(no subject)
Sep. 17th, 2004 07:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ann_leckieUgh. Colonoscopy.
See, three or so years ago my mom had colon cancer. She waited until she had this huge tumor in her liver to complain that she was "uncomfortable" and I finally dragged the story out of her. She'd been feeling terrible for months, couldn't even wear a bra because it pressed painfully on this swelling she had. She was going to ask a friend (whose sister used to head the GE dept at a local med school) to recommend a good GE, because she doesn't trust most doctors to tell her the straight truth or do anything right, especially without my dad the PhD in pharmacology to tell her whether she was being bull-shitted or not.
Right, I told her, it doesn't work that way. You call the GP now. Hang up the phone and call now. He'll see you first thing in the morning. He'll know who to send you to, and if you don't trust him why is he your doctor?
Anyway, long story short, there was a tumor in her liver the size of a football. Another biggie in her colon. The gods were with us and there was enough liver left to take the whole tumor out, the one in the colon was likewise easy to remove and didn't require a colostomy, and three years later she's still with us. And since colon cancer tends to run in families, I get to have a colonscopy early. Oh, joy.
No, it's not fun. It's the day before that's nastiest. I don't think I'll ever drink Gatorade again. But the procedure itself was a piece of cake, and the doctor tells me I have a healthy colon. Not even a polyp. And that's done for five years.
And the kids are both in school! I spent the beginning of the week dealing with this medical business, and finally yesterday I was able to get down to it--the routine writing schedule. I worked on the short story that just went through Critters, and will again today. It's giving me voice problems, and I've got some structural difficulties too. At least most of the Critters said they liked it, even if most of them said they didn't understand it or couldn't find any trace of a plot. *Sigh*
See, three or so years ago my mom had colon cancer. She waited until she had this huge tumor in her liver to complain that she was "uncomfortable" and I finally dragged the story out of her. She'd been feeling terrible for months, couldn't even wear a bra because it pressed painfully on this swelling she had. She was going to ask a friend (whose sister used to head the GE dept at a local med school) to recommend a good GE, because she doesn't trust most doctors to tell her the straight truth or do anything right, especially without my dad the PhD in pharmacology to tell her whether she was being bull-shitted or not.
Right, I told her, it doesn't work that way. You call the GP now. Hang up the phone and call now. He'll see you first thing in the morning. He'll know who to send you to, and if you don't trust him why is he your doctor?
Anyway, long story short, there was a tumor in her liver the size of a football. Another biggie in her colon. The gods were with us and there was enough liver left to take the whole tumor out, the one in the colon was likewise easy to remove and didn't require a colostomy, and three years later she's still with us. And since colon cancer tends to run in families, I get to have a colonscopy early. Oh, joy.
No, it's not fun. It's the day before that's nastiest. I don't think I'll ever drink Gatorade again. But the procedure itself was a piece of cake, and the doctor tells me I have a healthy colon. Not even a polyp. And that's done for five years.
And the kids are both in school! I spent the beginning of the week dealing with this medical business, and finally yesterday I was able to get down to it--the routine writing schedule. I worked on the short story that just went through Critters, and will again today. It's giving me voice problems, and I've got some structural difficulties too. At least most of the Critters said they liked it, even if most of them said they didn't understand it or couldn't find any trace of a plot. *Sigh*