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So this morning I had treatment #13, again with no problems. Tida's mom brought over some yummy Thai food I'll try to eat after the procedure - can't wait! The remainder of the morning was spent relaxing getting ready for the bone marrow biopsy.

I was on the wrong end of the process to know exactly what was going on, plus I was enjoying the delightful cocktail of paid meds, but Tida was there, so here's a very basic review of what happened (Tida's version would much more detailed and accurate, but this is what you get!)

The doctor needed samples of the bone marrow and some hard bone. A metal "tube" with a needle is inserted in the hip. The needle has a saw tooth to help work through the bone. For the bone marrow sample, the needle pops through the hard bone to get to the marrow, and then it's pulled out and put on slides. The doctor wanted 2 samples, but had to make 3 attempts to get 2 good samples. The process for the hard bone was similar, but the saw tooth end just ground up some bone, was extracted and placed on slides. Again 2 samples needed, 3 attempts to get them. There was some pain even with the meds, but it was very bearable. Tida took the pictures at the top pf the post during the process that shows the doctor getting both kinds of samples and the lab technician collecting them on the slides.

I'm just now starting to feel like I'm out of the "cocktail" - I couldn't even eat my Thai food, so you know something was up!

Tomorrow I'll try to post some pictures of the actual radiation room/treatment.