What if I sneeze? Stereotactic biopsy

Muffkin78

Okay, seated steriotactic biopsy is tomorrow for cluster of microcalcifications. They called today and ran through what will happen and when to come, when to take anti-anxiety med, etc.. I just got a sports bra from Target with a full front zipper, so they can pack me in ice packs after. But what if I have to sneeze during the procedure? They don't have a brochure covering stupid biopsy questions... We need to create a stupid-questions-for-biopsy brochure...

Muffkin78

Also - can I bring Kindle? They said 30-90 minutes, but maybe most of that is positioning and lidocaine, not actual sitting still and trying to breathe motionless-ly?

brooke17927

I would agree on the brochure, that question actually never really entered my mind but I would say that they have to do a lot to get things set up for the procedure, the mammogram to get everything in place. That holds everything pretty well in there so I would say that wouldn't be an issue and the actual part of the needle procedure is fairly quick. Mine was lying face down on the table and they had a youtube video they put on the screen with scenery but I wouldn't have been able to hold a kindle or anything like that.

Muffkin78

I'm thinking of trying mouth-breathing when they go in with the needle. They told me not to move during the two sets of mammograms, and I felt the urge to hold my breath, which was terrible because I'd hold my breath when I thought they'd started and then after 5 seconds I'd hear the machine start up, and I'd be like, SERIOUSLY???

(Thanks Brooke - I feel better knowing it won't be a full 90 minutes of needle probing...)

brooke17927

Yeah I know, I kinda did the same thing, not really sure if I was holding my breath

Muffkin78

I feel like it would be bad luck to ask my stupid questions, because the first time I was pregnant, when I went to the labor/delivery class they recommend you take, I asked how the placenta detaches after delivery but you don't bleed out. And the teacher was just an aide and not a doctor, and didn't know the answer. And sure enough, I hemorrhaged after delivery. Because the teacher never explained to me how not to bleed out after placental detachment... :-)

BWH5

I thought the same thing about sneezing after two biopsies.

I had a seated and lying down. They do not take that long. They are including getting prepped and compression afterward. I took anxiety meds before too. It is not fun but not terrible. You will be fine.

Good luck with the results!

sbelizabeth

Muffkin, did you ever get an explanation for the placenta/bleeding out thing?

Muffkin78

sbelizabeth - apparently your body is supposed to know how to clot like crazy to seal the wound. Did fine with my second pregnancy - no hemorrhage after it was properly explained. :-)

Muffkin78

I also feel like, during labor/delivery, I was too scared to communicate with the nurses/mid-wife once I started pushing. It felt like no-return, booster ignition time, so I didn't want to screw it up. I remember with my second, I felt really incredibly nauseated right before they told me I could push, and I was scared to tell them how bad I was feeling because I thought they wouldn't let me push I if I mentioned I felt really "off". Luckily, my son came out after two pushes, but my blood pressure plummeted and they had to rush the anesthesiologist back in (I had an epidural) and try to figure out what was happening. I think, now, I won't feel bad saying "I feel like I have to sneeze", even if I'm all positioned and ready to go for the biopsy.

AliceBastable

I had an ear problem for a while last year that would cause sudden, intense itching and I'd involuntarily shake my head like a dog. I was terrified of that happening during any of the procedures or especially radiation, but luckily my body behaved, and since my rads were delayed a few months, the ear thing had eased up by then. So many things going on, and that's what I decided to worry about! I asked about sneezing during rads, and the technicians said to just let it out, because the machine will stop with that much movement. If you try to hold it in, you might move just enough to screw up the target area but not enough to stop the machine - so there's one sneeze question answered for you in advance!

Muffkin78

AliceBastable - oh, that's great if the machine can stop automatically if I do something to mess it up too much. That definitely makes me feel less-anxious.

gb2115

Lol, I asked about sneezing at my biopsy, and the ultrasound tech asked if I had been sneezing a lot. When I said no, she said just to let them know if a sneeze was coming.

I agree a brochure for crazy questions would be good, some of us think up these things and get really concerned!!

Muffkin78

I didn't sneeze! And it didn't hurt. I felt the prick of the needle when they did the lidocaine, but I didn't feel anything else they were doing the rest of the 5 minutes.

pupmom

Don't sneeze, lol! I had an unusually horrible biopsy experience, and was screaming, but never sneezed.

gb2115

Glad you didn't sneeze!! Hoping for good results for you!

reflect

There's a very effective acupressure point right between your eyes on the bridge of your nose. Push firmly with your finger and the sneeze will go away. Really

Edited to add that I had a 3 hour mammo guided biopsy, lying on my belly, doc under me like an auto mechanic. After having had a failed MRI guided biopsy where hit like 7 places and left titanium jewelry but missed the cancer...Boy am I glad that’s behind me

Muffkin78

So they just called with a diagnosis - I have atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH?), which isn't a cancer but seems to be a marker for risk of breast cancer in the future? At any rate, I have to make a consult with the surgical team and see if they want to do an excisional biopsy, which sounds like a general anesthesia procedure?

reflect

Glad it's not cancer, and good luck