As I mentioned in the “Hen” post, I was transferred from one hospital to another in order to have my PCP available. It was an ER to ER transfer, and when I arrived they placed me in a corner location. As I was lying there during the wee hours of the morning, there was some sort of loud alternating noise from the ventilation system that was driving me mad! I asked to be moved, and at first the nurse resisted, but she later complied and I could finally get some rest.
The next day I was placed in a private room, and then the parade began. This particular hospital is a teaching hospital, so doctor after doctor came in poking and prodding and asking questions. They performed various tests and the most likely diagnosis at the time was diverticulitis or colitis. It wasn’t until they performed a colonosopy that they concluded it was cancer. I recall watching the computer screen while the doctor took the biopsy. When he was done, he told me that they had to wait for the pathology results to come back before formally diagnosing me, but he said that he had seen enough of these to know that it was cancer. Gasp.
Now it was time for the surgeon to speak with me. It was a day or two before Thanksgiving. He asked if I wanted to wait until after the holiday so I could go home, or preferred to have the surgery right away. Since I was already cleaned out from not eating for days and having the colonoscopy, and the fact that I couldn’t stand the thought of having that thing in me, I told him to take it out now. The next day He performed the operation with no complications. They removed the secum (connection between the large and small intestine) which was mostly consumed by the cancer, and about a third of the colon. After a few of days of recovery I was sent home to await the pathology results.
A few days later as I was lying on my sofa I got the call from my PCP. He told me that they also removed 17 lymph nodes, and that cancer was present in 11 of the 17 lymph nodes. I knew nothing about cancer staging at the time. He told me this was considered stage 3C and what that meant. “Oh my God, I’m dead” is the first thing that came to mind. I could do nothing but lie there speechless wondering what was going to happen next.
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