Name: Davinya

Neuroendocrine Cancer Site: Lung

Hospital: The Christie Hospital, Manchester

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Learning about my Lungs

I thought some of you would like to hear my experience of a lung biopsy in May 2024, in case anyone is worrying about it.  I had mine at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester which teams up with The Christie NHS NET Centre of Excellence.  

On arrival, I was quite nervous, not knowing what to expect or what exactly they were going to do. I had been told I would be sedated and wouldn’t remember any of the procedure. I was greeted by a lovely nurse who took my details and attached the cannula. She gave me the choice of my hand or my arm. She told me that the arm was less painful. The cannula went in smoothly with only a slight pinch.

I was then greeted by a junior doctor, who talked me through the procedure. We had a chat and a laugh and I felt more comfortable and less edgy. He took me into the procedure room. There were 7 people in there and it was a small room. I made a crack about sardines.

I was assured that they were all necessary and had a job to do. They all greeted me and I sat on the bed. The head nurse checked my details and ran through the procedure asking each person if they were prepped and ready. She then asked me to lie down. The doctor administered the first sedative which, to be honest, didn’t really do anything but to be fair, I was already feeling fairly calm and reassured. They then sprayed the throat-numbing spray down my throat. This was the worst part of the whole procedure, it tasted like rotten bananas!

Also, as my throat went numb it became difficult to swallow. They began the procedure and decided not to administer the sedative to make me drowsy and to be honest, I was glad. The whole process took about 45 minutes. There was no pain at all, the worst effect was like having a very irritating niggly cough.  Once I was done, I was wheeled into recovery, still wide awake. After my throat returned to its former non numb state, I had a cup of water then a cup of tea and a sandwich as I had been nil by mouth all day.

So all in all, it’s 5 hours post-biopsy and my throat is sore but apart from that, all is good. It wasn’t so bad after all. I hope this helps anyone out there who may be panicking about having the same.