Biopsy and pain/discomfort

I was completely awake and aware of everything going on.  Doc gave me a slight prick of lidocaine to deaden things, so I did not experience pain.....but I was wide awake.

The quack who did my biopsy used lidocaine but didn't wait for it to take effect. As a result the first 5 or 6 sticks hurt like hell and the rest were painless. Idiot!

-Les

I was awake during my colonoscopy (2004) and the prostate biopsy (2006). Had an injection of lidocaine or something like that just before the biopsy. Because of the 'cheap' attitude of the medical system here in Canada, I was in some discomfort during both procedures, but it was bearable. 

Magaboo

Gary H said...
I was awake also no real pain, but the snap of the biopsy needle scared the crap out of me.

If you had literally done that, it would have been fair payback to the doc for not warning you. I was in a similar situation, and advised him that a little "Here we go..." would have helped the process along. I just didn't like sitting in a semi-open corridor afterwards in the diagnostic imaging section, waiting for my butt to clot while I bled into a pad, whilst draped in my stylish hospital gowns.

"I'll just get dressed and go" I told the nurse, who wanted me to hang around 15 minutes or so. "Not if you don't want to bleed through your clothes" she advised.

This was my introduction to the whole deal, beyond the DRE, and I still had my dignity in place. Not that I subsequently lost it, but I did manage to put it aside somewhere when it wasn't integral to the proceedings at hand.

As I told my wife...I hadn't had this much attention paid to my butt since I was dating.

In the end (no pun intended) we...patients and medical staff...are all on the same team, and that's what's important.

I had no obvious bleeding during/after the procedure, but the doctor advised that I would have blood in my semen and urine for a while.

Being a curious sort, I m@sturb@ted that night.  When I ejaculated, it was blood, blood and more blood....and my prostate hurt like heck for about 15 minutes.

My wife, being a neat, clean freak who loves every inch of our home, would have had a fit if I had gotten blood on any of her things, particularly when the blood originated from that particular act.

So much for an old man's curiosity....lol.

In the past, I have given my opinion of urologists who try to maximize their profit by performing prostate biopsies in their office without full anesthesia.  Some of the stories I have heard make the medical profession seem rather ignorant and uncaring. Fortunaly, my biopsy procedure was done in a mini-surgery center, with full anesthesia.  I slept lightly, woke up, my wife drove me home and I had some minor bleeding for a day or so. My doctor did it right.

Any doctor, in my opinion, who does not follow that procedure is wrong and out of touch. I hope that this is just one of the things that we can influence by sharing our mutual experience.

I was given something local but, it sure didn't ease the pain. I actually sufferd more from the biopsy, including several hours afterward, than I did from the surgery.

Billy Mac,

It sounds like you are doing great with an undetectable psa

When my husband had his biopsy, the urologist put something
on the ultrasound probe. It may have been lidocaine. He had a
12 core biopsy and the last four did hurt. His urologist told him this was a sensitive part of the prostate. I did some research on the prostate later and found that the apex was more sensitive then the rest of the prostate.

I would like to ask if you requested sedation for the biopsy or if
your urologist chooses to sedate his patients for this procedure?Some urologists do them this way now. I wish my husband's urologist would have. Neither one of us knew when he had his done that he could have requested to have the biopsy done in the hospital under general anesthesia. He was bleeding some from the rectum when the nurse got him up after the biopsy was completed and he passed out while he was trying to get himself cleaned up.

There is no reason why men should have to experience a very invasive and sometimes quite painful procedure without being given a local anesthetic which will numb the prostate. Pain control should be the number one priority in the urlogist's office.

Wishing you the very best.
Wiggyann

I AM LOOKING TO CHAT WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE ON "WATCHFUL WAITING" FOR PROSTATE CANCER. IT MAY BE THE LOGICAL THING TO DO, BUT NOT THE BEST ON THE EMOTIONS.

TOMC

I received no anesthetic of any kind for my 12 cores.  It was a pretty bad experience. I have not returned to that urologist for my advanced disease follow up. 

"Why do some urologists do it this way"

Wanna know why? When my quack told me I had to have a biopsy and I had a horrified look on my face, he said "it's not so bad". I then asked him if he'd ever had a prostate biopsy. At least he was honest and replied "no".

-Les

I had twilight on an outpatient basis for both of my biopsies with no regrets. I listened in my uro's office to a patient getting a biopsy while I waited for an appointment. I could tell evertime the needle hit. I think its up to the individual. Its a personal decision. I don't like pain so if there is an alternative I go for it. Macho doesn't even enter my mind.