I'm astonished by a medical treatment I had a few days ago.

On the 12th, I went to the local hospital's ER because I was having a lot of trouble getting enough oxygen into my blood. Prior to this breathing crisis, I could get by just fine with about 3 liters from my concentrator, but even maxing it out to 5 wouldn't get me much above 80 on the oximeter.

A quick Xray followed by a CT scan showed that I had pneumonia, which isn't a great thing to have when you also have cancer. The right lung was almost totally blocked by a tumor and thus couldn't drain fluids normally. The only solution for the problem was surgery, but my local medical system didn't have anyone who could do that sort of procedure, so my oncologist started working on finding someone who could do it. It turned out that there was such a surgeon in Phoenix, which is about two hours from where I live.

The local hospital kept me going with various respiratory treatments and a pretty serious IV antibiotic. Finally, on the 22nd, they put me in an ambulance for the ride down to the Phoenix hospital. The surgery was done in the afternoon of the next day.

Using microcameras and lasers, the surgeon was able to cut away the tumor, burn out the pneumonia, and create the needed fluid drainage channels. He'd originally intended to install a shunt but discovered he could avoid that by reshaping the tissues as they were. THE PROCEDURE TOOK 40 MINUTES. I mean, really? Less than an hour? I'm still in amazement over that. He must also work as a magician as a side job.

And the result? As long as I was in Phoenix, I needed zero supplemental oxygen. None at all. There was no pain anywhere, not even a sore throat. And I came home the next day.

Since I live at about 5400 feet in altitude, I do need some supplemental oxygen, but only about two thirds what I originally started out with.

Sure, cancer is kind of a bummer when viewed in a certain light, but I am in amazement at how lucky I am, over and over. It's brought me into contact with a lot of very interesting people with whom I enjoy discussing this and that. And every new day is another gift to unwrap and enjoy. Speaking of which, I had an eclair for breakfast. It was really, really good. See what I mean? 😎

#cancer