Under the knife, six months later
It’s six months to the day since my operation, a medial thera-something-oscopy, which means “cut open a slit across your throat, stick a camera and a cutting tool down into the middle of your chest, and scrape that lymph node to see if it’s malignant or simply an over-achiever.”
It was, in fact, not lymphoma, but rather, sarcoidosis, which Peter remembers how to pronounce by calling it “sarcastic doses,” which is probably a hint about my attitude around the office. Instead of being fatal, it’s just damned irritating:
Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease that can affect any organ. Common symptoms are vague, such as fatigue unchanged by sleep, lack of energy, aches and pains, dry eyes, blurry vision, shortness of breath, a dry hacking cough or skin lesions. The cutaneous symptoms are protean, and range from rashes and noduli (small bumps) to erythema nodosum or lupus pernio.
(No, I don’t know what that last sentence means, either, but it sure is impressive.)
I know it’s been six months, because when they were wheeling me into the operating room to at St. Mary’s Hospital to slit my throat, I looked at my ID band, and noticed the date on it was 05/05/05. As I counted backwards, as instructed, while the anesthesea flowed into my arm, I looked to the clock on the wall on the right: 10 until six.
Then I woke up, hours later, with Jenn and my mother-in-law at the foot of my bed. Actually, I’d apparently been semi-conscious while being wheeled in, and had already been told it wasn’t cancer: I told Jenn I owed her money, since I’d lost the bet I’d made. (Hey, I figured, if I got cancer, at least I’d get some cash out of the deal.)
My body is now well underway on a relapse of my earlier symptoms, but knowing that they are not likely to be life-threatening makes hobbling around, falling asleep at my desk and all the rest a lot more bearable.
People ask for the update periodically, and there it is. Invest heavily in Wyeth: The way I’m sucking down Advil to combat the swelling in my joints, the stock price is going to shoot through the roof.
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Glad to hear it wasn’t lymphoma – although you’re kinda still in medical limbo, cancer is a pain in the (everywhere). And us in the cancer club don’t want new members, just snobby that way! 🙂
If your body ever changes its mind (?) you can visit my website. Mike
Comment by Mike — November 6, 2005 @ 5:34