Tissue Biopsy

I arrived at the hospital at 745am and the staff was very helpful and professional. They brought in all of the key players to meet me and explain what their function was and what the procedures and protocols were. The surgeon marked my neck to alert everyone where the procedure would be done. I have joked that he forgot the mark and that they wheeled me into the operating theater backwards with my ending up with a vasectomy instead of a neck biopsy.  It's a bit of humor...
As stated, the staff were extremely professional and friendly. My wife was there with me and a family friend, Linda, was also present. It was really nice of her to stop by. My sister-in-law stopped to see me as she was going to work. So, I had a lot of support.
The biopsy went well, although they told me that since the neck mass was near so many blood vessels that they were unable to get as much tissue as they would have liked. They are supposed to perform another procedure later this week or next week and will use a local anesthetic and guidance from a CT to guide them around the blood vessels.  They put a drain in my neck and I have a small plastic flask attached to a tube that is pinned to my shirt. It needs to be drained and measured every 8 hours. I have it removed on Friday. It is a bit of a nuisance but I can handle it.
When I was in recovery I had a lot of pain in my left shoulder. They gave me some strong medication and the pain finally subsided enough that I was able to be released.
Next week I will see the oncologist to determine what type of treatment will be appropriate. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonite...I had a nice nap earlier and I would imagine that I will be napping off and on most of tomorrow.