Next Update

Well, I'm 4 days past surgery and I've recovered much faster than anyone expected. The dreaded "day after" turned-out not to be a big deal. Yeah, I was a little slow, but was on my feet all day. The second day after surgery I was barely taking any pain meds. Yesterday was pain med-free. Today I have a barely-discernible limp. (barely)

The only way I can explain recovery that fast is that either:
1) The doctors at MD Anderson are incredible
2) I'm the man

I'll let you make your own determination. ;)

My next appointments are next Thursday and Friday. They want to look to see how the cancer markers in my blood have changed after surgery. That will help them determine the next steps.

I would like to send out another big thanks to everyone for the phone calls, text messages, well-wishes and gifts. You folks have been indispensable in keeping my spirits high. I can't even begin to tell you what it means to me.

Loved

A big thanks goes out to the Bloyds for the great care package! You two are the greatest.

Update

Well, surgery went as well as can be expected. Today was mostly a game of waiting. The fam and I got to the hospital at 7:45 AM and didn't leave until just before 5 PM. It all went just like I expected. An hour after waking, I was walking out of the hospital.

So far, the post-op pain has been very manageable. I'm walking a bit strange and very slowly, but doing well. I'm told that tomorrow (a.k.a. "the day after") will be the most painful/uncomfortable. I think it will be workable. (with help, of course, from good pain meds)

The crappy part is this: yesterday I had a CT scan to make sure the cancer hadn't spread. Apparently it has. It looks like a decent-sized tumor has appeared near my kidneys.

This means more doctors and chemo. The good news is that my doc still seems very optimistic that with chemo, my chances are still very, very good for a full recovery.

So, again, the long-term prognosis is still positive. But it sounds like getting there won't be fun.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer. (I'll be back to my overly-optimistic self in a day or two) I wish I had different news, but that's what is going on. Anyway, I really appreciate all the support from everyone. It's good to know everyone's thinking of me.

Sometimes it sucks to always be right

Part of the MD Anderson Campus

I spent yesterday at MD Anderson. All yesterday. I arrived at 8:30 AM and didn't leave until after 4 PM. During that time, I saw at least 4 doctors and about half a dozen nurses and technicians of some sort.

There's a reason for the reputation this hospital has. It's clear that this place is the best at what they do. For example:

• My oncologist wanted blood tests and another ultrasound. Within 15 minutes, I was scheduled for both with a printed "appointment calendar" and directions on how to get to the various departments. By the time I had the tests and a quick lunch in the cafeteria, the oncologist had the test results.


• I can't tell you how many times I heard the phrase "don't worry--you're at MD Anderson" said with complete conviction.


• I know it's anecdotal, but a doctor I don't know actually talked to me in the elevator. In my experience, doctors avoid conversations with patients they don't know like the plague. (wouldn't you? you have enough to do without hearing other's patient's problems--that's why they have their own doctors) To me, it was just another example of the patient-centered culture.


• On my way out the door, I filled-out paperwork to sign-up for their online patient-management site. Before I got out of the parking garage, I already had an email confirming my login information.


• Within 10 minutes of walking out, they had already scheduled me for half a dozen follow-up appointments on Monday.

As everyone knows, I've seen enough doctors and hospitals to know what I'm talking about. These people are damn good. Really damn good.

Of course, they confirmed that I do have cancer. I'm scheduled for surgery on Tuesday. But no worries--apparently the surgery is so simple and relatively risk-free that they aren't even going to keep me overnight. Just wake me up and kick me out with a prescription for pain meds.

Part of my schedule on Monday is to get a CT scan so they can look to make sure it hasn't spread. (I've got no reason to think it has)

So, I'll be in for surgery some time Tuesday and be back home Tuesday night. Easy stuff. One of the doctors actually told me "nobody likes to get cancer--but if you do, this is the one to get". There's no reason at all to think this will be part of my life for much longer.

I really appreciate all the well-wishes and phone calls. There's not much anything better in life than knowing people care.

So, rather than leaving this on a crappy note, I'd like to take a second and identify a few good things that will come from this:

• This reinforced that I must get a job working in a hospital. You wouldn't believe the "pull" I feel. And I may have even found the hospital.


• This serves as a not-so-gentle poke in the arm to remind me to focus more on the "important" things in my life and spend a little less time on the useles and mundane.


• I gotta move out of the "burbs". A little time in that part of town reminds me that there are all sorts of cool people in Houston. I've just got to leave the SUV-infested suburbs.

Like you needed reasons...

Action

I like smart people. I like to hear what they've said. So, for several years now, I've kept a couple of books near at hand. Of course, one of them is Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. I've also used Respectfully Quoted to help me put thoughts into words when I feel too ineloquent to do it myself.

A month or two ago, I added a third book to this collection: Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists. I really like it.

I read one yesterday that has echoes of a thought I've been having for a few weeks now:

"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him."

-- Aldous Huxley

Rather than talking about the reactive nature of this quote (which deserves more attention), I'm more drawn to the proactive side--creating those experiences.

I have plans. I've heard many of my friend's plans. Everyone has plans.

What I don't have nearly enough of is action.

I can plan like you've never seen. I can whip out a categorized, prioritized, hierarchy-based, multi-tiered plan for tackling any goal or target. And, all too often, that's where it dies a slow, dust-covered death.

But what I badly need to do is learn how to action.

The only goals I've reached in life are the ones I've actively done things towards. Actually reaching the goal often has no relation to how detailed of a plan I'd created. The accomplishment was instead a reflection of the actual work I put into it.

