Earlier posts mention issues with my knee. Some of the medication I am on for this can have a negative effect on my liver. So as to determine whether I can start some new medication or not, I needed a liver biopsy so that a liver specialist can have a closer look at some things that my blood tests set of some small alarm bells about. (basically some of the numbers are borderline so a liver specialist will determine if they are anything to worry about)
Well, interesting day.
I guess I partly know what it feel like to be stabbed.
While I had a local anesthetic I could still feel this long thick needly tube going into my insides... very odd indeed. I was supposed to hold my breathe but there was alike a snap and pull type thing going on in the extraction which sure as hell made me grunt and forget about holding my breathe.
Yeah it hurt... but it was over quick enough, afterwards the pain was just as if i'd been kicked in the ribs. A large part of it was the oddness and surprise of it during what i assume was the extraction...
Then it was a couple hours in the hospital bed being monitored for bleeding (standard practice) before going home.
I must say the nursing staff at Wollongong Hospital were amazingly excellent. Top notch!
The rotten old bag on the customer service/admissions desk on the bottom floor entrance to the hospital on the other hand... well she was a cantankerous old cow who's belligerent and unhelpful attitude threatened to make the whole event one crapload more stressful than it should have been.
While I do have private cover and usually get stuff done at Figtree private hospital this needed to be done publicly at Wollongong due to the particular specialist... and let me say... damn I'm glad to live in a country like Australia at times, where he have a publicly funded health system.
Just some general googling out of curiosity before having the procedure led me to some websites and questions and answers regarding liver biopsies in the USA... and prices ranged from approx $1000 to anywhere in excess of $6000 in some cases... WTF?!
For me... cost $0. Gotta love that little green medicare card.
Now I guess I get to find out if I can take this medication or not...
Me being wheeled off to my biopsy...
