Biosey - how many of you have had one?

I'm going in for yet another upper scope & biopsey on Thursday afternoon. How many of you have had a biopsey before? I've had a CT scan, Ultrasound, Gastric Emptying study, Upper and Lower(colonoscopy) scope , bravo ph monitor, celiac, diabetes..and a ton of other tests I can't even remember recently. They still don't know what's wrong with me GI wise, so i'm having another upper scope, this time with a biopsey on Thursday. I'm kinda nervous about it- i've been through it before, but it's just the biopsey part that makes me nervous. How many of ya'll have had one before? (So far, i've been diagnosed with GERD, Gastroparesis, Hiatial Hernia, severe IBS, lactose intolerance,....and i'm sure i forgot something else... ) There is a chance that I have genetically inherited Crones disease (Part of my family is Russian/Polish jews.) / So they're hopefully going to reach a diagnosis one way or another soon. Have any of you had a biopsey before? If so, what were your results and how long did it take them to get them to you? I think at this point, i'm just feeling a bit like a guenie pig and don't have many answers...so it's frusterating when they do test after test without much help you know?

Ive had several for different things. But usually my doctors just set an opoinment for the next week and we would talk about the results then. Soo I guess it took a week for me to get them not sure about the doctor.

thanks amber

You must be frustrated with all these tests! But I can reassure you on this one, I worked in gastroenterology for five years and trust me - do NOT stress about this! Biopsies are routine samples, usually taken during every upper GI endoscopy, just to test for microscopic disease. You won't feel it and you won't have any pain afterwards. They are tiny, tiny little things - about the size of a pinhead.

You are probably being tested for something called eosinophilic oesophagitis. It's a newly discovered disease that in fact one of the doctors I work with won the Nobel Prize last year for discovering! It is quite a breakthrough in the field of Gastroenterology and if you are tested postive it is treated with a medication that you spray onto the back of your throat and then swallow. Very easy to treat, and diagnosed via biopsy.

Don't worry about it hun, seriously - it's very routine and very safe.

Aw, Nikki. What a bunch of crap you have to go through..I am sorry you have to go through such a battery of tests Jeepers, that really must be hard for you..

I have no advice, just wanted to share some hugs because it seems you have been through alot in your short life..

Thankyou natalie, i apprecite the hugs! / hummm nobody told me i misspelled the title to my thread it should have said "biopsey" not biosey lol.

my anestesologist called me last night to talk with me about what i can/can't do today....so at least i'll know ahead of time. since i'm only having an upper scope with the biopsey, i just can't have anything to eat after 12am. not bad at all! i'm soooo glad the prep for that is nothing like it is for a colonosopy

Nikki My daughter has been having th gerd, she is taking prevacid but she is having such pain in her back that she can't hardly walk she has to stop and put her arms up over her head, they told her she is having esophageal spasms have you ever had this? It is hurting her so bad that she wants someone to pound on her back, she went to the hospital just awhile ago, I told her to tell them NOTHING you are doing is helping, I think she needs what you are having done. She had diabetes also don't have any idea if there's a connection, she has taken the prevacid, protonics, gas x tums, and a few other prescripton drugs. She is pretty good about not eating alot of different things. She thought it may be her gallbladder, man I feel for her alot, she's up almost every night with it. Thanks for any info

Originally Posted by halfpint

Nikki My daughter has been having th gerd, she is taking prevacid but she is having such pain in her back that she can't hardly walk she has to stop and put her arms up over her head, they told her she is having esophageal spasms have you ever had this? It is hurting her so bad that she wants someone to pound on her back, she went to the hospital just awhile ago, I told her to tell them NOTHING you are doing is helping, I think she needs what you are having done. She had diabetes also don't have any idea if there's a connection, she has taken the prevacid, protonics, gas x tums, and a few other prescripton drugs. She is pretty good about not eating alot of different things. She thought it may be her gallbladder, man I feel for her alot, she's up almost every night with it. Thanks for any info

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I am soo sorry to hear about your daughter I hope they are able to help her soon. Has she ever tried Zegarid for her GERD? It is phemoninal!!! I take a double dose of Zegarid for my GERD and so far, that is the only thing that helps. I've tried Prevacid, Nexium, Prilosec, Tums, Mylanta, Pepto, you name it! none of that helped mine, but when they put me on Zegarid (i take it 2x a day, once a day doesn't even phase me)...i saw a world of a difference as far as my GERD goes. I hope she gets to feeling better soon.

