For those not up to speed on the past two months:

http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=16811572
http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=16833848
http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=16932436
http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=16997206
http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=17131022

Had the bone marrow aspiration/biopsy on Thursday afternoon. This very well may be the most painful procedure that I have been awake for in my life. Imagine this; after local anesthesia in my back near the hip bone and taking a prescribed Valium, a sharp, large diameter needle is plunged through the skin and into the center of my hip bone. I am on my stomach and the PA doing the procedure is putting all of his force into forcing said needle into the hip bone. I did not feel pain at this point but could feel the force of his weight pushing down into the bone. As the needle punctured the bone and entered into the marrow there was significant pain. He then aspirated bone marrow fluid into a tube which was also painful. Another sharp needle is then passed through the existing needle and he relocates the needle to another area of the hip bone for the biopsy, again using all of his force to penetrate the bone; again very painful. He then says, "this is going to smart", and he begins twisting the second needle with a T-handle that is now inside the existing needle, back and forth while applying even more pressure than he previously used. "Smart" is not the word he should have used; perhaps, "this is going to hurt like hades" would have prepared me better for what the pain was like. My wife said that she had never heard me cry out in pain like I did at that point while I was grasping and squeezing the paper on top of the medical table. I'm glad that is over and done and anxiously await another 2-3 weeks for the results. I imagine that shoving bamboo under finger nails is similar in discomfort level.