopsy before, and it hurt.

Years ago, I found this painful lump under my nipple. I actually dismissed it as a skin irritation until it got to be quite big and painful. Clothes hurt it, laying down made it hurt, if anything hit me there it hurt. When it got puffy, it really started affecting my daily routine. My doctor ordered blood tests, ultrasounds and even a mammogram (now, as a guy, I have no breast mass, but they were able to stuff what little of me I had into that machine, ladies, I share your pain) but no cause or definite diagnosis was given. In the end, I underwent a biopsy. The doctor that performed the procedure told me they can't numb me up or freeze the area because they wanted a 'clean' sample. I was strapped to a bed, told to take deep breathes and then they shoved this thick, long needle through my areola and into the mass, plunging around for what seemed like minutes for a sample..not once, but three times! It hurt. It actually hurt so much my penis inverted itself, shrivelled up back into my stomach and stayed there for a week! Ok, it didn't really do that but it did hurt and I'm not ashamed to admit I had tears in my eyes when it was finally over. In the end, my painful lump turned out to be nothing more than a benign mass. Day surgery took care of it and I've been fine ever since!

With this memory fresh in my mind, I've been assured if the same procedure was performed today, it wouldn't be as bad and the whole thing is quite simple. Uh-huh. The parting line on the email from the transplant coordinator states, "They typically require people to have someone drive them home afterwards, please let me know if this is a problem and I will speak with the doctor".

Can't wait!