Day 7: Follow Up

Today I go back to visit and see the initial results of my treatments.  I can already feel that the swelling in my lymph nodes has been reduced.  My spleen, which is also affected by this condition, has lost some of its hardness that it had only a week ago.  These could be a little subjective, so I will find out more in the way of blood counts and that sort of thing today.

Audie Murphy

   I also have the stitches removed from my "port" which was put in almost two weeks ago.  No small thing.  When the Doctor told me that I would have a port installed for them to hook the intravenous feeds into, I didn't think much of it.  I'd seen patients during chaplaincy that had those little inlets installed around the clavicle.  Didn't seem like a big deal.  I was on the table for around 2 hours, semi-conscious, as they pushed and prodded away to get that thing in right. One part of the port, i.e. the inlet, sits outside where you can see it.  The other part, that is much more delicate, is connected to a major blood vessel inside the chest.    It is another example of my tendency to "minimize" what's about to happen to me.  An old character trait that came in handy during fires or major earthquakes, "Don't worry, the hazmat guys will be here in a few.  We're safe now."  I have that calming assurance that someone who knows what's going on possesses.  However in my case, I'm one of the kids that should be scared s---less by the entire situation.  "WHAT THE f---! WHERE'S THE GROWN UP IN CHARGE!!!!!  I never saw the usefulness of taking God's name in vain in order to lessen my own panic.  What if we were all done for, anyway?  Would it help going into the after life with a freshly minted expletive the last thing I spoke while on earth?  No, I think St. Peter would probably ask, "Who was in charge of this unit?  Good job, son!  Tough break, though". Or something  recognizing my ability to stay poised under extreme fire like Audie Murphy, who lived long enough to star in a few movies about himself. (By the way, the rest of Audie's medals are on his formal jacket that, at the time of this photo, was still in the cleaners.)
The ability to stay calm requires omitting certain important details to yourself about the crisis at hand.  For this reason, my good friend Greg goes with me to hear what the doctor really said and even to take notes for me to refer to later.  Greg and I went backpacking many years ago in the Montanna Rockies.  He was the man in charge. He had experience backpacking in the wild, or so I thought at the time.  He emphasized how important it was to break in new hiking boots before the real test.  I bought the boots early and saddle soaped the new stiff leather into supple compliance to the contours of my city boy feet.   He put me in charge of the food: 3 people X 3 meals a day X 6 days back country.  Ok...54 meals.  I got it.  I had to buy a backpacking manual to find out what you can make out there in the wild when you are not aloud to take a grill or build an open fire.  I discovered that everything you carried in with you; there were no trading posts or chuck wagons or any of the other things one might find in a story book or TV tale. And so it didn't weigh a ton, it was all freeze dried: Turkey Tetrazinni, Beef stroganoff, Tuna Noodle surprise, etc...  Along with the freeze dried stuff, there was peanut butter, jelly, coffee, tea, honey, powdered milk;  everything taken out of their original glass jars and put into plastic squeeze containers.  I guess it was a little like the astronauts, eating food out of tootpaste tubes. (I will have to continue this tale in the next blog entry, because stolid Greg is picking me up in 20 minutes for the appointment. So Ciao for Now.)