They called it off.
Everything was moving along toward getting into surgery as you've got to do all the pre-flight routines. Then she asked me if I had taken my blood pressure meds today and I told her I had not. She said, boy, I'll say but she wouldn't say how high it was. I was just thinking, nooooo, don't wave it off as then we will just have to do this all over again. She didn't wave it off and we went for a CAT scan to determine what difference exists between now and scans taken starting in December and February.
The surgeon spoke with me after the CAT scan and he believed there was a high probability my lung would collapse (i.e. pneumothorax) if he went ahead with the procedure. This was compounded by the intended node being in a location in the upper lung that would be difficult to reach. The difference between previous CAT scans and the one taken today were judged not to be of enough significance to warrant proceeding as it was also judged there would be too much risk from the procedure. These points were reviewed with me and I decided that proceeding would be foolhardy. It was my decision to make and I have no second thoughts on it. My general thinking is if the cancer is not aggressive then why be aggressive with it, particularly if there is a high risk in doing that.
The head trip that comes from this is kind of unusual. I thought for sure I would be holding a bottle of pills for chemo or I'd have an appointment for radiation right about this time. That it suddenly turns around to, well, we will just keep an eye on it is disturbing and relieving at the same time. There were several amused, bemused moments on the way back from the hospital that went 'what the fuck just happened.' You have seen multiple references to Terry Gilliam in my articles and, guess what, here's another one.
Note: I'm being more exhaustive about this than would otherwise be my inclination but lots of people are in a similar situation and any information that doesn't come from a WebQuackDoc trying to make a fast buck could potentially be of value.
I have no reservations about the handling of this by the VA although the resource shortage is obvious in that the first indications of cancer were in December and it's not until June that there's an attempt at a biopsy. That's not a failure in VA, that's a failure in funding and in management. Every single person I have met has been charming, highly-motivated, and highly-capable. I don't have any reservations whatsoever about the quality of the care.
Note: Referring to Terry Gilliam is not a cheap dust-off for something I don't know how to explain. Gilliam's surrealism, in my view, makes him a master of things making sense even when they don't seem to make any sense.
Everything was moving along toward getting into surgery as you've got to do all the pre-flight routines. Then she asked me if I had taken my blood pressure meds today and I told her I had not. She said, boy, I'll say but she wouldn't say how high it was. I was just thinking, nooooo, don't wave it off as then we will just have to do this all over again. She didn't wave it off and we went for a CAT scan to determine what difference exists between now and scans taken starting in December and February.
The surgeon spoke with me after the CAT scan and he believed there was a high probability my lung would collapse (i.e. pneumothorax) if he went ahead with the procedure. This was compounded by the intended node being in a location in the upper lung that would be difficult to reach. The difference between previous CAT scans and the one taken today were judged not to be of enough significance to warrant proceeding as it was also judged there would be too much risk from the procedure. These points were reviewed with me and I decided that proceeding would be foolhardy. It was my decision to make and I have no second thoughts on it. My general thinking is if the cancer is not aggressive then why be aggressive with it, particularly if there is a high risk in doing that.
The head trip that comes from this is kind of unusual. I thought for sure I would be holding a bottle of pills for chemo or I'd have an appointment for radiation right about this time. That it suddenly turns around to, well, we will just keep an eye on it is disturbing and relieving at the same time. There were several amused, bemused moments on the way back from the hospital that went 'what the fuck just happened.' You have seen multiple references to Terry Gilliam in my articles and, guess what, here's another one.
Note: I'm being more exhaustive about this than would otherwise be my inclination but lots of people are in a similar situation and any information that doesn't come from a WebQuackDoc trying to make a fast buck could potentially be of value.
I have no reservations about the handling of this by the VA although the resource shortage is obvious in that the first indications of cancer were in December and it's not until June that there's an attempt at a biopsy. That's not a failure in VA, that's a failure in funding and in management. Every single person I have met has been charming, highly-motivated, and highly-capable. I don't have any reservations whatsoever about the quality of the care.
Note: Referring to Terry Gilliam is not a cheap dust-off for something I don't know how to explain. Gilliam's surrealism, in my view, makes him a master of things making sense even when they don't seem to make any sense.
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