Bone marrow biopsy

Living with and after blood cancer
21

I agree, ive had two marrow bone biopsies, the second one was not quite as painfull as the first .but still painfull. I dread the thought of another one. Ruthie Babe

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22

Good to hear from you Willow. Unfortunately the results were incomplete. They only extracted bone marrow/platelets and omitted to take samples of bone. I am having it redone next week and, as you can imagine, Iā€™m not too happy about it. At least I donā€™t have to wait too long.

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23

Oh @Radius I bet you are not happy about the situation.
Take care of yourself and let us know how you get on next week and when you get the results.
Look after yourself

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24

I think the thought of a bone marrow biopsy is worse than the actual thing. I was petrified before I had mine and I asked for ā€˜gas and airā€™ and a lovely nurse to hold my hand. The worse part was the local anaesthetic, which was stinging, but after that, there was no sharp pain, just a bit of pushing around. Good luck, Radius. Iā€™ll be thinking of you. Take care. xx

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25

Oh poor you @Radius thatā€™s a bit of a nuisance at least you know what to expect which is always half the battle. Be thinking of you.

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26

Hi @Radius I just wonder how you are and how you are doing?
Look after yourself

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27

Hi Erica. Thanks for asking. I had to go for a second biopsy as they had omitted to take bone samples at the first visit. Managed to get a very small sample when I went back a couple of weeks ago, which I hope will be sufficient for analysis. Iā€™m seeing my haematologist next week to review the results - which I hope exist!

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28

Hi @Radius yes, fingers and toes crossed for you.
Please let us know how you get on at the haematologistā€™s next week.
Take care of yourself

29

Hi Erica, fortunately the sample was sufficient and displayed a slight change to the bone structure that they put down to aging. I will be 80 in March! So I have a minor variant of the ET Iā€™ve had for about 7 years. Not myelofibrosis which they had flagged as a possibility.

I will be starting on Anagrelide next month alongside Hydrea after which, if all goes well, Iā€™ll stop taking Hydrea and just take a higher dose of Anagrelide.

Iā€™d be interested to hear from the experiences of anyone currently taking Anagrelide.

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30

Hi @Radius. I will be starting Anagrelide next month, so I would be interested to hear how you are getting on with it. I had to stop hydroxycarbamide as I reacted very badly to it. What dose are you on?

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31

Hi Chris
Iā€™m not now starting Anagrelide till next week and will let you know. Iā€™ve been told to have 2 weeks with a low dose alongside the Hydrea, then another 2 weeks with a higher dose and half the dose of Hydrea.
Iā€™ve never had any side effects with Hydrea but itā€™s becoming less effective and has made me anaemic. Iā€™ve been taking 1gm weekdays and 1.5 gms at weekends.

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32

Hi @Radius . I hope that the Anagrelide will suit you when you start it, especially as the Hydrea isnā€™t performing so well. Will you be having any treatment for the anaemia? I hope it isnā€™t making you feel too tired. I shall be interested to hear how you get on with the Anagrelide. Good luck with it and fingers crossed.

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