“Sum it up in One Word”

Today’s word, oh sorry tonight’s word is “survivor”. I am a survivor not just in the since that I am able to persevere, I am a cancer survivor. This particular word can mean so many things to so many different people. I have survived what many to believe to be and probably is the most indiscriminate diseases out there. With so many variations, it can hit any where at any time. It does not seem to have a type or special gender. In all honesty I was very lucky, I had what is known as Castleman’s disease. It is a very rare form (the oncologist I saw said it was only the fifth case he has ever seen. He was no Doogie Howser). They all told me it could have turned into lymphoma any time. I had been dealing with problems with the circulation for quite some time before it was actually discovered. I was even told years before the discovery of the cancer, by a very good doctor, that I had veinal problems. I was fully prepared to follow up with this particular doctor, one that was recommended by my insurance company, when the very same insurance company, told me they would not pay for his services. So I lived with the pain and the swelling of the legs and all the other complications. I will not go into graphic detail it was not pretty.
Any way it all boiled down to the fact that I had a discussion with my doctor at that time. It was in 2003 (November). I weighed about 260+ pounds. As he was chastising me about losing weight, I mentioned that I see quite a few people that are a lot bigger than me and they don’t seem to have the same extreme problems I have. There had to be more to it. So being the great guy that he is, he ordered an MRI and they discovered my lymph nodes were enlarged. From there we went to a biopsy and viola! The big C was uncovered.
When the doctor that did the surgery told me what they found, I asked what it was and they didn’t know. My doctor didn’t know, the oncologist had to look up ways to treat it. It took them a month to figure out they wanted to go the radiation route. This was back in 2004 (February). Completely painless on my part, however, I do still have black ink marks on my skin where they wanted to concentrate the rays.
End result, I can’t run, jump or skip rope. If I could do any of these things I do feel I wouldn’t be 230 pounds now. I used to love running. I used to go for miles, most times any where from 7-8 miles to 13-15 miles at a time.
Which now leads me to another form of survival, perseverance. I do fear this subject may have to wait until next time. Despite the coffee I am partaking in, I am starting to get tired. Funny how the very caffeine I drink to keep me awake only does so when I am trying to go to sleep.
I need to get back to my radio show boomersperch@blogtalkradio.com. I believe that I will be discussing the possibility of Quantum Leaping and Quantum Physics. I will know more about timing of the show, when I get a schedule from my day job. I do want to plan it for next Wednesday at 9:30. That is 5/7/2014 at 9:30 am pst. I will verify this in my next post and hope to hear form you here and there. Goodnight and best wishes.