After the Biopsy…Pain, Pain, and More PAIN

 

All I could say is PAIN PAIN PAIN.  It seemed as soon as they were finish- the sedative was completely gone.  They needed me to get up to move from the CT table/operating table to the hospital bed and I tried for a quick second and then thought, are these people INSANE!!!!! They ended up having to put a board under me and lifting me up on the bed.  They then took me back to my "recovery" room…and all I could think of is, you have got to be kidding. No one ever told me that I would be in this much pain.  No one.  (Unless something catastrophic happens like puncturing a lung or something, which at this point I thought may have happened).  I could barely talk- the pain was inbearable to mumble above a whisper.  It hurt to breath- hurt to move- just hurt.  They came in every 15/30 minutes to check the wound site and my bloodpressure and pulse. They kept asking me if the pain was any better…and I kept saying no no no. 

 Before they would give me anything for the pain, they said they had to do a chest x-ray.  I thought, what in the hell does that have to do with giving me something for this unbearable pain I am having?  So, the woman came in to do the x-ray and then expected me to sit up.  Sit up?  SIT UP?  Once again I said- you have got to be kidding me.  She said hold my arm…which I did….but it is not like that actually made it feel any better.  I finally got up enough to where she could put the board behind my back and take the x-ray and thankfully was able to lie back down.  But still, no pain medication.  Almost 2 hours later, after my mother bugged the crap out of the nurse, she finally brought me a lortab (which the nurse said was "good stuff" and it should do the job). I was like…sure…why couldn't u have just inserted something in my IV so it would have worked right then?

But anyways….30 minutes or so after that it finally kicked in (but still didn't do much for the pain) and it was time for me to get up (I thought ha ha ha) and leave.  Note- this was after 4 hours of bedrest.  4 hours and I still had no desire what-so-ever to get up.  I would have happily stayed in that bed for the rest of the day and night.  But, I had to get up.  I went to the bathroom on my own (happy happy joy joy) and when I was coming back out I felt dizzy…not just a little dizzy…like I was going to faint.  And faint I almost did.  Everyone said all the color drained out of my face, I started sweating and layed back down.  The nurses came back in and checked my blood pressure, which was ok and I waited for a while and then tried to get up again with a little better success this time. 

After checkout, I went home and went straight to bed.  I stayed in bed the entire evening other than going to the bathroom.  I called off from work for the next day and stayed in bed most of that day too.  It still hurt to laugh and move, but at least breathing wasn't quite so painful.  Two days later, I am back to work (begrudingly at that) and am still in pain, but at least it is now bearable.  I did park in the handicap space though, and would love someone to say something about it.  There was no way I was walking across this entire parking lot. 

My stomach has been in pain ever since the biopsy and is very tender to the touch.  I have had horrible bouts of diarrhea (yeah, I know, not a great topic to read about…) and am wonder, what is going on?  I didn't read anything about that being one of the symptoms, but then again…..most things didn't seem to go as in the "textbook" either. If anyone else has been through this, comments are more than welcome….hopefully it will pass in a few days, but I am just worried that someone might have gotten "messed up" in the process….. 

The Liver Biopsy

 

After all the initial crap, I finally got put in the room to have my biopsy.  I had three men hooking up EKG pads to me (I wondered why there needed to be three of them…but hey) and then they told me that they were going to be giving me a sedative and if I wanted to take short naps I could.  I took goody..because if I wasn't going to at least get some kind of drugs out of this then I was going to be pissed royally.

 

I was told by the doctor beforehand this was going to take approximately 45 minutes (even though i read that it takes 10 or less in about a million articles).  He said they would be doing catscans to make sure that they were putting the needle in the right spot and that they did not puncture a lung (I had to breath in while they were doing it).  Once they gave me the sedation, I felt pretty good I must say.  There was a dull pain when he was inserting the needle, but they had me on some pretty good stuff. Then comes after the biopsy…

 (This is what the liver biopsy normally looks like,

though mine was done in the middle of my chest instead)

(Picture of Tissue Drawn)

Before my Liver Biopsy

 

I went in to the hospital Monday to have my liver biopsy.  I arrived at 8 AM (as directed) and they gave me a pager…well it went off about 10 minutes later…and then I had to go into one of those little rooms to talk about $$.  I was told my insurance covers everything BUT $450……and that they needed 25% down to start this procedure.  I was like…ok…I was never told that??? And she said- well you should have been.  (From the woman's attitude it seemed like it was her that was about to have a biopsy done….) So anyways..she went upstairs and got it approved for me to set up payment plans (like I can really afford that…but anyways). 

I was then instructed to go through another door and that woman gave me yet another pager..I waited for a little while longer, and then gave the pager to my mother (whom I begged not to come, but that is a story for another day).  I took my hubby (or domestic partner if you want to be picky about it) back with me and then had blood drawn.  I thought, Haven't they drawn enough blood in the past week as it is???? Then, I went to yet ANOTHER woman who asked about 5 million questions.  Luckily, she was very nice so it wasn't so bad..if you don't mind talking about your BM (bowel movements)- which she finally decided to put in the computer as "irregular" and any other problem you could have ever had in the past.  One of the questions-LMAO- was "have you ever had liver disease"- hahaha- ummm…yes, I have a liver mass and am here to have a liver biopsy…but anyways…

They took me to yet another room and a nurse came in and hooked an IV up to me and gave me water. (Thank goodness- I was parched after not being allowed to eat or drink for 8 hours+ the 2 hours it had already taken to get that far!) She took my temperature, which was 100 and asked me if I had been running a fever- I said no, and I don't feel hot.  She said, Well, you are probably just dehydrated.  I thought yeah…..30 minutes without something to drink and I am dehydrated. After we waited there for about 30 minutes, the "transporter" came to get me (I felt like I was in starwars) and I guess her job was not too exciting because she asked me a few questions and then said I was "just a baby" and that she was 40.  I thought 40- wow- so old. (Note my sarcasm). 

 

So, she left me in this waiting area…if you want to call it that…it was in the middle of the hallway with a linens "closet" and some curtains that werent closed.  That took about another hour.  The nurses kept coming to tell me that they hadn't forgot about me and that the doctor was just a little slow..and then that they needed my catscans and asked why I was getting a liver biopsy. I thought…hmmmmm…should they not have already LOOKED at my catscans?  Oh the confidence I felt then….And the doctor then asked me the same thing, and why are we doing this liver biopsy today?  Great….But I did see the humor in his braces and lisp…