April 17th, 2021
This has been ONE heck of a busy week with doctor's appointments and procedures. Last night I was so exhausted that I collapsed and went to bed early. And by early, I mean 7pm. I did not want to talk to anyone nor communicate via social media nor the cell phone. My voice is getting hoarse which is annoying because I love to chat but felt I simply couldn't get my words out.
Thursday's appointments were a tad bit crazy. But, Friday (yesterday) could almost top Thursday!! On the way home from the excruciating PET scan around 3:30pm, a text came across my phone reminding me of an appointment for April 16th, 2021 (Friday, the NEXT day). I'm thinking that I don't recall having made an appointment for Friday for any procedure. I reply to the text asking what procedure? Then I call Amanda and ask her about the appointment. She said she swore we had discussed about this procedure. It's another endoscopy procedure with an ultrasound which will give us a better idea if it is Stage 2/3 or Stage 4. Oh boy, my head is spinning!
I would have definitely remembered that this appointment was made when she told me it was scheduled for *7:30am* the next day! I am not typically a morning person. This was scheduled to be at the University Hospital where I had the short lived appointment with the Thoracic surgeon on Thursday (the one where the doctor was late). Sigh.
I looked all over my notes on My Chart - an online portal for all hospitals and doctors/nurses who are signed up on this. I did not see ANY notes about pre-appointment instructions. Thank goodness that we arrived 20 minutes early. When we arrived at the front desk, we were told that we were to go to admitting to get registered before the procedure because it involves anesthesia. Luckily, all my medical information and updates were already on file. That UW Hospital is similar to a maze! We got registered, my medical band was placed on my right wrist and off we were BACK to the Endoscopy Department.
The gown was laying on the bed with those comfy soft spa-like socks right next to it. I promptly put them on me without being instructed to do so. The nurse came in and had a big smile. "You have done this before, right?" I told the nurse that I just had one done on March 29th when I was diagnosed with Esophageal cancer.
I remember as I was about to go under from the anesthesia, there were folks filing into my room. Originally, there was the one doctor, the anesthesiologist, the nurse and the technician. As three other folks were coming and putting on their clinical gowns, another person came in before the procedure was to begin. I said to them all "I see you all got my memo that the party is IN HERE." They laughed.
...3...2...1... BOOM! Lien IS OUT!
Okay, side note here. This staying on top of my pain and medication exhausts me more and more each day. I am falling asleep here. But, I need to stay awake because Amanda has just landed at the airport!!
It's so hard to find a good time of the day to share my daily journey with you all. I am tired ALL the time. I worry what I might say under the influence of the pain medication. Hmmm...
So in all honesty, I only mentioned that Friday could top Thursday's schedule, that was really not a fair assessment. It was only the going to Admissions to get registered that I thought was going to make Friday a doozy of a day. It wasn't all that bad. Really. We got through Friday...finally.
A wonderful thing happened to me today. A number of my fellow photographers on the KOMO News Legion of Zoom came together to gift me some of the remarkable and beautiful photos to hang on my walls in my bedroom to bring me peace, love and tranquility. This is what I love and cherish. A place where I can escape from the crazy world of doctor's appointments and any upcoming chemo and/or radiation appointments. I am not looking forward to what is ahead of me. But, I am going to do my darnedest to fight the cancer and come up the winner each time.
Thinking of how damned lucky I am to have such wonderful friends and family who are all rooting for me...THANK YOU! I cannot stop thanking you all the time. So get used to me thank you ALL the time!!
YOU. GUYS. ROCK. !!!
Signing off for the evening. I want to spend time with Amanda and Damon before I head to bed. This pain is getting ridiculous. I truly am looking forward to my appointment with Dr. 'Eddie' Marzbani tomorrow to figure out what the treatment plan will be. I don't know how much longer I can withstand this pain.
The pain is that BAD.
Good night.
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