My neighbor Evelyn took me to my hospital appointment at TGMC's Radiology Department. It was good to have someone to talk to while waiting. I really appreciate her offering to help. It means a lot to me.
I paid my copayment of $224.44 which consisted of a discount due to paying on the day of procedure. That was nice. And within minutes I was called in for the biopsy.
I was so anxious about this procedure but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The 3 technicians in the Radiology Department were the greatest. They talked to me the whole time telling me exactly what to expect. The Radiologist Dr. Prejean was very easy on the eyes and very comforting as he informed me of every step of the procedure as he was doing it. The Lidocain deadened the area and I only felt the biopsy needle once.
I looked at the monitor the whole time and saw the lump in the lymph node and also the needle as it took the many specimens. They took a break and let the workers make the slides and determine if they were good to go without doing another round of needle picks. Luckily they were good and the procedure was complete. It was only a matter of minutes - maybe less than 15 - that the needle was used. The rest of the time (less than an hour) was prior to that when the Ultra Sound Tech Julie took many images of my neck and then waiting to see if the slides were sufficient.
I was pretty calm throughout and felt great relief when it was over. I should have the results at my next ENT doctor's appointment in two days.
Fear of the unknown is a terrible thing. I woke this morning at 4:30am and my hands were shaking. I didn't want to take any Xanax as I was told to wait till noon to take the pill. So I tried to eat but had no appetite. I checked my blood sugar and it was 97. It is never that low on fasting and I had the shakes pretty bad so I ate some bread and had some hot chocolate. Later I had scrambled eggs and toast. Checked my blood sugar again and it was normal.
At noon I took a .5mg of Xanax which did help a great deal. Now that I have been through it I would not be as anxious if I had to go through it again.
I have much confidence that these results will put my mind at ease as to exactly what is wrong with me. I just wish it would have been done the first time. Looking forward to treatment - no matter what kind - as long as I get things taken care of. The growth on my tongue seems to be growing as I have a little bit more trouble swallowing food, like meat for instance.
Going to take a nap now.
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