I've had a cervial biopsy before. Which I'd like to add I later found out was totally unnecissary. I know all the tests are a pain but hopefully he's tried everything else (non-invasive) first before going for a biopsy. I was also ambushed. I was young and had gone in for a depo shot when the Dr. came out and said they had to do a biopsy. It hurts and I was sore for about the next day but it was only a small tissue sample and if it helps them make a diagonosis then it's worth it. My results came back negative (which she could have know by using some type of scope, can't remember the name) and I had them in a few days. Just know you'll probably wanna take it easy for the next day or two.

Nikki, I'm sorry you're having to go through all this. Hopefully, though, when it's over they'll know what's wrong and be able to make you feel better.

I've had skin, cervical, and uterine biopsies. The skin and cervical biopsies were negative...the uterine biopsy showed fibroid tumors (totally benign).

I actually work for an organization of pathologists, so I know a thing or two about biopsies. It usally takes about 2-3 days for the biopsy to be processed and read and the results to be reported back to your doctor. It may take your doctor an additional few days to get the results, interpret them, and get answers to any questions. So you should know the results within a week or so.

Originally Posted by Tari

Nikki, I'm sorry you're having to go through all this. Hopefully, though, when it's over they'll know what's wrong and be able to make you feel better.

I've had skin, cervical, and uterine biopsies. The skin and cervical biopsies were negative...the uterine biopsy showed fibroid tumors (totally benign).

I actually work for an organization of pathologists, so I know a thing or two about biopsies. It usally takes about 2-3 days for the biopsy to be processed and read and the results to be reported back to your doctor. It may take your doctor an additional few days to get the results, interpret them, and get answers to any questions. So you should know the results within a week or so.

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Thankyou Tari, i appreciate that info. I'm glad your biopsey's came back negative and benign. I have a benign cystic tumor on my brain- a tiny one....but i've never had to have a biopsey for it- just an MRI/ CT Scan. Do you think i'll be able to go to school and work the following day? I'm calling them at the moment to find out for sure.

Originally Posted by KitEKats4Eva!

You must be frustrated with all these tests! But I can reassure you on this one, I worked in gastroenterology for five years and trust me - do NOT stress about this! Biopsies are routine samples, usually taken during every upper GI endoscopy, just to test for microscopic disease. You won't feel it and you won't have any pain afterwards. They are tiny, tiny little things - about the size of a pinhead.

You are probably being tested for something called eosinophilic oesophagitis. It's a newly discovered disease that in fact one of the doctors I work with won the Nobel Prize last year for discovering! It is quite a breakthrough in the field of Gastroenterology and if you are tested postive it is treated with a medication that you spray onto the back of your throat and then swallow. Very easy to treat, and diagnosed via biopsy.

Don't worry about it hun, seriously - it's very routine and very safe.

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Thanks for the input- i defintiely appreciate it.The main then I believe they are doing tomorrow is testing for esophogeal cancer and for chrones disease- but with the biopsey tomorrow, they will be testing me for everything supposedly. It turns out that they never completly ruled out chrones disease in the first battery of tests that they did....so they are going to try and do that tomorrow. The thing is, due to my jewish heritage and the fact that I am an Ashkenazi jew, i have an increased risk for it. My grandmother on my dad's side is a Polish jew and my grandfather on my dad's side was a Russian jew. There is a very high incident of chrones disease among Russian, and Polish jews from Europe.... so the main thing is to hopefully rule it out in me. (I will also have to be tested for several other jewish genetic diseases when I get ready to have children because of my heritage.) I just got off the phone with my doctors office, and asked them a few questions, so tomorrow they are supposedly going to send the biopsey tissue to be tested for a numerous array of things- to hopefully rule some stuff out. They said aside from the time that it takes to put me to sleep and for me to wake up, it should only take about 20-30 minutes, so that's not bad at all. I've had an upper endoscopy done before- so i'm not worried about the procedure at all- just the results when they come in.

I've had a Biopsy done on my Uterus.I had the results in 5 days

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Do you think i'll be able to go to school and work the following day? I'm calling them at the moment to find out for sure.

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I would think so. Did you have any problems with your first upper scope that you had to recover from? The biopsy shouldn't really be any worse than the regular scope was. (But your doctor is the best source for that answer, so I'd go with whatever they tell you.)

