Countdown to surgery

There have been many times that I've had to compare my personal situation to others who were fighting any sort of battle with a medical problem, and a few minutes in any hospital or doctor's office waiting room usually gave me good reason to consider myself fortunate on balance. With this in mind I look back on that 2 1/2 weeks between being told surgery was needed and the event itself. And I would also feel grateful many times that I was made to wait just three weeks from diagnosis until surgery. We certainly hear a lot of gloomy and critical talk about our health care system in Canada, some of it justified, but I was and still am grateful to live in our wonderful country that has such a system. And, I was about to cash in big time against all the money that was put into the system on my behalf over the years. Cha-ching!

To be honest, I don't remember too much about this time except for a few milestone events. There was a lot of staring out windows, busywork around the house, and trying to make arrangements to suspend the operation of my piano business for an uncertain period of time. I guess I watched a lot of movies. But the big ball of fear was starting to recede as preparation got underway. I had a purpose, a mission, and as crazy as it sounds, I think I felt energized because something exciting was happening to me. This idea really messed with my head, and I spent many an hour wrestling with it. What the hell was wrong with me? But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar I guess. I forgave myself and moved on.

Remember Dr. A, my family doctor? I had been in her care for about 12 years by this time: I had physicals; she sent me to a specialist for knee surgery after I wiped out on my bike, and another time to have hernias repaired; I had warts on my foot; there were colds and flus and checkups for Madeline and various other minor things over the years. But now for the first time things were really serious, and as I went to see her for my pre-op physical, it occurred to me that she may have saved my life.

We had a nice discussion during the appointment. I had just had my annual physical a few weeks prior so the whole thing was really a formality, and there was a bunch of paperwork. So we talked and she was genuinely caring and compassionate toward me. I tried to imagine how many other patients she had who had problems as serious as mine or worse, and how often she had had to tap in to some part of her that allowed her to feel for them. How many times had she had to deliver the worst possible news to loved ones or patients? It must be exhausting.

When we were done I searched for the words to express my deepest gratitude but just ended up asking for a hug instead. Tears welled in my eyes when she said yes.

I also remember starting to feel pretty upbeat by this point in time. Things were happening and I was able to take action and move things forward. There were a whole bunch of people doing things for me, many of them strangers expressing their sincere best wishes. I felt their support and strength. Dr. B told me chances for a cure were 'very good'. The word 'cure' hadn't even crossed my mind up to that point. It was starting to seem that even though I had been unlucky to get the disease in the first place, I had a real shot at a relatively good outcome. It was as good as it could be under the circumstances.

Toshiba CT Scanner
Before I knew it, it was the week prior to my surgery. I was to go to the hospital on Monday, June 7 for a colonoscopy, and surgery would be the next day. Sometime that week I went for my first ever CT scan. Neat-o! It's like a great big donut on its edge that you slide into, and I guess the result is kind of 3D x-ray image, and in my case the goal was to check my entire abdomen for any other signs of cancer. I've always been a sci-fi nerd so it looked pretty cool to me, right out of the USS Enterprise or something. One funny thing about the experience is that they have to inject some kind of dye into you intravenously, and it makes you feel like you have wet yourself. There's also a kind of funny taste.

At home that weekend we really just took it easy. The Sunday would be consumed by my 'bowel preparation' for the colonoscopy, and I really don't remember, but I think we had a nice big meal on Saturday, or maybe we went out somewhere. Hopefully I had cheese covered filet mignon wrapped in peameal bacon and topped with poutine and whipping cream, followed by fudge cake, Cognac and a big fat cigar. Yeah, that's it.

This brings us to the colonscopy prep at home on Sunday, which makes my suppository story seem like a day at Disneyland. Where to begin? OK, so the facts are that for a colonoscopy, they inspect the entire length of your lower intestine with a medical imaging device, or as Billy Connolly says, "they shove a television camera up your arse". This part of your anatomy is about 5 feet long and the preparation is meant evacuate the entire passage so the doctor is looking only at tissue and not any waste or undigested food. Colonoscopy is a routine screening test for many things, and now they are recommending that anyone over age 50 get one to screen for colon cancer. In the event, your entire digestive tract from your stomach on down is evacuated. In my case, Dr. B was going to be looking for other tumours or polyps.

