“Man plans, God laughs.” Yiddish proverb
An outpatient procedure, CT guided needle biopsy, was scheduled for the Monday morning after Super Bowl.
Informed I would need a ride home since
conscious sedation was involved actually became a proverbial silver lining.
Sooo Super Bowl weekend I broke the news and
the truth to our daughter. I decide to stop trying to be my Dad and be me. Megan
has been at my side every step of the way even as a coconspirator in silence.
Outpatient pre-surgery famous last words #1 –
“Less than 10% chance of anything going wrong” … well, 'I am the 10%' ending up with
a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) and hospitalized overnight with a chest tube
inserted to inflate lung. Waiting to be discharged the next day I watched the last
snow fall of the season from my room window.
Now a ‘we’, we learned the biopsy revealed the
nodule was malignant and it was off to an Oncologist and Thoracic surgeon. They
felt a look and biopsy of lymph nodes would improve treatment options including
maximizing surgery options.
Another outpatient procedure, an Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) Biopsy of Lymph Nodes was scheduled for March 1.
Outpatient pre-surgery famous last words #2 -
“Less than 1% chance of anything going wrong” - well, 'I am the 1%' as
my heart beat plummeted and stopped beating for 5 to 10 seconds during the
procedure.
Revived and admitted to the cardiac unit overnight and
after a thorough cardio work up I was released the next day and informed that
1) I DID NOT have a heart attack and 2) my heart was in excellent condition. (‘Probably
in better shape than the surgical team you freaked out’, quipped one
cardiologist.) … Best medical guess – vasovagal response.
After a night’s sleep at home I returned for a
nuclear cardiac stress test which I rocked and was cleared for lung surgery.
Unanswered – no heart beat for 10 seconds; do I
qualify for zombie status? Or was I just thrown back like an undersized fish? Sorry,
no lights or tunnel to report, I slept through it all.
________________
(to be continued … since its inception Caregivingly Yours entries
have courteously not exceeded 350 words and my ribs ache from surgery just trying to get these out)
previous ...
when caregivers get sick - lung cancer Mar 24when caregivers get sick – do you glow? Mar 25
continued ...
Patrick Leer
BLOGS:
Caregivingly Yours, MS Caregiver @ http://caregivinglyyours.blogspot.com/
Lung Cancer Odyssey @ http://lung-cancer-survivor.blogspot.com/
Caregivingly Yours, MS Caregiver @ http://caregivinglyyours.blogspot.com/
Lung Cancer Odyssey @ http://lung-cancer-survivor.blogspot.com/
Well I'm glad you slept through it all, but I'm sure others monitoring you did not and you did cause a bit of a panic. Someone has to be the one (twice) that makes the percentages; sorry it was you both times. It always amazes me that someone gets diagnosed with something like this and then it takes awhile to get the next step/test done. I'm glad you did confine in Megan; it would be something so hard to go through alone.
ReplyDeletebetty
Yep Betty from what I was told I was the proverbial fire drill in the ER especially since they all had just settled in for a nice super low risk outpatient procedure :) - Yes even more amazing to me about time from diagnosis to doing something proactive. In this entry it's been 76 days of testing and probing since x-ray to nuclear cardiac stress test and cancer has still not been 'attacked'.
DeleteGlad you aced your stress test. Keep rocking it. Just coincidentally, my MS diagnosis occurred on Christmas Eve. Yeah, talk about a mood altering event.
ReplyDeleteJudy and I always thought Patti's first MS exacerbation and hospitalization on Thanksgiving morning was a moment of infamy. 'Christmas Eve' how horrible.
DeleteWell Patrick, this just shows that you are a unique person. But we already knew that. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteThank you Barb and you even know more of the story like what else I was doing Super Bowl weekend.:)
DeleteWOW...a caregivers worst nightmare. I'm so sorry you are dealing with this challenge Patrick. I don't have words. I know what you mean about not having time to even realize you are sick. Then when you do realize it all the questions come to mind. What will happen to those we are caring for? I wish you good health and a speedy recovery Patrick!
ReplyDelete'a caregivers worst nightmare' Amen! Thank you for your kind thoughts
DeleteSleeping through it all is a blessing. ~Mary
ReplyDeleteYep, Mary, both a blessing and maybe just maybe a gnawing suspicion that how do I really know. :)
DeleteYour story is scary, but I'm so glad you're doing all right.
ReplyDeletePeace,
Muff
Caregivers deserve more care than anyone else when they get sick. They assist and care for others that's why in return they also need all the assistance and caring they need.
ReplyDeleteMay God always watch over and bless people like you who unselfishly care for others specially in times like this wherein you're the one in need of care.
ReplyDelete