Thursday, October 16, 2008

The 800lb gorilla is back










After a couple of months or so of not feeling "quite right," I visited a doctor about a month ago. A test of blood given that day(Poor nurse couldn't find a vein in the right arm, so had to go drilling in the left. Fun times!) came back showing elevated liver enzymes. A liver ultrasound a couple of weeks ago showed "fatty invasion." That's a fancy medical term for I'm fat. If my wife weren't such a good cook, I might be able to do something about it.

The Monday following the liver ultrasound, I had a consult with a G.I. doctor (He's a gastroenterologist. Why doctors of his specialty are referred to as G.I. doctors, I'll never know.)who scheduled a colonoscopy for yesterday(October 15th). The procedure(The 4th or 5th time I've had a colonoscopy in the past two years) yielded one small polyp, which has been removed and is now being examined, to look for any signs of cancer.

For those of you new to my blog and unfamiliar with my story, symptoms I had beginning in the fall of 2005, led to a colonoscopy in July of 2006, which revealed one polyp with cancer on the tip and I was diagnosed with stage one colon cancer, from which I was surgically cured on August 21st, 2006. All subsequent tests, including another colonoscopy one year after my resection, showed no evidence of disease.

In cases like mine, a recurrence of colon cancer is very low, percentage wise. I know the numbers are on my side. But still, with results of the biopsy not expected until next week, my family and I get to spend the weekend with that 800lb gorilla(A/k/a worry) looking over our shoulders. Your thoughts, prayers and good wishes will be most appreciated. Once cancer is ruled out, we can then take the next step in finding out what's going on. As always, I'll keep you posted.

4 comments:

Kim Meissner said...

As far as my cooking is concerned, dear, nobody forces you to eat seconds or thirds (or fourths!). So there! Pfffft! The docs are called G.I.'s because they deal with diseases of the GastroIntestinal tract. It sounds so much nicer than "proctologist".

Anonymous said...

Know the feeling the wait is total H--- but know all will be find. My thoughts and Prayes are with all 3 of you

Anonymous said...

As far as my cooking is concerned, dear, nobody forces you to eat seconds or thirds (or fourths!). So there! Pfffft! The docs are called G.I.'s because they deal with diseases of the GastroIntestinal tract. It sounds so much nicer than "proctologist".

Or oh look hunny it's the butt doctor!!!

Rob

Anonymous said...

Kim and John finally found your blog. Really enjoyed seeing your great pictures of Jimmy and the videos are so great!. Glad to hear your test came out good John. We are still doing same old same old here. Hockey is very diferent this year with no one doing it. Looks like you guys are doing well. Just wanted to catch up. Give Jimmy a hug for us. Val & Sherry

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