That is, an endoscopic ultrasound to see whether the meds I've been taking have affected the ulcer.
We (and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Med Center/Keene) have this all down to a science. I was in and out in two hours, with the procedure itself taking less than ten minutes. The rest of the time was prep and recovery. The oncology nurses had told me to get as hydrated as possible so putting in the IV wouldn't be so difficult, but the OR nurse was annoyed that I'd finished my coffee at 7:15 when the instructions had clearly said 7:00 at the latest (two hours of empty stomach needed). In any case, my veins cooperated, and the anaesthesiologist didn't seem upset, because he started knocking me out before 9:00.
Good stuff, too. I was out like a light, and came to without grogginess, though I seem to have given Jerry quite a lecture on the three ways to knit sleeves in the round and why Magic Loop and four needles isn't as good as two circs. He didn't seem too disturbed by this.
Dr. Krishna says the ulcer has shrunk to 1/4 its original size. Yay! and double yay! that I can discontinue the pill that I was supposed to take four times a day and kept forgetting. I'm just on the other one, twice a day, and I can manage that.
So good news all around -- except that when I asked Jerry about my babbling about sleeves, he said, "You were very clear. There are three ways to knit sleeves: one has a very long needle, one has a lot of little needles, and if they don't work you send the sleeves off for your daughter to finish."
Was that what I said? I must have been groggier than I thought.
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What do you do when you find out you have pancreatic cancer? Tell everyone about it, of course. Why "green bananas?" Because we keep buying them as a sign of faith in the future. What do we need from you? Good thoughts and the occasional bad joke.
3 comments:
You must have been groggy. You're the one I send sleeves off to to finish when I can't figure them out. I love that you gave Dad a knitting lesson though in your anesthesia-induced haze. Anyway, very happy to hear about the ulcer shrinkage. Well done.
One problem with certain ills such as ulcers is that they are circular. A person could end up worrying that, if they worry too much, they might get an ulcer.
Similarly, having an ulcer, or a tendency to get one, could give a person something to worry about, thereby increasing their chance of actually getting an ulcer.
What is the answer? If the doctor says, "Don't worry so much," this then puts more pressure on the patient, who will worry that he might worry, thereby ruining his therapy.
Worry is a very insidious and unstoppable evil, and I am starting to worry that I might not be able to explain it very well.
Wish I knew your friend Blue Spruce--classy! What's a Magic Loop, by the way? Wonderful news about the ulcer--you must not be worrying much. Great!
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