Practicing Medicine

I spoke with Nonnie a few minutes ago, and she sounds great. Sometimes you can tell she is putting up a strong front to disguise how she really feels, but not tonight! Nonnie got a bone marrow biopsy done tonight at 5:00 P.M. The procedure is done by inserting a hollow needle into the hipbone and removing bone marrow, blood and a small piece of bone. A pathologist then views the bone marrow, blood and bone under a microscope to look for signs of cancer. They hope to get the results back sometime tomorrow.

One unique thing about being treated at UCLA, is that it is a teaching hospital. Tonight, her doctor that did her procedure had the opportunity to do his first bone marrow biopsy on Nonnie. Her nurse was waiting outside the door during the procedure, and she knew something was up when another nurse came out asking for more Lidocaine! She had already gave the doctor 2 vials to numb the area which usually takes about 10 minutes. Thirty minutes later, she was all done. I guess that is why they call it practicing medicine.