Biopsy finished

Whew- that's done. I've been up since 3:30AM when I woke and couldn't fall asleep again to take advantage of the hour & half I still had. I'm wiped out and sore, but it's done.

The doctor, whom I'd never met before; he is the specialist who analyzed my MRI & CT, he was so great. We talked the whole time about classical music and he knew so much about horn literature and great music- we really hit it off. He succeeded very well in distracting me while doing some really ucky things to my thigh.

I didn't really feel the local anesthesia shots, I am almost completely numb, so that was a breeze. He said most people yelp and grit their teeth for that part, but I didn't feel a thing. But, we learned that my nerves deeper in the whole NF area are really haywire- I yelped and gasped in places that he assumed were numb, and when he warned me that he was going deep that I may feel it, and I was completely unaware of it. At some points I felt it to my knee, and one even shot a nerve shock to my foot. Very interesing nerve paths. The doctor was not sure where exactly I'd be numb, even though he did the anesthesia like he normally would. But there isn't much normal about Gapey now, is there.

Anyway, he made a 2cm x 2cm incision to maneuver the LONG steel straw thing he used to take the samples. Each time he positioned it, he'd leave it sticking out of my thigh and slide me back into the CT to see if it was positioned right. That fereaked me out- seeing the big thing sticking out of my thigh. He'd return after a few pictures, and continue to click the straw thing to get the sample. He took six samples, from different angles of the tumor. It took about 45 minutes.

We stayed (Robert & I) in the recovery room for about an hour, then were free to leave.
I started to feel the anesthesia wear off deep inside my hip joint first- it was very sore and kept sending nerve shocks to wierd places. In the car on the way back I took a pain med, and it helped like about 60%. Came home to my new mattress (!!! yay!!! Thanks again for your shlepping work, BD!!!) and slept well for a few hours. I'm awake now (duh), and it is still pretty sore all around the middle of my hip joint. It's like the pain I have every day, but much more acute and intense. I guess that means he got the right thing, you know? Pain pills on overdrive for a few days, probably. It'll get better even by tomorrow, I'm sure.

I hope to go [soon] to our close friends' daughter's Bat Mitzvah. I won't be dancing, but I'll go for a while because I really love these people- very, very close friends. It would take a lot more than a biopsy to make me miss it. I don't think I'll stay so long- thankfully it's nearby.

I am wiped out, though.

Biopsy results next Tuesday. I go back to Ichilov Tuesday (6 days form today) and see what they say about results. Please Gd, may it be something simple and straightforward to treat. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I know there is a chance that they won't have anything conclusive and I'll just have to make my peace somehow with living with chronic pain. One step at a time. The biopsy is done, and that was a big step. Emotionally I am in a wierd space because it is the first surgical procedure/ incision since the hernia operation 2 years ago that lead to NF. Many memories are surfacing this evening about the day I came home after the hernia surgery in similar condition to how I am now; sore, small incision, believing that it's no big deal. I am trying not to go there, but it isn't entirely simple. This time, however, I am on antibiotics.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to undergo any procedure without fear because of what I've been through. The reconstruction surgery will be much more complex, spanning over 4 months with 2 seperate surgeries until it's complete. Not a good day for me to be thinking about that though, is it.

One step at a time...