Please accept my apology for leaving you all hanging. The pressures of helping to run a business, keeping up with all of the landscaping I’m responsible for (especially with diminished physical capability) and the sheer joy of returning to life have had me blocked beyond belief. Under normal circumstances, my brain lights up when I touch the keys on my MacBook Pro. Much like me, my “S” key is beginning to show some wear. Am I living my life too safely? Command-S is the keyboard command to save. Caution has been at the very front of my consciousness AC. After Cancer.
In the last post I described the adrenal microwave ablation procedure performed by Dr. Nishant DeQuadros and his team and anesthesiologist, Dr. Mark Pinosky. In order to assure us that no heart muscle damage or other cardiac damage had occurred with the 300/200 blood pressure spike during the procedure, Dr. DeQuadros ordered a full cardiac workup. Echocardiogram, treadmill test and lab reports later, the good news is that I suffered no damage from the spike in blood pressure.
So, all that was left was a follow up scan called an arterial phase CT scan with contrast. I had that scan done last Thursday, October 2 and was happy to have been able to have an immediate consultation with Dr. DeQuadros after the scan.
During that meeting he told us that he was looking for a short list of things (margin around tumor and adrenal gland, margin around pancreas and color (degree of dark shading) of fat layer around the site of the ablation) that would indicate how successful the procedure had been. He scored a trifecta with excellent skills, a great team and an anesthesiologist who reached for and got his hands on exactly the right mix of medications and mad skills to keep me from either cardiac arrest or stroke while the procedure was being completed under very scary and trying circumstances.
The tumor appears to be dead. The adrenal gland has been banished to a growing ash heap of my internal organs. Pitched into the black ether of my insides. A perfect gut shot, suitable for TV replay on The Medical Channel (if there is such a thing). My joints ache. I don’t move as well as I used to. My hair appears to be holding on, but irrevocably grey. Parts of my feet are numb. I get completely freaked out sometimes by a phantom pain, worrying that something is knocking on my cancer door again.
In spite of all this stuff, I could be arguably NED again, for more times now than I can remember. If I could live with all of these and maybe even a few more encumbrances for another 30 years, I’d take it and run! Chances are, we haven’t seen the last of this ugly disease. I’m ready for the son of a bitch, if it decides to come at me again.
Meanwhile, I will get to witness the marriage of our eldest son on October 25, wish my father a happy birthday on October 23 and get tuned up for my favorite holiday when we host another Thanksgiving Day dinner. With just a few modifications, life could really be good for us next year.