They lie

If a physician or nurse tells you something won't hurt "much", run. Run. Because they are lying through their teeth.

My breast surgeon did a biopsy several weeks ago. She said it wouldn't hurt. That other women tell her it's just a little sting, as though to guilt me from the onset in case I whined that she was hurting me.

We did a vacuum assisted biopsy using a needle about the width of a writing pen. Awkwardly, you are asked to lay face down on a table with a hole in the center. Your you-know-what goes in the hole. A mammogram machine comes up from below and grabs your you-know-what in a vice grip.

The plan was to numb the top skin area. The needle contained anesthetic that would numb the rest of the tissue as it drilled down to the tumor. This was the biggest lie of all. Hurt like hell. She kept saying "most women don't have a problem with this". Apparently, I'm not like "most women".

And when they did the sentinal node injection of dye just before the lumpectomy...another huge fat lie. They said it would burn "a little". I should have known something was up when one of the nurses leaned over me and held down both arms. I remember kicking my feet and BEGGING them to stop, just like a little girl. It was over quickly, but holy cow...it hurt more than the biopsy!

I generally have a high tolerance for pain. But I'm finding that when something is painful, its not just the pain that's problematic. It's the fear. Pain begets fear....fear of more pain or worse...fear of the unknown.

From now on, when someone tells me something won't hurt "much", I'm going to assume they are a lying pig. I will become a liar myself and say "I don't deal with pain very well, can I have something before you do that?"

That's it. Beat 'em at their own game.