The Biopsy

 The sterostactic biopsy was scheduled for Wednesday morning at 10:30 and I was to arrive at 9:45. My mom agreed to go with me although no one was allowed to go with me to the procedure (like my friend Kelli who held my hand and talked for 45 minutes straight when I had an MRI). I felt calm but as I did each task I got a little more nervous.

Mom and in front of the ARA Imaging clinic

When the nurse called me back I immediately told her I have some questions I'd like to ask the doctor before we do the procedure. She cheerfully said, "no problem." We sat down in a little office and she asked first what my questions are, so that she could tell the doctor and he could get ready to talk to me. I told her my concerns and she stepped out to relay to the doctor. The one question she did answer was, Is this guy a good doctor? Her response was reassuring: "I love him! He's the one she would pick to do a procedure on her."

After she took my vital signs we walked to a little room with a lot of computer screens where the doctor was sitting in front of two monitors with my mammogram pictures on it. He asked for my questions and answered without any exasperation or condescension.

Q: What has grown? How do you measure it? Can I see it?
A: Here is your picture from July (2022). Here's the area. (he circles a cluster of 6 or so small white calcium spots). And here is your picture from last week (on the other monitor he circles a cluster or 11 or so white spots) 
Q: Okay, I totally get it now. What causes these calcium spots to appear? Or maybe it's obvious we don't know.
A: There are 4 things that make these appear. _[insert medical term here]_, _[another medical term]_, _[another medical term]_, all benign, and cancer. The only way to know which one it is, is to take it out and biopsy it. I'll try to get all of them if I can, but I won't know until I'm in there.
Q: So no matter what they are, if they aren't in there they can't grow, right?

A: Exactly.

With a much lower level of anxiety, I then went back to the intake room with the nurse. She explained the procedure to me: I lay on a table, which is a sideways mammogram machine, with my breast in a hole. After we get positioned correctly, they smush so that there is no movement for the procedure. I will feel the first needle and a little burning, then I should only feel pressure. Then there will be a vacuuming noise--

My feet went number at the thought of a vacuum associated with inside my body. I interrupted her to ask if I could wear headphones. Absolutely, she said.

 after which the doctor will put in a small piece of titanium that marks the spot of the biopsy. After that, the doctor is done and I get released from the table while an EMT or paramedic comes in to dress the incision. Once that is done, there is one last mammogram to make sure that the marker looks good. Finished.

I was taken to a small changing room where I took off everything from the waste up and put on a robe. My nervous bladder sent me to the bathroom about 3 times in rapid succession until the nurse collected me to go across the hall to the procedure room. Now, let me show you the picture I had in my head of the "table with the hole in it":

Doesn't she look peaceful and happy, unconcerned at all? Her boob doesn't look smushed at all!

Thus, when we walked into the procedure room, which was approximately 38 degrees fahrenheit, I was stunned. The machine is enormous and there was a 3-step "step stool" [read: ladder] that you have to use to get onto the table. Here's what the machine really looks like, and let me just add that this picture does not capture how big this thing is:

And so it begins. I climb up the stairs and get myself onto the table. I am literally crawling on all fours trying to get myself in position. The table is, of course, designed by a man so it is made of stainless steel and is cold. The dip in the middle makes it more awkward to scoot and position. Once I get the right body part in the hold I collapse on the table and just loose it. I am hiccup crying on the table and the nurse is just marvelous. She tells me to take my time and let me know when I'm ready, and that I am not the only one that has a reaction to the table. What I am really afraid of--well, at that particular moment--is that I won't be able to calm down enough to be still during the procedure.

Turns out, there was no need for worry (well, according to me). I was so smushed in that machine, I'm not sure it would matter if my body moved! It was just like having a mammogram because, after all, it is a mammogram machine! And because the spot is so far back and close to my chest, it took a few tries to get positioned correctly. Headphones set, music on. Doctor retrieved.

The procedure went pretty much like they said it would. I felt the numbing needle, then just pressure here and there. The few times I felt prickling, he numbed me more. It seemed like he went in two times because I heard the vacuum twice and there were quite a few times when the nurse who was holding my hand had to go take pictures so the doctor could see his progress. While the nurse was holding my hand we got to know each other. She's been to Idaho because her sister lived there for a year or so...

After the second vacuum and pricking feelings the doctor exclaimed, "Got it!"  Shortly thereafter I was released from the machine and was helped to turn over. A mammogram tech (I'm sure that's not the correct title) came in to dress the incision. I lay there for a long time with the tech applying pressure. She was concerned that a hematoma would form, which can be painful and take a long time to dissipate. When she felt like I was good to go, she put some really small strips on to close the incision and taped cotton over it.

The last part was a trip down the hall for the final mammogram. My stuff came with me in a fancy grocery bag (that I get to keep!) and I was delighted to see that the nurse who did my original mammogram was doing this one (she's the one from Twin Falls, ID). They smushed me more than I thought they would because the spot is so far back, but no one seemed concerned and I couldn't feel anything anyways!

Thus ended my biopsy at ARA Imaging in Austin. I dressed and found my mom in the lobby. She is so great to wait for me! We walked out of the clinic at 11:30--1hr and 45 minutes later than we arrived and 15 minutes sooner than I was told we'd be there.

I decided I wanted a latte as a reward on the way home, but the greatest part of that drive was how my mom laughed when I described myself crawling on all fours on the table! She apologized but it was absolutely funny, especially because she has been through the same thing and knew exactly what I was talking about.

I felt good and decided to go up to Dallas that afternoon. Even the nurse worried that any hematoma that formed might be painful the next day. I had already packed had a reservation on a Red Coach but direct from Austin to Dallas. 

A few hours later I said goodbye to my brother and mom and Daddy and I went to In-N-Out burger before he put me on the bus. I was collected by my aunt and uncle in Dallas with no problem.

And now we wait.