biopsy

I have had a couple of lung biopsies and I was absolutely terrified, so much so that I asked my oncologist to give me a sedative I could take before the biopsy.

I hate local anaesthetics.  I told the doctor doing the biopsy this and he gave it slowly enough that I honestly didn't feel it.  I felt pressure when the biopsy needle was advanced, but no pain.  There is a noise when the samples are taken, but I had been warned about that.

The worst part of the biopsies was having to lie flat on my back for an hour or two afterwards until they did an x-ray to make sure there were no complications.  I did cough up a little bloody mucus the next day with the first biopsy, but not with the second.

How the biopsy will be done will depend on exactly where the need to take the tissue sample.  Let them know your concerns in advance so they can be addressed.

Hello magdelene, I'm not sure from your post whether you're having the biopsy through the chest wall or if this is a process you're thinking about because of your severe gag reflex if they are planning to carry out the procedure via the mouth which is the least invasive (and I guess prefeered) method.

I've had a couple of via the mouth lung biopsies and it's nothing to be concerned about - I was given a sedative beforehand on each occasion and the back of the throat is numbed with a spray to avoid gag reflex. Afterwards I had virtually no recollection at all of the procedure being done.

Either way I'm sure you'll be fine and wish you all the best.