Numbers (in case you can't make out that weird spelling)!
Yesterday, for my visit to M.D. Anderson in preparation for another cancer surgery, Cheryl and I had to handle a boatload of numbers!
Traveling Over
We left our house in Austin at 4:15PM, drove the six miles up to Route 71 which heads east towards Houston, which is a little over 200 miles away. After driving 100 of those miles, we stopped for dinner at out favorite stop in La Grange, Texas. After that, another 30 miles put us on I-10, and we cruised to milepost 763 where we swung off to I-610, then south two miles to Route 59, took the first exit and we were at our usual La Quinta for the might. Counting the dinner stop, it took four hours! (13 numbers so far!)
The Big Day
Next morning, at 5:45AM, we left room 204, and drove one mile south to Holcomb Blvd, then about four miles east over to M.D. Anderson. It took 15 minutes to get there. We turned into driveway 2, entered garage 10, went to the third level, and walked across the covered walkway to the main building. Down the elevator one floor, and we were in the line with about 50 folks waiting for vampire feeding time, which starts at 6AM. (24)
Blood-Work
We were right on time for my 6:15AM appointment, but the lab had not opened yet! We stood in the line for about 5 minutes before the doors opened and the flood of patients entered the lab area. (26)
Funny thing. Almost all of those folks quickly filled out the required form, then sat down and fired up their cell phones! It was funny looking around at all those folks staring intently at those tiny screens. What must life have been like BCP (Before Cell Phones)! (I do remember that, BTW! Still 26)
After about 20 minutes, I was called in for my turn. (27)
"Patient Number?" "1234567." (No, I am not going to show you my real number, they might drag you in for cancer screening!) (28)
"Birth Date?" "Long time ago!" (OK, I gave them the real date! It had three numbers in it - 31)
"Follow Me!"
She led me down the hall to room 21. The nurse there was a way too bubbly for 6AM young lady. I told her about all those funny staring faces out in the lobby and she thought it was hilarious. She giggled for 10 minutes at the thought while she got the evil needle ready. (34)
She did a good job of sucking the required blood out of my arm and slapping a bandage on the "stick", then sent me on my way. Total time, about 15 minutes. (35)
CT Scan
Next up was the big CT scan to see how things look before surgery. We had to go back up one floor to the imaging area, and had to wait about 20 minutes before they called out my name (36):
"Mr. Black!" "That is me!"
"Patient Number?" Again! (37)
"Birth Date?" Again as well (40)
"This way!"
We walked down a hall to another room. It was numbered something like R3.2345. I was seated into a chair while they stole more of those "vitals" they love to take! (41)
"Stand on the scale." "You mean this lying slab of steel? Remember, I have my 20 pound shoes on!" "Yeah, right!" (42)
The machine spit out an incorrect number, but not so far away from what I thought it should be. (43)
"BP: 118/87, pretty good. Respiration 83, Temperature: 97.7." "I am never 98.6!" (48)
Another "stick" put in the IV tube, and that went well. They did not put it in my wrist (which I hate. Not that it hurts, it just looks like it should hurt!)
"Everything looks good! Follow me!" "Yes boss."
We walked to a changing area where I had to put on a blue hospital shirt. I put my shirt into locker 7, took the key and we continued down the hall. (49)
We went around a corner to room 7! I have been in this room before! "Want a warm blanket?" "Nope, I am fine." (50)
After 10 minutes, another nurse poked her head in the door and said (51):
"We are ready for you." "You mean the Krispy Cream Machine is warmed up?"
"I love Krispy Cream" she said as we walked down the hall.
"The only thing is the nearest place where I can get them is 23 minutes away!" "Way too long to wait." I said. (52)
I was led into donut room 7 (seven again!) I took off my hearing aids and glasses (all of my senses need help, these days!) and plopped down on the table with my head in a cradle to hold it still!. (53)
I had to repeat my ID number and birth date yet again before we could start the procedure. (57)
It took all of five minutes to hook me up to the "contrast pump" which automatically shoots some kind of fluid into the IV tube. The contrast makes any cancer growths easier to spot.(58)
"Here we go!"