I've tried to describe this in cold medical terms to the best of my ability, but the reality of going through it is more like a horror movie that happens in the toilet bowl. 'Alien' with ka-ka.

My preparation would consist of drinking a large quantity of something with the jaunty but somehow inappropriate name of Colyte (actually it could be worse: a similar product is called Golythly, in what has to be the biggest un-truth in advertising ever), a 'colon lavage', about the size of a jug of windshield washer fluid, followed by a small bottle of Citromag laxative, just for good measure I guess. My wife and daughter laughed out loud when I came home from the pharmacy and plopped down this big white jug of fun on the counter. This whole stoicism thing seemed to have some kind of evil twin.

It's pretty hard to describe the experience that follows, but imagine those blast off engines on the space shuttle firing poo. For four hours. It is without question the mother of all shits. And I have to tell you, there is some indescribably nasty stuff going on in your digestive tract, that we thankfully don't have to know anything about most of the time. This video of comedian Billy Connolly describing his colonoscopy is hilarious but quite accurate (R rated - beware).

My loving, supportive and stoic family and I laughed and laughed at the absurdity of it all every time I sprinted for the bathroom. Tears of laughter were on my face even as I was on the toilet, literally holding on for dear life.

I had a good sleep and went in to the hospital for the colonoscopy in pretty good spirits but some understandable concern simply based on heading into the unknown. The lead up to the procedure went without a hitch; the signing in, the paperwork, changing into those fabulous gowns and paper slippers they give you, and waiting on a stretcher in the pre-op area where it was so cold I could almost see my breath. Looking around this area was instructive for me. It's the 'endo' area, or endoscopy, where they do a few different procedures like colononscopy and EDG, which is like a colonscopy only down your esophagus. So there were plenty of other patients that morning getting a look up the rear or down the hatch. Gee, that guy looks pretty good; I wonder if he had cancer? That lady not so much. And this little kid here is having both a colonoscopy and EDG today, the poor little guy. He was there with his teddy in his wee hospital gown and smiled shyly at me from behind his mother's skirt. I wanted to know everyone's story.

The nurses were wonderful, and I marveled at their skills of being caring and warm, but also all business at the same time.

For these types of procedures they usually do what they call a conscious sedation, which is a way of saying you're knocked out but they can rouse you out of it if need be. I had my IV all hooked up and was wheeled in to the operating room right on schedule, and looked around at all the equipment. No wonder hospitals are so expensive. I was kind of surprised to see Olympus makes a bunch of the imaging equipment but I guess it makes sense given their core expertise as a company. Dr. B was there and greeted me cheerfully and then took me through what was going to happen.

They have you lay on your left side for the procedure, with the doctor and nurse behind you, which means that all of us face the monitors that show the view from the camera that goes up your rear. Everything was turned on, and at one point Dr B laid the camera down on the stretcher behind me. I don't want to tell you what I saw, but let's just say I got a view of myself that would be impossible under normal circumstances. I managed a little chuckle as I imagined the sun shining out of there.

Dale has often told me that many surgeons, especially some of these GI guys, are sort of techno-nerdy in a way when it comes to the human body and some of the equipment they get to use. As they started the IV drip of the anesthetic, Dr. B thought it might be neat to show me my tumour before I went to sleep. I looked but I wish I hadn't.

I woke in the recovery area later and was told again to lie on my left side and pass gas, because part of the procedure is for them to kind of inflate you so they can have a look. In due course I was passing wind at a rate suitable to propel a sailboat, and was laughing again as the 'choir' of other patients did the same. I thought it might be fun to try to get a little 'call and response' action going, but thought better of it. Can you imagine being a nurse in there and listening to that all day? They don't get paid enough.

