Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Gobble

Hi, everyone. A little update for you on this Thanksgiving eve.

First off, I am thankful for YOU. Even if you are someone I don't really know who just reads this blog for kicks. (And I mean, come on, the subject of this blog has historically been something people get a real kick out of.) Anyway, thanks for your support.

2. When they opened me up for gall bladder surgery, they did find a little surprise spot which turned out to be cancer. A few millimeters big. It's an old spot on my bile duct that we thought was dead. It hasn't been showing up on the scans, not even the PET scan. PETs, it seems, are an imperfect technology. They removed what they could of it, but, considering its tricky location, they had to leave some of it in there. Damn.

Anyway, to look at the bright side of it:
-Now at least we know it's there. And we know that our work is not done. I'm not clear. I'll still be taking a break from chemo for a little while after two more cycles (mid-December), but we will need to address things again in the new year.
-The surgeon looked around in there and didn't see any other spots, so it's not like I'm teeming with undiagnosed tumors.

3. I don't recommend doing a round of chemo right after an open surgery. Tell a friend.

4. My parents are in town for the holiday. We'll feast with my sister's family and some friends. I AM thankful. Just a little miffed about the curveballs life keeps tossing my way.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Sliced. Diced.

The gall bladder is history.

Friday, I went in for routine arthroscopic surgery. There was an adhesion (complication!), so they had to cut me open old-fashion style. OW. Instead of a few teeny bandaids, I have four gauzy gashes, surrounded by great swirls of purple and red bruising. All of which will look nicely, combined with my giant colon scar. And all this just two days AFTER Halloween, as misfortune would have it.

I'm home now, and I can barely walk. Wasn't expecting this little curve ball. Kind of was thinking I'd be able to spend the week doing things like sitting up all by myself, and walking from here to the kitchen in less than 10 minutes, without groaning all the way.

Good ol' abdominal wounds. I think I now know how it feels to be shot. If I used words like "bucket list", I could comment here about that.

Spirit-wise, I'm ok. This too shall pass. However, I did un-friend two people on Facebook today, for the crime of chronically using their status line to complain about how rough their lives are. So maybe I'm feeling un peu feisty after all.