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dcnovice -> RE: Got Prayers? (Or Good Wishes?) (2/21/2013 7:06:11 PM)
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FR
Warmest thanks to you all.
I am truly moved each time I revisit this thread. I also dearly appreciate the cmails I've gotten and apologize for being slow to answer them.
Here's the latest update, from the email bulletins I've been inflicting on family and friends:
Today brought my first—and, please God, last—bone-marrow biopsy. The object of the game was to extract fluid and bone bits that can be examined for signs of lymphoma. The nurse practitioner at Lombardi was awesome: friendly, informative, incredibly caring, and adept. She did everything she could to make me comfortable, both physically and emotionally.
Problem is, no amount of caring or anesthetic can numb bone. So there were some moments of major fist-clenching. They were brief but definitely packed a wallop. And my bones are apparently a bit “soft,” so it took two tries to get the bone nuggets. (I asked whether the bone softness needed attention and was relieved to hear that it didn’t. Medical mavens, please let me know if you disagree.) The payoff for all this excitement was a syringe full of fluid that looked like blood and a few bone fragments that looked like strawberry Pop Rocks.
These potential relics from St. Pierre of Dupont will head off to Georgetown’s pathology lab. I should get results on Tuesday or Wednesday. The nurse noted that it’s not unusual for a lymphoma to worm its way into the marrow and reassured me that positive (for the lymphoma, not me) results need not be distressing. She also spoken enthusiastically about my oncologist, which was great to hear.
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