Shot Through the Butt, and You're to Blame!

Today I have my bone marrow biopsy. It is supposed to be one of the most painful procedures. We met the nicest man, Gus, when I checked in to the hospital (North Bay) who had just had his done a week before. It was great to hear first hand how it worked and what the pain afterwards felt like. Luckily, I was knocked out for most of it and didn’t feel any pain. It’s funny because they went through my butt crack and into my butt cheek to take part of my pelvis and the bone marrow inside. Talk about a pain in the butt!

Today I also FINALLY got a call from the oncologist with the pathology report. It turns out that the initial biopsy results were correct: I have Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Strange that it took almost a month to get results back, but I learned that they had sent my sample to the ‘experts’ in Massachusetts for a second opinion. This was due to the fact that the presentation of the lymphoma was very unusual. Most lymphomas start in the lymph nodes. It's not unusual for it to move from the lymph nodes into other tissues (mostly stomach, spleen, or small intestine), but since none of my lymph nodes are infected and it is mostly in my reproductive tract, they sent it out to be sure. Glad to finally have a definitive answer and be able to move forward with treatment!