Ching’s First Biopsy Experience
Posted on December 3, 2011 by Ching under Health.
I had my first (and hopefully last) biopsy experience yesterday. Brian lied to me and told me that I would get stuck with a needle only once. Dr. Zayour actually stuck me a total of five times to get enough samples. Brian said he used the same hole, though. As if that’s supposed to make me feel better. =P
I think Brian lied to me on purpose so as not to freak me out because I have this irrational fear of needles. I can’t watch whenever I get blood drawn. Even my annual flu shot freaks me out.
The doctor used a sonogram machine to see where he was going, but he dug around there quite a bit. Getting stuck with the needles wasn’t too bad, but the pressure I felt from him rooting around my thyroid was quite uncomfortable. It’s a good thing that I couldn’t turn my head to watch the sonogram screen. Brian said he felt uncomfortable watching the needle moving around inside my thyroid and couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like. I told him it wasn’t painful, but it was really uncomfortable. I felt like something kept pushing on my neck. Up until then, I’d never really felt any pain or discomfort from my super enlarged thyroid.
I didn’t know how many times I would get stuck with a needle so after the third time I was like, “How many more times are you going to stick me?” The doctor said he needed to take a couple more samples. Brian said he was going to joke by telling me, “The good news is we’re done with all those needles… The bad news is we’re moving to bigger ones.” However, no sooner than he thought that, the doctor really did ask the nurse for a larger gauge needle. Oops!
I was so relieved when it was all over. Going through a thyroid biopsy wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t fun. I’m glad that I have a good doctor with a great sense of humor. I don’t know how I could have managed otherwise.
This is what my neck looked like after. The doctor sent me off with an ice pack to keep my neck from swelling. I’m glad that I wore a scarf that day because it actually came in handy. Not only did it hide the band aid, but it also kept the ice pack in place. This way I didn’t have to hold it next to my neck for the next half hour.
I left the ice pack on longer than the doctor recommended. I pretty much kept it in place until it was no longer cold. My neck was little sore, but not bruised.
Overall I thought that the biopsy procedure went well. The doctor said he will contact me with the results on Wednesday. I will keep you guys posted.
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