that was easy

Well, as easy as could be expected.

I had a very kind and competent ultrasound technician and an equally kind and experienced radiologist for my FNA biopsy today.

As these things go, that was the best so far. The doctor used an absolutely tiny needle to administer the anesthetic, so it burned much less than it has in the past. He made four passes at the lymph node, and the sensations of the needle hitting the node and then drawing out its contents were painful in a way that is hard to describe if you haven't experienced it. It just 1) feels weird and 2) hurts to have someone poking around your innards, no matter that said innards are fairly close to your skin. But today the pain was bearable, maybe because I've been through it before and knew what to expect, or maybe because I have so much residual nerve damage in my neck from previous surgeries that I literally couldn't feel it as much as I have before.

Whatever the resaon, it wasn't nearly as painful or exhausting as it has been in the past. I'm left with a slight bruise but it's in a location that most people are not likely to notice.

The doctor made a point of showing me the node-with-needle image on the ultrasound, so I could see how well he was able to target it (very well). I asked him if I could see how vascularized it was, and he was very obliging, and had the tech image the node and turn on the Doppler, and then freeze the image so I could turn my head to see it. There were 4 tiny red specks around the perimeter, and no signs of calcification. I would have preferred only one tiny red speck, but the 4 tiny specks were not so bad. If there's anything going on in there, it's just getting started.

The tech told me that my ENT would have results "within 48 hours," which approaches miraculous. After that, I have no idea.