A while later Dr. B came to my bed and told me the best possible news: neither the colonoscopy nor the CT scan showed any other signs of trouble, not even any other polyps. We would be dealing only with the one tumour, and things were looking promising for a good outcome. Why couldn't I be one of those 73% of people that survive? Someone has to, right? Right?

It had been a physically and emotionally draining couple of days, but somehow I went to bed in good humour on the eve of a defining moment in my life, and to my utter surprise, I wasn't afraid.

Goodnight moon.


14 comments:

  1. You nailed the Colonoscopy experience to a T. I've described it as having your own Discovery Channel for your ass and you get to watch while you're high. They had me "awake" for the whole thing and, apparently, medical grade dope makes me chatty. I'm sure I wasn't as funny as I thought I was but they all laughed politely. It's the price you pay for getting to shove ten feet of optical cable up my butt. This is the first time I've gone into this level of detail with anyone else except Barb but it feels like the right forum. Can't wait to hear your Morphine stories....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very well written, The thing i would like to discuss with you is that Biopsy also accomplish during Colonoscopy treatment, in which a blood tissue sample is taken from the microscopic examination. The camera which is used during procedure on the tip of scope sends internal images on the monitor area which helps the doctor to review the inside of Colon. This procedure can usually takes 30 minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for sharing!! My Aunt diagnosed with Bowel cancer in 2015. It was a very tough time for her. Now she is cancer free.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS WITH HIS HERBAL PORTION I WAS COMPLETELY CURED FROM BREAST CANCER.
    I'm here again to appreciate. DR WILLIAMS God will always continue to bless you more abundantly, for the good works you done in my life, I will always keep on writing good and posting my testimonies about you on the Internet, I’m Jessica from Orlando, Florida. I was tested breast cancer positive, I saw a blog on how DR WILLIAMS cured people with his herbal portion, i did not believe in natural medicine but i just decided to give him a try, I contacted him,and explain my situation to him,few day later he sent me the herb, after taking doc Williams herbal medicine for few week i also got my healing with his herbal portion, i am so happy. If you have any type of cancer problem ,you can contact him on Drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product,i hope this testimony also help some one out there .

    ReplyDelete
  5. As a sign of gratitude for how my wife was saved from CANCER, i decided to reach out to those still suffering from this.
    My wife suffered cancer in the year 2013 and it was really tough and heartbreaking for me because she was my all and the symptoms were terrible, she always complain of abnormal vaginal bleeding, and she always have pain during sexual intercourse. . we tried various therapies prescribed by our neurologist but none could cure her. I searched for a cure and i saw a testimony by someone who was cured and so many other with similar body problem, and he left the contact of the doctor who had the cure to cancer . I never imagined cancer. has a natural cure not until i contacted him and he assured me my wife will be fine. I got the herbal medication he recommended and my wife used it and in one months time she was fully okay even up till this moment she is so full of life. cancer. has a cure and it is a herbal cure contact the doctor for more info on drwilliams098675@gmail.com on how to get the medication. Thanks for reading my testimony.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cancer is a deadly disease that has become one of the leading causes of death in today’s world. The prevalence of cancer has reached such scary proportions that today every family has one or more member afflicted with this disease.

    best cancer surgeon

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Dr Williams for everything he have done in my life. I have been in tears for so many years now, having found that my wife is suffering from breast cancer, lesion after some years of being under extreme stress., . I spent 24 hours freaking out and finally calmed down after reading some testimony on here about Dr Williams herbal medicine to cancer . The moment came and I mumbled out to my wife about Dr Williams product (with a few tears) and she was AMAZE – . i was so mush worried about her health, been free from this illness, that was how will order for Dr Williams product on line , after my wife finish taking Dr Williams medicine for just within a period of one month. Will went to the doc together who confirmed that she was cancer free.
    Thank you again for being upfront, truthful and taking this pain away from my family for more information about his product you can email him on drwilliams098675@gmail.com i hope you can also help other terrified people in a similar situation.

