It was Friday, June 1st when Dr. Shannon finally reached me at nine in the evening to tell me that I had stomach cancer. He had been trying since early afternoon. He said the preliminary report had come in, and that was enough to make the call necessary.
The first indication of
trouble occurred on about March 22, a little over two months before. Mary and I
were in San Diego eating dinner at the hotel. I noticed food went down with
some difficulty, seemed to stick, water helped. I thought maybe I had neglected
to chew. Thereafter the same thing happened at times and I made a point of
chewing more thoroughly. In April I started to have a “heavy” feeling in my
stomach at times. This was mostly a
distraction, not uncomfortable, but definitely different that any sensation I’d
felt before. It was irregular in timing. I cannot say that it occurred right
after eating or followed any set activity - maybe toward evenings. We heard that the stomach flew was going
around, and Mary seemed to have symptoms similar during this period, but lacked
the swallowing problem. The “heavy” stomach sensations decreased by May. I
still felt it once in a while but it was pretty light – haven’t felt it at all
now for several weeks.
On Tuesday, May 8, Mary and I were having lunch at the Lucky Wishbone. My favorite dish is the three-piece-all-white fried chicken (two large wishbones and a breast). Mary usually eats one of the wishbones but declined so I consumed all three. I thought I chewed adequately and didn’t notice any back up, but a big drink of water went down real hard though, and it hurt. Then I started gurgling and turned very pale - scaring the holy heck out of Mary. Water was sitting on top of my chicken and nothing seemed to be going up or down. I spit some into a napkin - clear water and white chicken fragments. Mary wanted to know whether she should call 911. I said “no” and left her to pay the bill while I retreated to the parking lot to spit up more water and chicken. She stopped twice on our way to meet a friend (to walk our dogs), and I spit up more chicken and water. I was alright by the time we got to the dog play area.
I got an appointment with my Primary Doctor, Timothy Miller at Providence Family Medicine Center, and he ordered a Barium Swallow. That revealed an irregular growth at the junction of my esophagus and stomach. That lead to a Upper Endoscopy on May 31 by Dr. Shannon who then ordered a CAT SCAN the following day, and then the call came.
My primary physician looked over the report and concluded I have a Stage One or Stage Two adenocarcinoma. That is an early stage of a type of cancer that starts in the inner lining of the stomach. He said the oncologist could pin-point the staging more exactly. I have an intake appointment with the Oncologist at Alaska Oncology & Hematology the June 25 and the first working appointment three days afterward. I’ll know more then. Meanwhile, Mary and I are going camping for a few days and hope for some sunny weather.
GO TO: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Joe
ReplyDeleteI will be praying for you. Keep up your beautiful writings. I still have copies of some of your early writings and poems if you want them.
Ed Raab