My Bone Marrow Biopsy Experience

I’ve had my fair share of going through a painful experience with a bone marrow biopsy roughly 6 years ago. This was to determine what was wrong with me or my health lately as my blood test result was not at all good – the white blood cell counts are beyond the normal range.

So, the hematologist recommended this type of procedure to find out if my blood cells are functioning well. A bone marrow biopsy is a type of medical test where a doctor (especially a hematologist) requests a collection and examination of a bone marrow sample to determine if the tissue is healthy and produces normal blood cells.

In this procedure, a special needle is inserted through the skin (mostly at the pelvic bone or the breastbone) and into the bone. Afterwards, it is sent to the laboratory for examination.

A bone marrow biopsy is being done for a number of reasons such as:

• Anemia

• Abnormal bleeding or clotting

• Bone marrow and blood cancers (e.g leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma)
  

• Cancers that have spread to the bone marrow

• Unexplained fever

The procedure was a bit painful as I was only put on local anesthesia .. I could still feel the discomfort of having a needle inserted into my pelvic bone, drawing a number of samples of bone marrow and blood cells.. Luckily, I didn’t have to be confined for days with that procedure. I was only told to rest for at least 10 or 15 minutes then advised to go home.

Sources:

“What Does A Bone Marrow Biopsy Involve?” by Caroline Leopold ; https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/312292

“Bone Marrow Biopsy” from Cleveland Clinic; https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/17735-bone-marrow-biopsy