mellicious | A Really Strange Piercing

(I'm going to label this "adult" on Holidailies because I suppose all this talk about boobs could be considered non-work-safe, and also just to give the sensitive a little bit of warning. Yeah, it's about breasts, but not exactly in a sexy way, I'm afraid.)

I had the biopsy this morning. I was apprehensive because the radiologist told me the day they found the weird spot on the mammogram, "You can only do this type of biopsy if you are able to lie on your stomach for 45 minutes and not move." And I was like, "Well, I guess I can." (And I'm not clear on what they would do if you said no, you couldn't.)

So I was prepared for something a bit bizarre, and it really was. They have a table with a hole in it and you literally lie on your stomach while your boob hangs down through the hole, and they do x-rays to get the right spot, and then they stick a big needle in there and leave it for a good while. So you really have quite a vested interest in staying still. I saw the "needle" after they were done and it was big, not really what I'd call a needle at all. It was, I don't know, maybe 3/16 of an inch - the size of a good-sized drill bit, maybe? But they used lidocaine and it didn't hurt at all, I have to say.

They pulled tissue out through the needle, of course - actually I think they pulled out quite a lot of tissue, at least they kept at it for a long time. There was the radiologist and a couple of residents there, and a nurse. The radiologist let one of the residents do some of the tissue-pulling. It's probably no coincidence that that was the only time I felt any real discomfort during the process, although since I was all numbed up it wasn't exactly pain, just some pressure. I don't know what he was doing differently, but clearly there was something.

So anyway, it's over, and I'm not even really sore, and I was home by 12:30 (oh, I forgot to say that they were about 2 hours late starting; my appointment was at 8:30) and I had the rest of the day off from work and had a nap and talked to Col about how if I was going to get pierced I deserved jewelry to go with it. Only it's right on the side of my right breast against my arm so I don't think it'd be a very comfortable place to have jewelry, anyway.

And I might not know the results until after Christmas, because when I called to reschedule my follow-up appointment, that was the next available time the doctor had. I sort of figure no news is good news - presumably somebody will look at the results before then and I bet if there's something bad there, I will mysteriously get my appointment moved up, or something. (80% chance it's benign, I just have to remember that.)