I am very grateful, indeed, that I'm not dead, yet! Lately, I have felt a little bit like the old hapless character in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who keeps crying out "I'm not dead, yet" when one of his relatives is trying to put him on the cart with the rest of the plague victims!
Just over two weeks ago, I received a diagnosis that I probably have an appendiceal adenocarcinoma with tumor cells that are "invasive and moderately differentiated." Appendix cancer! It's very rare (my GP, who has practiced for decades, has never had a patient before with an appendix cancer)! Fortunately, I was quickly able to get admitted to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the best cancer centers in the world, and even more fortunately, my wife Caroline and I live in West University Place, Texas, almost within easy walking distance of the Texas Medical Center and M.D. Anderson!
Further tests have revealed that my appendiceal adenocarcinoma has probably metastasized to some extent, so I'm scheduled to start an aggressive round of advanced chemotherapy right after Christmas. After about 8 weeks of chemo, I'll have another detailed, fine-grained Computerized Tomography (CT) x-ray scan and we'll be able to assess whether the chemotherapy is effective or not. When the tumors have been reduced in size, some kind of surgery may well be advisable. In the best of all possible worlds, the cancer would simply disappear under the onslaught of the chemotherapy and I won't end up with a "semicolon" after all!
I do feel my spirits being buoyed up by all the prayers and positive thoughts and good vibes directed my way! It could definitely be worse--if my tumor hadn't caused mysterious and massive bleeding from my gastrointestinal tract right before Thanksgiving, which rendered me anemic enough to require a transfusion of 6 units of blood (my hemoglobin count got down to about 5.8 grams per deciliter, whereas a normal, healthy strapping lad of my size should have a hemoglobin count of at least 12 to 14 grams per deciliter or higher!), we might never have discovered my appendiceal adenocarcinoma at all!
I had had my first colonoscopy right before Thanksgiving in 2009 (when I was 51) and had had a 1 centimenter-sized pre-cancerous polyp removed from the left side of my colon. It was a good thing that I'd had that colonoscopy--I felt I'd really dodged a bullet then! However, colonoscopies are not able to peer into the interior of the appendix (the orifice where the appendix joins up with the colon all the way over on the left side of the colon in the secum is just too small to admit the scope) and my appendiceal adenocarcinoma could well have been lurking there inside my appendix even then!
Undoubtedly, I'm still in a state of shock and denial about my condition! And while I'm certainly much more conscious than I ever was before of the absolute reality of my own mortality, I'm convinced that my prognosis is actually very good. Lots of people have recovered from diseases that are far more debilitating than my appendix cancer and I intend to survive and thrive, God willing, for many years to come! And if I'm wrong, and the Grim Reaper means to harvest me despite everyone's best efforts to keep me alive, then at least I'm comforted by the knowledge that Caroline and I had the wisdom and the foresight to buy a lot of life insurance for me before I got my diagnosis!
Oh, my gosh, Randy! God's blessings to you and Caroline. Who else could deliver this news with such humor, and make me laugh even while I read it. Our most fervent prayers are with you, friend. Love to you both, Mary and Chester
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Mary and Chester! I've been pondering blogging for quite a while and I thought, "There's no better time than now!" Carpe diem, indeedem! We love you all, too! Seems like ages since we've seen you all! Hope all's well at St. Aug's! Fervent prayers are definitely very welcome, as are tepid prayers and any prayers at all--even warm thoughts and good vibes are coveted! I certainly feel my spirits lifted up! God bless you both, too! Love, Randy and Caroline
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say that conveys even a fraction of the love, anxiety, fear and hope that I have for my only brother? Words seem inadequate to the task, yet you managed to marshall them into an upbeat, matter-of-fact and even humorous note. I think when you and I look back on this uncertain time in years to come, we'll recognize it was your indominable spirit, like the Gauls of Asterix, that was the key factor in defeating the cancer.
ReplyDeleteI asked the University Friends Meeting to hold Thee in the Light, so now you have Quaker Power working for you as well. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers always. Love, Norman & Natasha, Zoe, Annika & Norman IV
Norman, Natasha, Zoe, Annika, & Norman IV, Thanks so much for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers and for asking your University Friends Meeting to hold me in the Light, Quaker Power to the max! Speaking of the indominable Gauls of Asterix, I do often feel at times like Obelix hauling mighty (and quite heavy) minhirs around all day for little, if any, reason at all! We hope you all have a wonderful visit in San Diego, rain or shine! Love, Randy and Caroline
ReplyDeleteDear Randy,
ReplyDeleteYour condition has been a discussion topic among the scattered Rock U. alum e-waves: We are all thinking about you, but so far no one has come up with any decent appendix jokes. Maybe you could remedy that. In any case, merry Christmas to you and Caroline from me and Pat.
Richard and Pat, Great to hear from you all! "Appendix cancer!" itself sounds like the punchline to a joke! "What's more useless than a vestigal appendage like the appendix? Appendix cancer!" I haven't looked up the statistics myself, but my intuition is that appendiceal adenocarcinoma is much rarer than the far more common adenocarcinoma of the colon, otherwise known as "garden variety" colon cancer! It's a particularly sneaky form of cancer since it isn't normally able to be picked up during a standard colonoscopy--the scope is too big to get through the orifice into the appendix! I'm really fortunate in a way that my appendiceal adenocarcinoma was so inept at building its own blood supply that it leaked enough for me to notice the blood loss and the ensuing anemia or that it happened to eat through a fairly good sized blood vessel in the colon near the orifice where the appendix joins up with the large intestines, all the way over and down on the right side of the abdomen!
ReplyDeleteHope you and Pat and the kids had a great Christmas and that you all have a very happy New Year! Keep those thoughts and positive vibes coming!
Randy