I’ve never wanted a boring life, and God has blessed me
abundantly. God is good! Life is good!
My sister, who shares my desire in this regard, calls us “experience
junkies”. We’re always looking for something
new and exciting that we haven’t tried yet.
It’s one of the things that drives my insatiable appetite for travel. It’s also the thing that, for example, when I
go for a snowmobile tour with my brother-in-law and nephew as I did a few weeks
ago, has me reluctant to admit just how much I love that kind of thing: I’ve done it a few times and love it, but we
can’t possibly afford to get into that kind of hobby!
A couple of weeks ago I had my normal, routine,
every-so-often PET scan. When we got the
results, the oncologist was a little bit concerned: there was a pea-sized “nodule” showing up in one
of my lungs that had grown from the previous scans. He referred us to a thoracic surgeon. Today (Friday) Sue accompanied me to my
appointment.
Here’s an interesting tidbit before I get to the gist of this
post: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a
specialist (let alone had any other medical appointment) that was as
timely. My appointment was for 9:45
AM. While I was walking from the car to
the appointment, too busy to answer the phone, I got a voicemail from the
nurse. Time? 9:46 AM.
They were worried I wasn’t coming.
I got there at about 9:46:15 and didn’t even get a chance to sit
down. They whisked me through the usual
height/weight/blood pressure directly into the “small back room”. We hadn’t been there for more than about 10
seconds before the doctor entered. Despite
the subject matter, we were out of the office by 10:15, and didn’t feel like we’d
been rushed!
Anyway, the doctor described the situation by saying they
weren’t that worried about it, but given my history and the fact that it had
grown, they recommended surgery to remove it.
They wanted both to get it out of there (stop further growth) and to
determine if it actually is more cancer or something benign. The surgery was described as relatively
straight-forward, with just some small incisions and probably only a couple of
days in the hospital. It sounds like it
will be much less invasive than the surgeries I’ve already had. It helps that there’s only one “nodule” of
concern, and that it’s right at the edge of my lung. Also, when I got my first liver surgery, the
doctor had explained how they sometimes “cherry-pick” these things for years.
Well, I can’t explain my reaction without referring to the
subject of this post. My first thought
was “cool – I haven’t had a lung surgery yet”!
I have something new to look forward to. J
Unfortunately, it’s not quite as easy on Sue. Especially given some of the other challenges
she’s facing, she has a bit more trouble with this roller coaster ride. So, if you’re so inclined and you think of
her, please pray for her.
So… I’m headed for another surgery. It will likely take place at the beginning of
April, after my San Francisco trip (conference for work – another exciting
adventure!). As always, I’ll keep you
posted.
By the way, I’d love to hear what’s going on in YOUR life,
too!
