wdcav1952
Activities Manager Emeritus
December 2nd, 2005, I finally found out why I couldn't breathe without effort. The pulmonologist found a tumor in my left lung that was like having a ping-pong ball (table tennis ball to you cultured people) blocking access to the upper half of my left lung. He told me it was reason for concern. Someone else's voice seemed to come out of my mouth, asking if he meant like cancer. His reply was in the affirmative. Trust me folks, after hearing lungs and cancer in the same breath, driving past a huge cemetary on the way home is not a fun occurrence. By the way, nope, I'm not a smoker. After having a bronchoscope down my throat while I was much more awake that I would have liked, and having the tumor biopsied, I received the diagnosis of carcinoid, which is so rare that the pulmonologist was excited that he had found one. My reaction was to head for Google and find out just what this invader was.
It is far too late to make a long story short, so I won't. On December 17th, an incredible cardiothoracic surgeon took out part of one of my ribs, left an awesome scar on my back and took out the upper half of my left lung. Fortunately for me, I had a lung tumor that is treated by cutting out the problem. However, as we approach my one year anniversary of the surgery, I still get tired and out of breath climbing stairs and such.
Lots of people in both IAP and TPS checked on me regularly during my long convalescence. I did not know how many people cared about me. As I got better, I lost two dear friends over misunderstandings involving penturning disagreements. After some time, one of them reached out to me, offering an olive branch. After this experience, I reached out to the other. Today, I can consider both of these men my friends.
No, I didn't have a close brush with death, I didn't see a light and try to go to it, but I did have a very serious surgery. As the anniversary approaches with no recurrence of my carcinoid, I am trying, not always with success, to remember that blank design, wax, and all the rest of the things we cyber-fight over are small things in the overall scheme of life. Others here have had brushes with serious health problems, have lost loved ones, both young and old, and in general have experienced problems far worse than whether or not IAP and TPS can peacefully coexist.
I started my thread of thought on this with a post I made sometime back. If you have not read enough of my ramblings, the link to that post is noted below. The olive branch has come back to me in a totally unexpected way. Later this evening, look for a post in the SOYP forum entitled "Further Understanding of BOW"
If you have read this far, thank you.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16734
It is far too late to make a long story short, so I won't. On December 17th, an incredible cardiothoracic surgeon took out part of one of my ribs, left an awesome scar on my back and took out the upper half of my left lung. Fortunately for me, I had a lung tumor that is treated by cutting out the problem. However, as we approach my one year anniversary of the surgery, I still get tired and out of breath climbing stairs and such.
Lots of people in both IAP and TPS checked on me regularly during my long convalescence. I did not know how many people cared about me. As I got better, I lost two dear friends over misunderstandings involving penturning disagreements. After some time, one of them reached out to me, offering an olive branch. After this experience, I reached out to the other. Today, I can consider both of these men my friends.
No, I didn't have a close brush with death, I didn't see a light and try to go to it, but I did have a very serious surgery. As the anniversary approaches with no recurrence of my carcinoid, I am trying, not always with success, to remember that blank design, wax, and all the rest of the things we cyber-fight over are small things in the overall scheme of life. Others here have had brushes with serious health problems, have lost loved ones, both young and old, and in general have experienced problems far worse than whether or not IAP and TPS can peacefully coexist.
I started my thread of thought on this with a post I made sometime back. If you have not read enough of my ramblings, the link to that post is noted below. The olive branch has come back to me in a totally unexpected way. Later this evening, look for a post in the SOYP forum entitled "Further Understanding of BOW"
If you have read this far, thank you.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16734
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