painful bmb today

[DanL]

So I just completed BMB #4 today on the left side. I think that it was fortunate that I was sedated because the doctor had a hard time getting in there today. At one point I quasi woke up during the procedure and asked the doctor if he had to use a hammer to get in there.

I have quite a bit of pain on my left side that goes down to the upper hamstring. I haven't had this level of discomfort in the past. Anybody else experience this one?

[Ruth Cuadra]

Dan,

I often had residual hip and leg pain after BMBs until I began to have conscious sedation. I remember that during the first BMB I had (without any sedatives, only local anesthetic), I felt the pull of the aspiration all the way down my leg. It ached for days after that. With later BMBs, even valium was not enough to keep me from feeling pain during and after the procedure. Bone density in the hip area can vary from spot to spot making some places harder to penetrate than others, so it's not surprising that you might have been more uncomfortable this particular time than you might have been earlier.

When City of Hope piloted a program for using conscious sedation for BMBs (requires an anesthesiologist to administer propofol), I tried it and would never go back. When you're completely out, I think you don't tense up or "fight" so there's less pain and virtually no recovery.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Ruth

[DanL]

Ruth,

thank you for the response. i have had the conscious sedation all F times, but this one was a faster crash and wake up. i think that i had to be re-sedated - possibly because there was some pain. it is nice to know that others had some residual pain in the hip and leg though. i was a little worried about nerve damage. the leg is feeling about 25 percent better.

[prafy]

Hi guys, If you scared for bone marrow biopsy, how u will tolerate other pains. Be strong & positive.

[ramey2148]

I have just gone through 3 days of decogen for the fourth time and now they want to make it 4 days the next treatment. The treatments are 28 days apart. It's hard for me to say if I am having any side effects because of all of the other meds I am on. I am 34 and just had to retire from police work on Aug. 1st. I was 1st transplanted on Aug.31st 2010 and was cancer free until this sept. and the AML came back. They gave me more of my donors cells and have been battling GVHD since. During the time I was cancer free I had a son with sperm we froze before treatment. My little guy is 10 months now. When my MDS went to AML I thought it was the end of the world. The most important thing is to try to stay as POSITIVE as possible and pray a little. Enjoy every moment u have here.
Jersey Guy
Bob