Friday, May 20, 2016

Before leaving the clinic after my visit with Dr. Cancer yesterday, I was sent downstairs to get a blood test and a chest XRay.  Today, I got a phone call from Dr. Cancer’s nurse to give me the results of the blood test.  Without mentioning cancer once, she said, “You have a Vitamin D deficiency!”  I’d actually been told that once before, a year or so ago; I guess I do need to take those supplement pills that are in my medicine cabinet…

That was it.  So, I said, “What about the part of the blood test that you people did for the cancer?  Remember?  The CANCER??”  (Ok so I did not really say that.)

The nurse told me that everything looked fine in that regard.  She explained that if the cancer had spread to other parts of my body, it would leave residue – she actually described it as “cancer poop” – in my blood.  They did not find any poop.  While that is not a confirmation that the cancer has not spread, it’s a good indication of that.  No poop in my blood, yay!

That afternoon, as I was working from home, I decided to be proactive regarding getting an appointment with the plastic surgeon.  Dr. Cancer had recommended a plastic surgeon to me as “the best,” put in a referral for me to see him, and assured me that their office would call to schedule the appointment.  I waited for their call all morning (don’t want to seem TOO eager) and then gave them a call.

While I was on the phone with their scheduler getting the appointment set up – a phone call that took ten minutes, tops – my mother-in-law came by!  Tad had stepped out for lunch, so I was the only one home.  At this point, I had so far told very few people about the cancer; I’d made a carefully considered decision to wait until I have a complete plan before telling most people (more on that later).  So, Murphy’s Law – OF COURSE she came by for ten minutes during the exact ten minutes that I’m on the phone!  She dropped off some fresh homemade croissants (yum, thank you!!!) and left … and then my phone call ended.  I don’t think she overheard much.