    ReplyDelete

  8. WHAT A GREAT MIRACLE THAT I HAVE EVER SEE IN MY LIFE. My names are Robert Mary
    I’m a citizen of United Kingdom, My younger sister was Sicking of
    breast cancer and her name is Robert Jane, I and my family have taking
    her to all kind of hospital in UK still yet no good result. I decided
    to go to the internet and search for cancer cure so that was how I
    find a lady called Sarah peter she was testifies to the world about
    the goodness of a herbal man who has the root and half to cure all
    kind of disease and the herbal email was there. So I decided to
    contact the herbal man for my younger sister help to cure her breast
    cancer. I contacted him and told him my problem he told me that I
    should not worry that my sister cancer will be cure, he told me that
    there is a medicine that he is going to give me that I will cook it
    and give it to my sister to drink for one week, so I ask how can I
    receive the cure that I am in UK, he told me
    That I will pay for the delivery service. The courier service can
    transport it to me so he told me the amount I will pay, so my dad paid
    for the delivery fee. two days later I receive the cure from the
    courier service so I used it as the herbal man instructed me to,
    before the week complete my sister cancer was healed and it was like a
    dream to me not knowing that it was physical I and my family were very
    happy about the miracle of Doctor so my dad wanted to pay him 5
    million us dollars the herbal man did not accept the offer from my dad,but I don't know why he did not accept the offer,he only said
    I should tell the world about him and his miracle he perform so am now
    here to tell the world about him if you or your relative is having any
    kind of disease that you can't get from the hospital please contact
    Dr.ogididanspelltemple@gmail.com or WhatsApp him +2347067393105 for the cure, he will help you out
    with the problems.To get more information you can message me via email robertmary8947@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I recently have some difficult conversations and I did what a lot of people do when they want to know how to do something. I googled it. I came across Dr Williams herbal medicine on YouTube so many people thanking him about his good work. I also have lungs cancer. I wasn’t running all over God’s creation with every man I could find but here I am. I have felt bad about myself for so many years now because of my cancer status. I obviously still have some self-accepting to do but I want to thank Dr Williams for everything he have done for my family ,after taking Dr Williams medicine i was completely free from lungs cancer within one month of usage, I think what you are doing is so admirable. you have helped me a lot! I want to definitely reach out to you and thank you for your amazing work. You are a good person, and an extremely talented man. You have helped millions with your herbs, and have really inspired me,and i pray you still continue doing the good work.you can also email him on drwilliams098675@gmail.com for help

    ReplyDelete
  10. mCRC can be avoided if detected at an early stage when the cancer is still found within the large bowel.
    Coloncancer

    ReplyDelete
  11. I want to share with you all on how Dr Itua saves my life with his powerful Herbal medicines, I was diagnosed of Oral/Ovarian Cancer which i suffered from for 5 years with no positive treatment until when My son came to me in the hospital when i was laying down on my dying bed waiting for god to call out my name to join him in heaven.
    My son was so excited that very day he came across Dr Itua on Blogspot, we decided to give him a try although we Americans are so scared to trust Africans but i really have no choice that time to choose life in between so we gave a try to Dr Itua Herbal medicines, god wiling he was a good man with a god gift. Dr Itua send us the herbal medicine it was three bottles. I take it for three weeks instructor and this herbal medicines heal me, cure my Oral/Ovarian Cancer completely I have been living for 9 months now with healthy life no more symptoms.
    I'm sponsoring Dr Itua in LA Advert on Cancer patent seminar which my son will be participating too and other patent Dr Itua has cured from all kind of human disease, also if you are sick from disease like,Epilepsy,Breast Cancer,Prostate Cancer,Throat cancer,Thyroid Cancer,​Uterine cancer,Fibroid,Angiopathy, Ataxia,Arthritis,Brain cancer,Hiv,. Vaginal cancer,Herpes,Colon-Rectal Cancer,Chronic Disease.Amyotrophic Lateral Scoliosis,Brain Tumor,Fibromyalgia,Fluoroquinolone Toxicity,​Multiple myeloma,Tach Diseases,Leukemia,Liver cancer,
    ​Esophageal cancer,​Gallbladder cancer,,Bladder cancer,Gestational trophoblastic disease,Head and neck cancer,​Hodgkin lymphoma
    ​Intestinal cancer,Kidney cancer,Hpv,Lung cancer,Adrenal cancer.Bile duct cancer,Bone cancer,Melanoma,Mesothelioma,​Neuroendocrine tumors
    Non-Hodgkin lymphoma,Cervical Cancer,​Oral cancer,Hepatitis,Skin cancer,Soft tissue sarcoma,Spinal cancer,Pancreatic Cancer, Stomach cancer
    ​Testicular cancer,
    Syndrome Fibrodysplasia Ossificans ProgresSclerosis,Alzheimer's disease,Chronic Diarrhea,Copd,Parkinson,Als,Adrenocortical carcinoma Infectious mononucleosis,​Vulvar cancer,Ovarian cancer,,​Sinus cancer, Here Is The Wonderful Healer Contact. Name_ Doctor Itua, Email Contact: drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com, Phone/WhatsApp: +2348149277967

