"Biopsy at Fiona Stanley Hospital"

I arrived at the Imaging Department with a degree of nervousness at the thought of a needle going into my back to take a piece of the tumour out for analysis.  I remembered the pain of some terrible dental sessions from years ago, so I was not looking forward to what I imagined would now be a painful procedure.

Allysa the Registrar was so cheerful and reassuring, she actually took my mind off my worries while her colleague Meeks was probing around my arm for a decent vein to attach the canula.

Then Doctor Coughlan came and gave a very detailed explanation of the procedure involved in a very friendly reassuring manner.

Next, my bed was rolled into a relatively small room.  And unlike what you see on some TV shows where the patient is manhandled onto a hard cold steel table, I remained on this comfortable bed face down throughout the whole time.  Doctor Coughlan introduced me to his associate Roger and Nurse Shenise.

Then after a localised scan of the area onto a screen, the doctor gently talked about each step they were taking in the process starting with a tiny pinprick (barely noticeable) at the spot on my back to apply the local anesthetic.  I guess I was still thinking about what was going on because even though there was no pain at all, I was drumming my fingures on the bed head, when Nurse Shenise came around and held my hand. Then it was all over - in such a short time.

Then back to Allysa and one of her team Haley (who helped me record names of those I wanted to compliment) for post-op recovery for an hour.

Then out of the basement to the first floor for further monitoring over the next 5 hours and some tea and sandwiches - thank you Jessica for your care during this time.

Overall a remarkably (and surprisingly) pain free procedure made all the more bearable (dare I say enjoyable) by such a caring, cheerful and efficient team of professionals. Well done to all of you.