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Thanks for the input- i defintiely appreciate it.The main then I believe they are doing tomorrow is testing for esophogeal cancer and for chrones disease- but with the biopsey tomorrow, they will be testing me for everything supposedly. It turns out that they never completly ruled out chrones disease in the first battery of tests that they did....so they are going to try and do that tomorrow. The thing is, due to my jewish heritage and the fact that I am an Ashkenazi jew, i have an increased risk for it. My grandmother on my dad's side is a Polish jew and my grandfather on my dad's side was a Russian jew. There is a very high incident of chrones disease among Russian, and Polish jews from Europe.... so the main thing is to hopefully rule it out in me. (I will also have to be tested for several other jewish genetic diseases when I get ready to have children because of my heritage.) I just got off the phone with my doctors office, and asked them a few questions, so tomorrow they are supposedly going to send the biopsey tissue to be tested for a numerous array of things- to hopefully rule some stuff out. They said aside from the time that it takes to put me to sleep and for me to wake up, it should only take about 20-30 minutes, so that's not bad at all. I've had an upper endoscopy done before- so i'm not worried about the procedure at all- just the results when they come in.

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They should be taking biopsies of your large bowel to test for Crohn's. Although some people with Crohn's do have upper GI symptoms as well. If it's borderline it's quite hard to definitively diagnose. I hope everything goes well for you

Originally Posted by crittermom

I've had a Biopsy done on my Uterus.I had the results in 5 days

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Good to see you around the threads Tammy! I hope you're feeling better . Thanks for the info...I talked to my doctors office this afternoon and they said it should only take a few days

Originally Posted by Tari

I would think so. Did you have any problems with your first upper scope that you had to recover from? The biopsy shouldn't really be any worse than the regular scope was. (But your doctor is the best source for that answer, so I'd go with whatever they tell you.)

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Nope, I didn't have a single problem with the last battery of scopes,etc...so i think i will be ok. When I talked to them earlier, they said that if i felt up to it the following day, i could drive, work, and go to school

Originally Posted by KitEKats4Eva!

They should be taking biopsies of your large bowel to test for Crohn's. Although some people with Crohn's do have upper GI symptoms as well. If it's borderline it's quite hard to definitively diagnose. I hope everything goes well for you

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As far as I know with the upper scope they will be taking a few pictures of my esophogus, etc, and upper bowel. I guess that they would have to do another colonoscopy to get a biopsey of my lower bowel?? (I'm still mad they didn't do all of that the first time they did those tests because now i have to go through it all again. I told him that this time, he should just go ahead and do EVERYTHING he needs to so I don't have to worry about any more tests, appointments, missing work...all that.) I will ask him about that again tomorrow on the whole Crohn's thing. Thankyou sooo much for all of the good info you've given me. You're awesome!

the only problem with the Do everything is, sometimes, insurance will say those tests where not needed, and wont pay.

I know with my back, i had to do a real fight with my company to get them to let the doc do a mri of spine, cause they kept saying it was not a needed test.

Originally Posted by theimp98

the only problem with the Do everything is, sometimes, insurance will say those tests where not needed, and wont pay.

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Not for biopsies - they are (or should be) a routine part of every endoscopic procedure. My former boss took routine biopsies every, single time he did a scope, to test for microscopic disease - i.e. disease that could not be seen by the naked eye. It is quite amazing how many illnesses such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, coeliac disease and so on are picked up by routine, random biopsies, before the disease has been around long enough to have a visual effect on the underlying mucosa.

It is not `extra' to the procedure if you're having one anyway. The only time an insurance company might balk at a biopsy is if you are having the procedure just to have the biopsy, but in all my years in that field I never saw it happen. It may be different in gastroenterology.

Having said that, there are a number of serological tests that can also be employed to detect Crohn's and Coeliac disease - however these are notoriously unreliable and the only definitive way to diagnose these (and most other GI illnesses) are with mucosal biopsies.

I would think the reason you were told that you didn't need an MRI is because other radiological diagnostic procedures can and do diagnose musculo-skeletal injuries and defects, and are nowhere near as expensive. What insurance companies don't realise is that MRI is in a class of its own, and no other test gives such an accurate picture. It really annoys me when companies get like that, because for example, a CT arthrogram is cheaper and could diagnose spinal defects/lesions/deficiencies, but an MRI will tell you in minute detail what is going on, with different imaging and entirely more accurate results, which is often the difference it takes to decide which method of treatment to pursue, surgical or otherwise. It's a classic example of beaureacracy determining medical necessity - not the actual people involved in medicine who know what they're talking about

Well, just a little update. i'm finally back home tonight after the endoscopy & biopsey. It went really well. Usually my veins are virtually impossible to find and hit...which results in me being stuck multiple times...and me hating needles. But thankfully, today I had a sweet girl just out of college...and she was awesome! She got the iv in the first try and she didn't hurt at all I was soo happy about that because that never happens with me lol. I should have my results in next week...so as soon as I find out, I will let everyone know what's going on. Thankyou very much everyone for all of your prayers and vibes. I appreciate them.