The Biopsy Part 1, the actual procedure

I chose to go to the biopsy alone and then planned to go to work afterwards. Remember, we already knew it was cancer, but this would be the defining moment when we would finally find out how bad it was. Because it was a "needle biopsy" I figured it would not be as invasive as a lumpectomy and therefore I could return to work quickly.

They actually gave me two gowns this time. One opened in the front and the top one opened in the back. They put you on a table with a huge hole in the middle and have you put the "bad" boob into the hole. Because the hole is rather large, it is like leaning over a manhole cover and the edge of the hole digs into your ribs. No matter how much I shifted, it was never going to be "comfortable" so I finally convinced them to just start the damned thing so it would be over more quickly. I refused to let them show me the needle aparatus. REALLY? Does anyone really want to see it?

The boob is then placed into a smasher that is just like the one that they use for mammograms. I was told to keep my left side still. They then hoisted me up like a car and worked on me from below. The staff was great in that they talked me through everything and let me know ahead of time what the various noises, etc. were. The outside of the breast is then numbed with novicaine, yes, just like at the dentist. The "needle" cannot be that tiny because they had to cut into me to get the thing in. Once it is in, sometime during the procedure they shoot another shot of novicaine into the hole.

The procedure is very unpleasant and very uncomfortable. I could "feel" the drilling and it was not a happy thing. My entire right side of my body was so tensed up that it still bothers me a week later. My right shoulder is the bad one and by the time the novicaine wore off at 4pm ish, I didn't know which hurt worse, the left tit or the right side of my body.