Why is it that all folks who run these big machines say that as they leave the room with you lying there all by yourself. "Here I go" would be more accurate. I went nowhere!
The machine started whirring as the emitter device, which is attached to a spinning ring, stated spinning around at about 3 times per second (my estimate). The table elevated a bit then slowly slid my body into the donut. I slid back out and the technician told me (over a speaker) that the contrast would start now. My arm felt cold as the contrast started pumping in, but my body started to warm up right away. Weird. That contrast is warm enough that you can feel it wander through your entire body, head to toe. It was warmest right below my stomach, but I suppose that is because near there are a lot of blood vessels come together then split off into your legs. (59)
Another ride back and forth through the donut, and the technician came back in and said we were done. About 10 minutes total time for this ride. (60)
Back to locker 7 where I changed back into my shirt, then out to the waiting area again. I was supposed to have a chest X-Ray during this visit, so I went back to the reception desk and asked where I was to go next. (61)
"They were supposed to do that while you were back there." "Great!"
The technician was called back, and I started round two through the lab area. This time, after changing my shirt AGAIN! We skipped locker 7 and went into the X-Ray machine room. After fiddling with the machine a bit. I was stood up in front of a screen, and had to plaster my chest onto the plate. The tech went around a screen and fired up the machine for shot one. Then he came hack in for shot two, which was from the side, and did the trick a second time. He told me to put my shirt back on, took my blue hospital shirt away, and I was again out the door! (64)
EKG
We went back down to the second floor, back to the vampire feeding area for an EKG. The nurse took me back through the same area I was in earlier, past my still too bubbly nurse who was working on another patient, and into yet another room. I think it was number 18. In that room, she took about 12 freezing cold electrical connection pads and stuck them on my chest. She then hooked each one up to a wire leading back to the machine that would read the electrical signals being generated as my heart beat! She recorded about a minute of activity then yanked the wires off in one shot! That part was fine. Removing those pads, which were now warmed up a bit, was a PAIN. The sticky part ripped out hairs from my chest as they were pulled off. I swear she was grinning as I yelped at this! (66)
Breakfast Time
It was a little after 9:00AM when we were done with this round. Our next appointment was at 10:20AM, so we headed down to the main cafeteria for breakfast. We had eggs, bacon/sausage, and French Toast Sticks. It all looked good, but I suspect that the French Toast (and my sausage) were fine when they left France on the boat. By the time they reached my table, they were made of rubber! Still, it was better than nothing, so we suffered through. There is a better cafeteria in another part of the hospital, but you need to ride the golf-cart over to that place, it is about a mile away through a covered walkway! (69)
We sat there watching the folks walk by. It is always interesting looking at the care-givers and patients and families of those visiting this place. I saw kids, folks who looked like athletes, an army veteran wearing his fatigues, elderly folks, all bonded together by the classic M.D. Anderson wrist band you see everywhere, and this battle against cancer!
Finally, we headed back to the elevator to move up to the sixth floor and an appointment with an Internal Medicine doctor, Dr Vu (not to be confused with Dr. Yu, who we will see next week!) (70)
Internal Medicine
We were in the Internal medicine area about 10 minutes early. This visit is to make sure I am healthy enough for surgery! We waited about 10 minutes before we were called back. (72)
"You will be in room 12." (73)
Another standard waiting room, this one with a huge contoured bed in the middle. We ignored that and sat for about 15 minutes before Dr. Vu walked in. She asked me about a dozen questions about things (74):
"Have you ever smoked?" "No!"
"Do you exercise?" "Yes, but not lately."
"Do you walk up stairs, or ride the elevator?" "Walk, unless it is more than two flights!" (75)
And a bunch of other things. She took out her stethoscope and listened to my heart, and my chest as I breathed.
She told me my blood numbers were great, my bad cholesterol was fine (111), but my good cholesterol was a bit low (28). I told Cheryl that meant I needed to stop for Ice Cream on the way home. My kidney functions was great. Everything looked fine. (77)
In the end she declared me "healthy as a horse!"
