Even though it is not technically two years since the end of my Tonsil Cancer treatment, my "two-year post-op" CTScan is tomorrow at 7am. As always before a check-up, I awoke with a worrisome sore throat and a sore lump on my tongue. In the past, all symptoms disappeared when I later read the "all clear" results.
I have to take pre-op meds starting at 7pm tonight and another round at 5am - two hours before the scan. The threshold that Cancer patients look for first is the two-year survival mark. Your odds of survival jump dramatically if you can make it that far. At five years, you get to say you beat the devil.
The interesting irony of the test tomorrow is that it is followed 1/2 hour later with a consult with my cardiologist. Long before I was diagnosed with Tonsil Cancer, I had been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation and was taking a bunch of meds to slow down my heart rate and not have it jump around and use up my lifetime minutes prematurely (like sitting in your car in the driveway in neutral with the gas pedal pushed to the floor). Recently, I started having heart rate issues again and the Holter monitor results showed that the meds were no longer working and I was in "A-Fib" all the time again.
S0, I have been scheduled for a Cardioversion next Wednesday to "reboot" my heart with electric shock treatment. My doctor used the "like rebooting" your computer analogy. I asked him "doesn't that really mean turning it off and then back on again and hope that it starts?" He seemed to think that odds were good (99.5%) with a 70% chance of fixing the problem.
It seems that most of my body warranties have lapsed. I am thankful that my Glaucoma is under control, so I can read the results of the other tests....ha.
Still - much to be thankful for and still consider myself the luckiest guy around. Each of these "bumps" just serve me well in reminding me to preserve my "attitude of gratitude".
What if I was dirt poor with no medical insurance?
What if I was alone with no loved ones around?
What if it was 1810 or 1910 instead of 2010?
What if I didn't have a great life to look forward to?
What if I didn't have memories of an overly full lifetime of grand experiences already behind me?
What if I hadn't lived long enough to see my boys turn into men...with a very cool grandson to be proud of?
What if I hadn't asked Lise about her PGE bill nine times as a neighbor in a tiny 4-plex, to have an excuse to meet her?
What if I didn't live long enough to be the father of a beautiful, talented, young woman, who rightly so, was voted "2010 Renaissance Woman" at a recent summer camp?
What if I didn't live long enough to establish an wonderful adult relationship with my baby sister and come to the realization that she is one of my treasured best friends?
Regardless of the results of the next week's adventures, I feel I have already won the race to have a great life...I am in the icing phase now anyway.
Song for today:
Feeling Good....Adam Lambert
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