Tangboy's Blog

Yup thats right everyone, i dun got myself some foreign substance in my system. i guess i could blame it on my father and his side of the fam, but that isn’tt very nice so it’ll try to be civilized. to sum up all that has happened you can read the professional story at Georgia-Cumberland Conferences web site or it’ll just copy and paste my original family/friend email that is, well, hilarious in a sadistic way with misspellings that drive Amy (my better half) nuts! so here is my email’s

Well life this past week or so has been interesting. some of you have heard my delima so to speak and some of you haven’t so i’ll start at the beginning to shed some light on my predicament. about 3 weeks ago i went bouldering and did some pretty strenous stuff (ya know, climbing holds the size of a rung on a ladder is challenging!) and was pretty sore the next few days and on into the next week.

well i thought it odd that my stomach was still sore and in pain and I noticed some swelling on the left side of my pelvice. i was also having some night sweets. basically i would wake up and the sheets would be soaked thoroughly not just damp. so i would have to move them and sleep on something else or wait for about 45-and hour for them to dry thus loosing sleep.

well last thursday i got fed up with it and went to the doctor to check on a possible hernia and was amazed to find that i didn’t have one (some of you know i already have delt with a hernia when i was about 8 so I thought i was up to par on this idea). the doctor then proceeded to tell me that i had a mass and given my family history wanted me to get it checked.

ok family history time:
- aunt verna (dads aunt) died about 2 christmas seasons ago due to T-cell lymphoma
- granddad (dads dad) has had skin cancer
- grandma (dads mom) died from colon cancer (even though she was a vegetarian!)
- granddads (dads dad again) other sister died of ovarian cancer
- granddads (again, dads dad) father died of some cancer due to his job as a printer – all the guys he worked with got it or something similar

so the doctor scheduled me to have an ultra sound (am i pregnant?) today monday. i went to my appoinment… had that funny jelly stuff splurted onto my belly (which was dang cold!) and then watched with amazment as we searched for the sex of my child (just kidding there is no child!)

the tech showed me the different things in my belly and took some shots of the mass and some other problematic things then went to call my doctor about a possible CT scan (CAT scan basically stick ya in that x-raying coffin thing) because these looked pretty rough. he also had another doc come in and check my belly and see the different things in there and she agreed that i should have the CT scan.

the tech was funny because he knew i hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in about 24 hours so he started chuckling at me when i agreed to the CT scan. he said something along the lines of boy you’ll at least get something to drink that Berium is good tasting stuff then he winked and walked out of the door. now quick flash back for me last time i heard the word berium it was in refernce to a Berium Enema no not the singer the thing they stick in your behind and pump ya full of this white stuff (berium) to provide a contrast for x-rays. so i am freaking out and wondering how this helps my thirst problem.

i go over to the CT scan place (with amy since she just got off work and works at that hospital) and am provided with about a 32-48 oz cup of white stuff. am told to drink that fast and come back in two hours. ever had berry mountain berium? never ask for it… i think i would have prefered the enema!

come back drink some more berium get an iv (first one i haven’t gotten light headed over) and am tossed on this plank that moves through this donut thing while it takes pics. am flooded with this radioactive dye and am tossed around in this donut hole.

get a call from the doc on the way home telling amy that i have a few symptoms hes worried about…
1. enlarged lymph nods in my pelvice
2. enlarged spleen
3. enlarged lymph nodes between my heart and lungs

so amy asks him what he thinks it all is and he says hes not totally sure but there is a high possibilty that its lymphoma. (thats right same thing A. Verna died from 2 years ago. well, hers was t-cell, and she was near 80, so the picture is quite different for me, but then again….)

so amy is a bit upset but we start looking for the bright side of things. its not for sure lymphoma but we check the different types. There are two main types.
1. older then 50 not very curable, basically you’re dead
2. Hodgkins – white males of 25-30 are highly possible to recieve this, highly curable,

treatments may cause sterility (DOH!!! i didn’t want kids so its ok!) etc
also the different symptoms for Hodgkins are
1. increased size in lymph nodes
2. tiredness (which i have been the last few weeks more then ever)
3. night sweets (SEE I TOLD YOU THOSE WERE IMPORTANT)

so our thoughts are that i have Hodgkins (i think its the number one curable of the cancers) and that i will need to see a specialtist and get a PET scan (hoepfully no more berium and IVs) then figure out where to go from there ie treatments, substitute at school, surgeries? etc

the one thing that i am sticking to and thanking God for is His support and pr omise of strength when we need it. i feel i have a positive outlook and am wanting everyone to know that the single thing that i am praying for in this situation is not healing but for Gods will to be done. i have told Amy that i am accepting of anything that He reluctantly allows as long as in the end… His will is carried out and allowed to shine. i hope that you can see what i need here its the prayers that no matter what others see Him through a rough and possibly tragic event. i need your support but i dont need your sadness and tears. crying is saved for sad events and this is not one, so smile, enjoy life and the time that you have to spend with loved ones enjoy your job, enjoy your drive into work, enjoy that special someone and realize that what we have on this earth is not everlasting its who we have on this earth that is everlasting. i appreciate your prayers and i hope that through this you grow closer to God and learn to look for that peace that He is offereing i am finding it and am reveling in it! so come join me and give thanks and praise to our wonderful creator who knows WAY more then we do and has a Master Plan in effect that we are apart of. pray for each other and never forget those that love you! have a wonderful evening and i look forward to growing closer to you all through
this.

Good night all of you that i can call friends and family

geoff w

This entry was posted on Monday, October 10th, 2005 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.