Overdue Updates

Let me give a brief timeline of the last week by way of update and explanation of my relative absence from life.

Wednesday 10/1

Got the final biopsy results which surprisingly indicate that the tumor isn’t a GIST, but a leiomyoma – which is a benign, non-cancerous tumor. While the oncology team has been careful to point out that the biopsy only represents a small number of cells in the tumor, this is at least good news.

[For the record I only figured out that this is non-cancerous a minute ago (why don’t they tell us these things?), and Missi hasn’t even heard yet (she’s asleep).]

Thursday 10/2

Woke up at 5:30 am with a temp of 102.2, which climbed by 6:30 am to almost 105.0. Took Tylenol and started a 3-day argument with Missi about going to the doctor’s office. I ended up agreeing to getting blood samples, urine, and chest films taken locally and having the results sent to Baltimore for examination. But mostly I slept as much as I could.

Friday 10/3

More sleep. I don’t think my temp went above 103.5, but I don’t really remember much.

Saturday 10/4

I ate something on saturday, but not much. I felt better; stayed up for a few hours at a time, and my temperature was in a more “normal” fever range of 101-102.5.

Sunday 10/5

Feeling much better, I managed to actually be hungry at some point. My temp never made it past 101.4. I broke down and asked for chinese food in the middle of the night. This marks the first time that I’ve eaten something I’d recognize from my childhood since the operation. As a side note, Shanghai Cafe Chinese Restaurant, has pretty good szechwan shrimp.

Monday 10/6

Pretty much back to normal after what I’m arguing was just a cold. It was pretty grim, but isn’t everything after major surgery? I also stopped wearing my heart-hugger as a matter of course today. I’ll wear it if I expect to need it, but otherwise, I’m flying solo.

Tuesday 10/7

I shopped online, then chilled and realized that I was felling well enough to be bored. I ended up inviting James, Darya, and Scott over to watch the debate. I won’t comment on the debate, but I think we had a decent time.

Wednesday 10/8

Went to lunch with Galileo (sushi), and then stopped by my research group’s weekly staff meeting. Charles drove me home where I promptly collapsed with exhaustion. I guess lunch and a meeting are my limit at the moment.

So that’s the last week. Hopefully the unanswered e-mails and open questions were addressed in the account. I look forward to hearing from (and seeing!) you all before they put me back under the knife. I’ll also keep you updated on the nodule on my lung (going for a CT tomorrow) as I hear more.