A perfect example of that is the cut-off back of a shirt that I have framed and hanging in my office. It's from my first solo in a plane. It represents the work I put into accomplishing that. But, for that great accomplishment, I had no plan. Late one weeknight, I decided that I wanted to learn to fly. I got in my car, drove to the airport, bought all my supplies and signed-up for the ground school. Zero planning. 100% action.

I know this is a very simple idea. It's nothing new and nothing insightful. But I see the "planning pitfall" in myself and those around me.

So, you'll be hearing less about my "plans" on this blog and more about my "actions". I don't want to spend my life planning and not having experiences.

(and now that I've got myself sufficiently worked-up, it's time for some tea)



This is a cup of real Ceylon tea--hand delivered to me directly from Sri Lanka. (sometimes my life is so good, I can hardly believe it)

Here I go again

Warning: This post might be a bit depressing and is borderline TMI.

The other day I alluded to a little medical test that had me worried. Apparently this was one of the times I was justified in my worries.

After a couple of uncomfortable visits to a specialist and that ultrasound, I have two urologists that think I have Testicular Cancer.

I have an appointment next Friday at MD Anderson Cancer Center (probably the best cancer hosptial in the US) with an oncologist that specializes in this.

From what little I know now, the long-term prognosis is very, very good. If caught early, the survival rate is nearly 100%. And there is a slight possiblity that this isn't even cancer.

The downside is that the end result of this game is most likely surgery to remove the offending body part. (I don't know a more gentle way to say it) It's simple surgery and I should be in and out of the hospital in a couple of days.

The good news is that once this is done, I'll most likely live a perfectly normal life. (or at least what qualifies as "normal" in my strange little world)

Sorry if this is more than you wanted to know. But I've always tried to be as honest as possible about what's happening in my life on the blog. That means you get the good and the bad.

Anyway, I'm doing fine. It's been a kinda rough week--trying to deal with this news. But I've about come to terms with it and I'm sure the good-natured joking will start very, very soon. (hey, if I can't have a sense of humor then why the hell bother?)

So, any questions? (you know me--don't ask a question you don't want an answer to...)

Ok, has this jumped the shark yet?

I tried not to repeat movies. (much) I also had to avoid movies that several people reading this blog would instantly recgonize any line of...

1. Pick 15 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly in the comments, and put who correctly identified the film.
5. NO Googling or using IMDb search functions.


1. "I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue" --Casablanca (Jerm)

2. “You don't hold elected office in this town. You run it because people think you do. They stop thinking it you stop running it.”
" --Miller's Crossing (Drain)

3. “I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.” --The Shawshank Redemption (Mark)

4. “If you can't fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it.”

5. “Dry martini. Wait... three measures of Gordon's; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel." --Casino Royale (Cory)

6. “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” --Stand By Me (Angie)

7. “Oh, make no mistake. It's not revenge he's after. It's a reckoning.” --Tombstone (Angie)

8. “There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated.” --Alien (Jerm)

9. “But it didn't fall. You caught it. The fact that you prevented it from happening doesn’t change the fact that it was going to happen.”
 --Minority Report (Jerm)

10. “28 days... 6 hours... 42 minutes... 12 seconds. That... is when the world... will end.” --Donnie Darko (James)

1,128.2

Ok, that was a long weekend. I'm glad I got to see everyone I did and apologize to those I didn't. I need to just schedule a week to do that again.

I really liked to see Kaia--even if only for a few hours. She's even more cute in person. I didn't get to bring back any pictures, but that's because she was sleeping on my chest most of the time. (and that's perfectly fine with me)

Updates

Yeah, not too much exciting going on around here--just some little stuff:

8 weeks
It's now been something like 8 weeks with no cable TV. And I can confidently say that I don't plan to go back anytime soon. The first week or two was a little tough. (especially since I spent the better portion of the first week on the couch 24/7 with that nasty toothache)

But since then, I haven't missed it a bit. No commercials. No incessant noise of poorly-written sitcoms. No more talking heads. A small part of the continuous noise of my electronically-controlled life has been silenced.

Now I just buy Lost (and sometimes The Daily Show) on the iTV and download/buy whatever else I want to watch.

Battlestar
One of the things I have done is download the entire BG series and am now totally caught-up. Frackin' hell, that's a good show. And in a couple of months, it starts again. I can't wait.

Fat
Ok, so something has happened in the last 6 months or so. I'm not exactly sure what process has changed, but I'm very quickly getting fat. I have to weigh-in whenever I go to the hospital to get my meds and I weighed more this time than I ever have. It physically disgusted me.

So, I'm officially on a diet. Nothing too restrictive--mostly just eating a lot more "good" stuff and cutting out most of the fats and almost all carbs. It's just been since this Saturday, but I'm already feeling the physical/mental effects of treating my body better.

Now I just need to figure out how to incorporate the other half of the equation--exercise. When I was younger, I used to really enjoy exercise. How can I get that desire back?

Damnit, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a psychiatrist!
I guess I have good and bad "medical years". Last year was pretty good. This year isn't starting off too well.

I had that dang toothache/root canal first thing. (and a cavity fill last week) Then yesterday, I got a call from my Gastero's office saying my bloodwork showed that I'm anemic and have to take prescription iron. Finally, before work on Friday, I'm going into the hospital for a quick ultrasound of a suspicious lump.

The doctor says it's probably not anything serious, so I've been trying really hard not to worry. But I can't stop thinking about the big C. I guess that's the curse of knowing just enough about medicine to know what it *could* be, but not enough to know better.

Kaia--Wahoo!
I finally get to meet Kaia this weekend. I can't tell you how excited I am. I finally get to see how cute she is in person.

I'll see if I can get some good pics. (and, of course, mom & dad's permission to post them)

But, with all the kids friends and family have had lately, I've spent way more time in Babies 'R Us than any single man should. ;)