Kidney biopsy

It's early morning at the hospital check-in post and I'm greeted by an energetic lady. She has a hospitalbed ready for me, but need to take a few blood tests first. They need to see if there is anything in my blood indicating an increased risk of bleeding. The waiting room looks a lot like of a living room with large, deep sofas, candles on the tables and pictures on the walls. A muted TV is showing the morning news, summarizing yesterday's covid-19 numbers.

I wait for a few minutes before a nurse shows up to take the blood tests. A few minutes later, the energetic lady comes back and measures my blood pressure. 117/75 which is good. If it was over 140, it would have been too high to take a biopsy, she explains. Since I need go to the bathroom, she gives me a cup to collect a urine sample. Nephrologists love urine samples, she says with a smile. I have been fasting since midnight so I am relieved to hear that the kidney biopsy is at 10. The small glass of water I was allowed with my medication this morning was not nearly enough. A slight throbbing in the head and stomach makes me look forward to getting something to eat and drink when the biopsy is over.

The biopsy itself is at 10:00 and will take about an hour. While I am lying and waiting, I see 2 surgeons pushing a small bed that must be a small child who has just had surgery. It sort of puts my whole little biopsy procedure in perspective. Right now at this very moment, small children are being treated for cancer and are being operated on. And here I am, a grown woman dreading a little pinch in my muffintop. Soon enough it turns out that a kidney biopsy really is nothing to be afraid of. First, they find the best spot to take the sample by taking pictures from several angles. While this is being done, I am asked to take a deep breath and hold it until the doctor signals. I will be doing the same when the sample is taken. Finally, they have located the sample spot, and I'm lying on the side. The spot is washed with a liquid and a cloth and something that feels a bit like a heavy frame is put on top. A syringe with sedation enters the flesh and I feel a small sting.

​The doctor explains that there will be a clicking noise when they take the sample and demonstrate. Then they start the procedure. There is no pain, just a strange feeling that something is going on there. Then I am asked to take a breath and hold it. "Click" and I still feel nothing. On sample done. They take another sample is taken and the nephrologist comes to check the samples. I overhear that they can take 3 samples, maximum 4, but the nephrologist is happy with the 2 samples. There is  a little bleeding after the 2nd sample and they book me in for an additional check-up in 3 hours and some extra blood tests. I am assured several times that this is something that can happen on occasion that there's nothing worry about. I am not allowed to eat until after the 2nd check-up, but I am allowed to drink water. Thank god, because I am terribly thirsty! 

At 11:00 it's all over and now I'm on 24 hours of bed rest. The reason for this is to keep my pulse and blood pressure low to keep the bloodflow to the kidneys at a minimum. In other words, I don't even get to go to the bathroom, which means that I have to go in a bowl in bed for the next 24 hours.

Freshly painted nails for my kidney biopsy