reidpants

Hey man, I'm really impressed by your ability to retain professionalism with such a sensitive subject. I think most of reddit would agree with me that you answered that question brilliantly and with great composure - we appreciate it.

Bone marrow extraction is done more-so nowadays for biopsies. It's done for testing the marrow of cancer and to make sure the patient doesn't have stage 4, which is ultimately as bad as it gets. I had a bone marrow biopsy done three years ago when I was 18, and was given the option of doing it live or under sedation. My doctor said he could either do it eight minutes flat while I was awake, or take hours to put me under and bring me back and deal with all the hassle. Insert Bill O'Reilly screaming, "fuck it, we'll do it live!" So there I was, bare assed laying like I was posing for a 50's playboy shoot with a nurse holding my hand and my doctor prepping everything behind me. I got a glimpse of the needle. If you ever go through this, don't look at the needle. But hey, I'll tell you about it anyways: it was probably 5 inches long, but more importantly a couple millimeters thick with what looked to be a drill-tip at the end of it. So then he asks the obligatory, "are you ready?" I mean honestly, at that point only the insane are ready. But hey, sometimes being ready is going in not ready at all. He numbed the top of my skin on my lower back, and then numbed further down near the bone. However, you can't numb bone, and that's where all the action is. As he went in I couldn't feel it at first, but as he got closer to the bone, I began to cramp like a son of a bitch. Finally, he began to drill. It's a combination of pain mixed with the idea that you hips are being jerked around with the control of a metal needle in your back. He finally got to the marrow which lead to the worst part: extraction. He pulled on the suction of the needle ever so slightly, but just enough to feel like my soul was being pull from the fibers of my being. My legs flexed, toes curled, and I was nearly breaking the nurses hand. Once he got the sample, he had to wiggle it out. He described it that elderly people have "soft" bones and young peoples bones are "sticky". When he finally pulls the needle out, he looks at the tip only to see that due to the motion, the marrow actually fell out in my bone. Basically, replay everything I said but not quite as rough. But they eventually got the sample they needed, which only resides partially in the tip of the needle. I heard the words, "well, you're all clear!" and it made the whole ordeal worth it by a long shot. Now, in the time it took you to read that, the most painful part has taken place. So with a little bit of focus, it's easily doable by anyone, and is over before you know it.

TL;dr It hurts like hell, but it can be fast!

Do you believe it would be in an atheist's interest to join the freemasons?

DUDE. I cannot thank you enough for doing this and getting the word out. I only ever had my own stem cells transplanted back into me, but I had a friend have the allo transplant done and she had to wait a while for a donor after one backed out on her! So again, thank you so much from the cancer society for helping to save a life.

Closer to the sun helped me through some rough, rough times. Thanks a lot for that.