I never understood that phrase. My horses were often under the weather, and had to be treated, just like humans!
"Aren't you a bit bored with me, I am too healthy!" "Well it is a nice change from a lot of the folks I see", she said. "It is nice to have a break like this!"
She asked us if we had an appointment with Anesthesia, to make sure they were happy with me for surgery. We did not have such a visit scheduled, and Dr. Vu said she would look into that.
She finally said:
"You are in fine shape for surgery!" "Great, just what I want to hear!" I grumbled! I am not exactly thrilled by this entire turn of events! Still, it is nice to know I am in good shape.
"If it were not for this nasty cancer, I feel fine!" was my parting comment. We thanked her and we were done for the morning! (still 77)
Exploring and Lunch
Once we were done for the morning, we decided to do a bit of exploring. We saw a sign in the elevator that mentioned the "Café in the Park". We never saw that before, so we decided to check it out. It was on the first floor in the main building, so we walked down the all too familiar hallways, into a region we had not visited before. The café was in a huge sky-lit atrium like area with a small food counter and several stores. If felt a bit like a mall. It was pretty nice, and the menu looked OK, but not sufficient to tempt us to eat there. We decided to go to the "Waterfall Cafeteria" in the Mays Clinic, which required riding the golf-cart over. We headed back to an elevator to ride up to the third floor where the cart stop is, and rode the mile over to the cafeteria. (80)
It had not been that long since breakfast, so we kept it light, and enjoyed another hour or so eating and people watching. Our next appointment was at 1:20 with Dr. Lai, the surgeon, and we were both anxious for that one. We left the cafeteria before 1PM, rode the cart back to the main building, then walked over to the elevator that would take us to the tenth floor for our appointment. (84)
Dr Lai (try 1)
We were in the Head and Neck Center about 15 minutes before our appointment. We checked in and went into the waiting area for our usual wait. Dr. Lai is always very busy, so extended waits are not unusual for visits with him. A sign in the area said he was "on time", so we hoped we would be able to get our news quickly. But the appointment time came and went. I pulled out my phone, and looked at my M.D. Anderson "app" where I can see appointments. I saw a new entry that was for the Anesthesia department, and it was scheduled for about a half hour after our meeting time with Dr. Lai. (86)
A nurse came out and told us that Dr. Lai was tied up with another patient and would be late. She suggested that we go on the Anesthesia, then let her know when we got back.
Anethesia
We rode the elevator back to floor six, then checked in to the clinic. We only had to wait about 10 minutes before they called us in. We were led back to room 20, and met with a Physician's Assistant who looked over all of my records, asked a few questions, and declared me ready for surgery. We were there less than a half hour, and were back to wait for Dr. Lai! (90)
Dr. Lai (try 2)
The sign on the wall said that Dr. Lai was about an hour and a half behind schedule. We were almost exactly that late then, so we hoped our wait would not be that long. It was not. We were called in and went straight into room 4 to wait. (92)
And wait.
This is the worst part of the whole visit. The people with answers are going to walk through that door, and we have to sit and wait.
Finally, after about 15 minutes, Dr. Garcia came in (93):
"You are off my Christmas Card List", I told him. "Why?" he asked. "You brought me bad news!"
Well, that is not fair. He was the one tasked with calling me when the biopsy results came back, and he told me about this new adventure. The fact that we caught this early, because of that biopsy, is actually good news, so maybe Dr. Garcia is back on my list after all.
The Plan
He started talking about the surgery that would be happening next week. Basically, they will cut into the area where the biopsy found cancer, and check out the region and the bone in the area. If there is no invasion into the bone, they will cut away the bad tissue, patch things up and be done.
But, if the cancer is in the bone, they will have to cut away that affected bone as well, and things get harder in that case. We will not know how extensive this will be until the surgery is underway.
I, of course, will sleep through all of this!
