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dcnovice -> DC Update: Long Weekend (5/23/2016 9:13:58 PM)
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May 23, 2016
Long Weekend
Dear Ones ---
I’m too tired to attempt polished prose—he types as sighs of relief ascend across America—but I did want to give folks a heads-up about my next medical adventure.
As you know, some sort of mystery node has been growing in my left lung for at least a year now. It’s still smaller than a pea, but the docs want to know what it is, as do I. It’s my equivalent of “Who shot J.R.?”
So I finally got around to scheduling a biopsy. (I don’t rush into these things.) It will take place at Georgetown on Thursday morning.
The procedure will be a bit of a production. Guided by a CT scanner, an interventional radiologist will guide a needle gingerly into my lung, hoping to pinpoint the node without damaging the surrounding tissue. Normally, I gather, something like this would be done with a local anesthetic and sedatives. But mine is never the normal route.
The sedatives pose a risk of making my breathing more difficult, and the last thing anyone wants is a respiratory distress in the middle of everything else. So I’ll be given a general anesthetic and intubated so that a machine breathes for me. I’ve been emphatic about my desire to have the breathing tube removed before I’m awakened, so fingers crossed on that front.
Given the complexities of the procedure, Mother Georgetown will keep me overnight and—God and the docs willing, not necessarily in that order—discharge me on Friday. She tends to have separation anxiety where yours truly is concerned, but perhaps she’s worked through it. Memorial Day will give me an extra bit of breathing room before returning to work on Tuesday.
My oncologist is not terribly worried about the node, so I’m not either. I can always panic later if need be! Meantime, please keep this professional patient in your thoughts and prayers on Thursday. Thank you so much.
All the best to one and all!
Cheers,
DC
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