Thursday, October 12, 2006

The Bad Lung

Monday was the latest big day. Mom and I got up early and headed to Baylor for my lung biopsy or, as those in the business might say, a CT scan assisted fine needle aspiration. After filling out paper work we found my room and hung out until the nurse arrived with more paper work and a gown. Another nurse came in to access my port then hooked me up with some saline to keep me hydrated during the procedure. We saw the doctor next and discussed the biopsy --- he told me that there was a 25% chance of my lung collapsing during the procedure and that I would only be given a local anesthesia and a mild sedative and not knocked out! Just the idea of being awake during a biopsy (or anything surgical) scares me. Surprisingly, it didn't seem to phase me much --- I'd been fairly calm all morning. I guess this cancer thing has gone on so long that I've grown nonchalant about these hospital things (though getting blood drawn is another story! Those techs can be rough!). The orderly came and wheeled me down to the CT room about nine. CT scans are, for those of you that have never had one, 3D X-Rays and a CT scan machine is essentially a gurney that moves through a giant doughnut. I shuffled off the gurney onto the CT table and moved my arms over my head so they could start scanning me. They moved me through the CT scan three times to get the exact location of the mass. Then they realized that the mass was more accessible from my back so it would be better if I lay on my stomach during the scans. So I rolled onto my stomach being careful not to get tangled in my saline and EKG lines. I went through the CT scan three more times then ... the machine went down. I got back on the gurney so that they could wheel me to another room. Well, someone must have kicked the machine (I wonder if it was running Windows XP?) because it came back on about fifteen minutes later and we were able to stay. Back on the table I went. Three more times through the CT scan. Then they washed my back in green disinfectent and marked the spot where they were going to drill. I got a shot to numb my back and my second dose of sedative. Then the doctor told me to take a breath and hold it. He stuck the needle in my back, punctured my lung and pulled out some cells from the cavity mass. I had told him earlier to get as much of the mass as he could (so I could have Dr Vose confirm the diagnosis --- hey, no more misdiagnosis for me!) so he repeated the procedure two more times. The doctor was able to rule out lymphoma right after he performed the biopsy so it had to be some kind of fungal infection. I could expect the preliminary test results later this week --- probably Thursday or Friday.

Today I had an appointment with an infectious disease doctor to go over the results. Unfortunately the test results weren't back yet. I was concerned about seeing the doctor without the test results (I mean really what was the point? - he wouldn't be able to tell me anything) but made the appointment anyway hoping the results would be in at the last minute. They weren't. So anyway, the doctor, who didn't seem to know much about my case (had he even looked at my file before meeting me?) and had to leave during my appointment so that he could call Dr Holmes for a consult, essentially said that the needle biopsy wouldn't give him enough information to make a diagnosis and that I should have another biopsy to pull out more tissue!!! I feel like I've been through all this before! Then he asked if I'd been to California or the dessert. Well, yes I was in Arizona in June to visit my friends John and Randy. Did I do any camping? (Are you kidding?!) No, but I did tour the botanical gardens and visit Flagstaff. Well, it sounds like I may have brought home a fungal souvenir!

So, I don't know exactly what's going to happen next but, as it stands now, I'll get another biopsy, figure out what kind of fungus you get in Arizona, get rid of it, then after it's gone, head up to Omaha for stem cell transplant. It's looking like a white Christmas in Nebraska!!!

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