    ReplyDelete
  12. My name is hoover, my 18 years old daughter, Tricia was diagnosed of herpes 3 years ago. ever since then,we have been going from one hospital to the other. We tried all sorts of pills but all efforts to get rid of the virus was futile. The blisters kept on reappearing after some months. My daughter was making use of Acyclovir tablets 200mg. 2 tablets every 6hours and fusitin cream 15grams. and H5 POT. Permanganate with water to be applied 2x a day but all still show no result. So I was on the internet some months back, to sought for any other means of saving my only child. just then, i came across a comment on dr imoloa herbal treatment and decided to give it a try. i contacted the him and he prepared some herbs and sent it to me together with guidelines on how to use the herbs through DHL courier service. my daughter used it as directed dr imoloa and in less than 14days, my daughter regained her health.. You should contact Dr imoloa today directly on his email address for any kind of health challenge; lupus disease,  mouth ulcer,  mouth cancer, body pain, fever, hepatitis A.B.C.,   syphilis,  diarrhea,  HIV/AIDS,  Huntington's Disease,   back acne,  Chronic renal failure,   addison disease,  Chronic Pain,   Crohn's Disease,   Cystic Fibrosis,  Fibromyalgia,   Inflammatory Bowel Disease,  fungal nail disease, Lyme Disease, Celia disease, Lymphoma, Major Depression,  Malignant Melanoma,   Mania,  Melorheostosis,   Meniere's Disease,  Mucopolysaccharidosis , Multiple Sclerosis,  Muscular Dystrophy,  Rheumatoid Arthritis, Alzheimer's Disease, parkison disease, vaginal cancer, epilepsy,  Anxiety Disorders, Autoimmune Disease,   Back Pain,  Back Sprain,   Bipolar Disorder,  Brain Tumour,  Malignant,   Bruxism, Bulimia,  Cervical Disk Disease, cardiovascular disease, Neoplasms, chronic respiratory disease,  mental and behavioural disorder,     Cystic Fibrosis,   Hypertension, Diabetes, asthma,  Inflammatory autoimmune-mediated arthritis.  chronic kidney disease, inflammatory joint disease,  impotence,  feta alcohol spectrum,  Dysthymic Disorder,   Eczema, tuberculosis,  Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease.  and many more; contact him on email- drimolaherbalmademedicine@gmail.com./ also on  whatssap-+2347081986098.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for sharing so much useful and unique information, it is useful for all. If you want to know more about breast cancer and its treatment.

    Cancer Doctor in Delhi | Best Breast Cancer Surgeon in Delhi | best breast cancer doctor in Delhi | Breast Cancer Surgery in Delhi | Breast Cancer Treatment in Delhi

    ReplyDelete