My MRI-guided biopsy was today, and now I’m an old pro at biopsies.

I didn’t really get how the MRI-guided biopsy was going to go. I’ve had a breast MRI and I’ve had an ultrasound-guided biopsy (actually two of them). It seemed like putting them together was kind of incongruous – like bungee jumping on the prairie or taking an airplane to go spelunking. But it turns out you CAN do it. It just takes a lot of steps.

First they place an IV. My last IV was in my inner elbow, but this one was in the top of my hand. So another new experience. This time I knew what placing an IV was like, though, so I wasn’t worried. It does hurt when they put the needle in, but once they get the IV placed and take the needle out it stops hurting.

Then you get into position in the MRI machine. It was the same position as last time – face down, arms overhead. Since this was just a single boob this time, that one was positioned in the MRI table slot and the other one was shielded.

For an MRI-guided biopsy they have to really squash your boob. The squashing was by far the worst part of it. They jam these plates or whatever to stabilize you just so. Then you get the headphones. They asked if I wanted to listen to any music – they could put Spotify on – and I asked for XTC. That was nice, but mostly the MRI is so loud you can’t hear it.

Then I went in for the first scan. There was the initial scan, then they administered the contrast through the IV, which again, feels REALLY WEIRD. But definitely bearable, and it was soon done. After that they did another scan, and then pulled me out.

The next step was for the radiologist to look at the images to determine where to place the biopsy needle. She looked, and then gave me the local anesthetic, and then placed the needle. Then back in the MRI for another scan to see if the needle was placed correctly.

Fortunately it was placed correctly the first time. They told me that sometimes they need to pull you out to make adjustments. But the radiologist nailed it.

Then I was wheeled out again to do the actual biopsy. The tool they used was different: it made a drilling sound and then a ding for each sample. The radiologist took a bunch of them. Then she placed the clip to mark the spot. For my other biopsies the clips were titanium. Because this is was an MRI, this new clip is made of bone!

After that I had one more scan to check that the clip was placed correctly, and it was!

After that they undid all the stuff that was squashing me. That was a huge relief. Then I was able to get up out of the bed. They had me sit up first (with the nurse holding direct pressure on the biopsy needle spot), and then I got to stand, and the nurse put on a dressing.

The last step was to go get a gentle mammogram, again, to confirm the location of the clip. And then I was done.

And now I know the drill: No lifting more than 5 pounds for 24 hours, keep the sports bra on overnight, take Tylenol for pain.

Results should be back by the end of the week, and I have an appointment with my oncologist on Friday. So by THEN I should be able to get my surgery date.

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I mentioned this earlier: the day I got my MRI results I was in kind of a shitty place mentally. My lab results had been promising, and it had been looking like my treatment would be manageable. And then suddenly everything was looking much worse.

So I emailed the person who runs the breast cancer-specific support group, just to introduce myself and ask if she had any online forums or other resources to recommend. She emailed me back right away and told me that her group was meeting via Zoom the following Thursday. She also gave me her phone number and said she was happy to talk with me any time. So I set up a phone call with her on Saturday, just to “meet” and touch base.

That all did make me feel a little better. I called her on Saturday and had a nice conversation with her. I told her about my diagnosis, where I was in the treatment, that it was likely that I would get a full mastectomy on the right side because of the third spot (I didn’t know at that time that it was going to turn to to be benign), and that I would be getting a biopsy on the left side on Monday.

She told me a little about herself: she was diagnosed in 2015, had a full mastectomy on her left side with reconstruction at the same time. She’s a bit older than me – she said she was 69 when she was diagnosed. She recommended a mastectomy bra store – Mary Katherine’s on Aurora. She also told me about the Zoom meeting next Thursday (this Thursday!) and asked if I would be willing to go first. I said sure!

So I need to get ready to prepare a quick intro for myself! She told me that since it’s a free Zoom account it will get cut off after 40 minutes, so I don’t want to waste time.

Already I want to ask people if their diagnostic process took FOREVER like mine seems to be taking. I’m going to guess YES, especially because they still do tests and analysis on everything they collect from the surgery itself.