Dr. Garcia said they had blocked out an eight hour block for the surgery, which surprised me! I was hoping for a ten-minute in and out. They allow that much time "just in case!" (95)
I asked him if the results of the CT scan were available yet, and he logged into the hospital computer and found out that the preliminary report was in. The spot where the biopsy showed cancer was "enhanced" but not bigger. That was good news. But it also said that a lymph node in my neck was "questionable". We have seen that several times before, so it is not an immediate concern, but Dr. Garcia said that they would probably cut into that and check it as well. Great! More work that was not expected (by us, at least!).
What Next?
So, we know not much more than we did earlier. We will have surgery on Tuesday Morning. I will go to sleep with no clue how extensive this procedure will be. It could he minor, or it could be right up there with the previous three surgeries. I may be able to teach next term, or not. I will wake up and find out, but Cheryl will have to wait it out during the entire ordeal. Not fun in either case.
Dr. Garcia went out and after another 15 minutes of waiting, Dr. Lai came in with a "Fellow" (basically a student under his direction). The two of them looked me over, and basically confirmed what Dr. Garcia had told us. Nothing new came of this visit. (96)
I told Dr. Lai to "Be on your best game on Tuesday!". He assured me he would be, and we were done with this visit.
Microcenter
As is our usual habit, Cheryl and I walked out of the hospital, across the walkway to the garage on level three and found our car. We were both worn out from the day. We decided to stop at Microcenter to give me a mental break before heading back to Austin. The stop was short. I looked at a few toys, and we left buying nothing. We turned onto Highway 59 which becomes a toll road out of town. We managed to hit rush hour in Houston, so the drive out of town was slow, even though we were on a toll road. (They ought to give you a discount if the toll road is no faster than the normal road, right?). (97)
We reached the end of the toll road, traveled about five miles up route 99 to I-10, then headed west. We hit our other usual stop at mile post 720 and had dinner at DQ. We picked up a couple of Blizzards and headed home. I called both of my sisters to report what we found out today. Both sisters are flying in on Saturday to stay for the surgery, and keep Cheryl company during my surgery. That much I am really happy about. For the last one, Cheryl was alone for the 11 hours I was in surgery! I do not want to put her through that again! (101)
Cheryl called a few folks as well, and we drove home pretty quietly. We were both a bit "Shell Shocked" by the day, as Cheryl put it! We were home by about 9PM after a grueling day! (102)
Bottom Line
So, here we go again. Round four in this now eight year adventure. We are both praying for good results and minor new modifications, but we are preparing for other outcomes as well. We still reply on our faith in God to help us through, and the hundreds of prayers we keep hearing are coming our way from family, friends, our church, and even occasional strangers who read this blog and check in. It is an amazing boost for both of us to hear all of this.
We are blessed in this, even when it seems dark. A single visit to M.D. Anderson shows you how hard cancer hits some families, and we are in the lucky group. We have the best doctors in the world working to beat this beast down, and all we can do is trust in their skills, and in our God to get us through all of this.
I am not willing to give up, and will work through whatever happens next week.
I will come out as Roie (v5.0).
- Roie (v1.0 - what God and my parents produced! The original.
- Roie (V2.0) - Dr. Scholl's first fix.
- Roie (v3.0) - Dr. Scholl's second fix.
- Roie (V4.0) - Dr Lai's first fix.
- Roie (v5.0) - Dr. Lai's second one, to be completed next Tuesday!
I teach Software Engineering. When a new "version" of software is released, it usually includes new features. Unfortunately, when I wake up as a new "version", I will probably have a few less features. What will be removed will be cancer, plus whatever cancer has eroded in my body. I have to live with what is left. (108)
The odd thing about going through these changes, is that outwardly, I may look and sound different. On the inside, it is still the same old me. Sometimes it is hard to cope with that, I will sit in the still of the night, and feel nothing is different. I am still version 1.0. Then I wake up in the morning, and see the "new" me in the mirror, and it all comes crashing in again. It is hard to live this way, but I am not going to cave into that! My plan is to live the best life I can no matter what version I am on! I am sure that no matter what the doctors may take away, I am a stronger person each time I go through these procedures.
In the meantime, keep those prayers coming, we need them!
Let's see, I stopped counting when I passed 108. That was a lot of Num83rz for one trip!
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