Where have you been you may ask, or not. It has been a looong time since I have posted anything. Suddenly dropping from the group of friends I have developed on this venue. Trust me, it was not by design.
I have a tee shirt that reads “Kind People Are My Kinda People”. And there are so many. We are surrounded by them. They just don’t thump their chest and proclaim what wonderful people they are. You have to seek them out to observe and recognize them, because they think they are just doing the right thing (and they are).
So, a few months ago I developed a pain in my side which became severe. I drove myself 20 miles to the emergency room at about 5 AM in the morning. That led to a four day hospital stay while I underwent Cat Scans, Ultra Sounds, MRI’s, constant checkups of vitals (blood pressure, pulse,) finger sticks for sugar levels, urine samples, injections to insure against blood clotting, an internal exam where a camera was fed down my throat to my stomach, and a much dreaded diet of Jello, broth, and apple or cranberry juice.
Having survived all that, it was concluded that I required surgery to remove my gall bladder at which point I was introduced to my surgical team, which included a nurse practitioner who, to me, became the lead source of information for the surgeon. Over the next couple of days, she became the principal communicant, advising what was being done, what was going to happen, and when. But, it was more then that. She listened to my concerns, my apprehensions, and fears. She shared a little part of herself that bounced off of who I was. Human aspects of who we both were, outside of her profession. Two people who could talk and share life experiences within an antiseptic environment.. It was during this time that I began to see her not as a hospital/medical advocate, but instead, someone that was doing what she does because it is her. Her ability to help those in need of medical attention coming from the heart. And, I became more comfortable.
All did not go as planned. What was to be an arthroscopic day surgery procedure became more invasive which included opening me up and a hospital stay of close to a week The gall badder was cancerous, and, as such I was scheduled for additional surgery to remove a slice of my liver a week later. The additional operation was successful and my pathology report came back negative. I mention this for one reason.
The assisting surgeon, on a Friday evening, after the initial surgery, noticed that the pathology report was available and had come back positive for cancer. Given this, she decided to stay instead of going home. She came to my room, pulled up a chair, and told me the results. Again, I was impressed by the compassion of this person, not unlike the NP, to come to me and not only give me the bad news, but to explain what it meant, what was going to happen, and to assure me that they would do everything they could to give me some additional years. I am pleased to say she was also the one, after the additional surgery on my liver, that again, late on a Friday evening, gave me the news that my liver was cancer free.
Ironically, since those initial encounters, I have seen neither of them again. I have been moved to a Medical Oncology practice to monitor my recovery. I am on a Chemo pill twice a day for two weeks on and one week off for eight three week cycles. I still have some issues which will be dealt with over time. I plan to come out the other side of all this. Overall, I feel pretty good and intend to get better.
This post is both a tip of my hat to those in the medical profession that see their role not as a job, but instead, as a calling. I had the good fortune to meet two of them. All angels don’t have wings.
To those of you that normally read my blog, I apologize for my absence and silence. I hope most of this is behind me now and I can return to doing and participating in one of my loves, writing and boring a whole lot of people.
So, here I am, again. Kramer and I are discussing ideas for future posts, so stay tuned. I’ve missed you guys.
oldmainer 