The days pass by.
I last wrote May 1st, which seems like yesterday as I sit here and compose this newest blog (or is it "message"). Anyway, I felt great for much of Monday. In the afternoon I began the "prep" for Tuesday's "DBE" (double baloon endoscopy). The "prep" consists solely of complete fasting and the consumption of the foulest potion devised legally by the medical establishment. Trade named "MoviPrep", the dissolved salts and powders are designed to clean out the intestinal tract so that the doctors can observe the inner environs of one's bowels. I was required to drink one gallon of the stuff 8 oz. at a time in fifteen to twenty minute intervals. This probably doesn't sound bad to the uninitiated, but after the fifth cup I was gagging at the THOUGHT of drinking the next round. There is no way to cheat. On top of the MoviPrep, I was required to drink an additional quart of plain water to facilitate the desired "action", which began about midway through the session. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say it is uncontrollable. It is an unpleasant experience overall and I found myself very tired and wanting to curl up into a ball. I think some of the residual anesthetic from the operation kicked in as well and contributed to my exhaustion and "down" feeling. I am told that the anesthetic can take as long as six weeks to be purged from the body.
I was not allowed to drink water after that midnight. The sounds emanating from my stomach that night should have been recorded. I imagined the poor souls in hell could not have bettered the groans and moans I heard coming from my interior regions. With some editing, that recording could have been a bestseller as a Halloween party soundtrack.....imagine... scaring little kids as they came up to the darkened porch.
I looked forward to Tuesday morning with a good bit of trepidation. It had been only 18 days since my bypass surgery and did the people at Cedars really understand that? I kept noting the fact to one-and-all as I registered and proceeded to the "Prep Room". All they had to say was "Really?You look great"...which was kind of frustrating because I secretly hoped that someone would say..."Oh, there is some mistake here!"
The Prep-Room was a beehive of activity with nurses and aids seeming to compete for the patients. One came up and introduced himself as my nurse.....Achilles was his name...I asked him if he had ever been to Paris....he didn't get it. I never saw him again, as was the same for two other nurses who came up earnestly and introduced themselves. Patients were constantly being wheeled out of the room on beds. I don't know why, but I conjured this image of the demanding maws of 16" battleship guns being fed by ramming patients into their breeches as cannon fodder for the rooms down the hall.
I finally met the Doctor and the Anesthesiologist and discussed the procedure. In short order I was wheeled down the hall and transferred to the procedure bed where I was positioned to facilitate the doctor's access to my back end. The next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room. The Anesthesiologist never let me know he was introducing the juice into my vein. Though in a fog, I recognized Sue sitting next to the bed, on-guard as ever. What a saint. To make a long story short I recovered my senses enough to finally go home after eight hours. I was exhausted, my throat and nose hurt from the various hoses that had been inserted through them, and my rear end was very sore.
A "Double-Baloon Endoscopy" utilizes a device designed to probe deep into the intestinal tract. There are two "baloons", one at the front and one in the rear, that help to expand the intestine so that the scope can be pushed further and further as the thing is worked deeper into the tract. The goal of this procedure was to locate the tumor in my abdomen, take a biopsy, and "mark" it for future identification by a surgeon.
Unfortunately, this goal was not achieved because the device could not be pushed beyond a certain point. The Doctor felt the inelasticity of the intestine was due to the tumor gripping the outside wall and securing it to the mesentery. In essence he had reached a dead-end. All he could do is mark that point for future reference by the surgeon. The good news is he did not find any evidence of other tumors or polyps in the stretch he examined. We were disappointed that the goal of the procedure could not be achieved.
The next step is scheduling surgery. That could come as early as the last week in May. Needless to say,
after going through one major surgery, another one scares me, particularly since "complete" recovery and healing from the bypass surgery is around eight weeks. Getting hit by two trucks in six weeks is not pleasant.
I imagine I will have to go through more scans and tests before that.
Hospitals are not happy places. They are full of sick people and their loved ones....all with resigned looks on their faces. I see a lot of fear, pain, despair and depression on the faces of the sick. Not all, but most. It is sad. Many, like me, thought everything was OK just days or weeks ago. Others have been enduring pain and illness for a very long time. I saw a young boy in a wheelchair, head nearly bald, slumped over and very sad. He was around eight years old. I sensed he was a wounded veteran of some personal war he had never declared. Beset by some enemy he didn't know and most certainly didn't know why. But it was part of his life. Maybe he never knew differently.
One of my favorite things is to walk the "estate", as we call it. We have a big yard that is shaded by trees, nearly 95 at last count. We are well into spring as evidenced by the browning hills beyond the back fence.
All the trees are fully leafed. The beds of star-jasmine are flowering and perfuming the air. The potted geraniums and other flowers are in full bloom. There are scents of anise on the wind. It has been warm.
As I round a corner into the backyard I can look out over the Whittier Hills....a patchwork of colors from the
oaks, peppertrees, eucalyptus, and the wild grasses, green and brown. The once-denuded slope immediately behind us is now, at first glance, a bold slash of purest yellow. Wild mustard covers the slope, somewhat to my dismay. I had thrown poppy and lupine seeds over that slope in late winter. Some of the lupine took root, but the poppies were everywhere. I wanted to surprise the hikers who walk the trail above the slope as well as all who delight in wildflowers. I cannot get back there in my present condition, but I fear the mustard has overshadowed the poppies. I'll have to check later in the year.
Butterflies sail through the air, the tiger swallowtail being my favorite. I have noted that there are four very healthy lizards that have staked out territories. I think they recognize me....honestly. Lesser lizards dart about and are chased by the big boys. Why do lizards do pushups?
That's enough for tonight.
Steve
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