The Waiting Game

When you have cancer you get to play the waiting game, often when first diagnosed, less often down the road. It never goes away. This week I am again waiting. I have long had esophageal problems and periodically go in to have my esophagus dilated and stretched, otherwise food and pills get stuck. I had that done this week. This time they saw suspicious areas in both the esophagus and stomach so biopsies were done in 4 areas. I'm not unduly worried but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm a little worried. I'll no sooner get the news, whatever it is, and then next week are my every 6 month lung and abdominal scans so waiting begins again. I have a tumor in my lung that is slow growing, thus it isn't melanoma since that is fast growing. I elected not to have it biopsied because it's in the very bottom of the right lower lobe, a difficult area to biopsy. It cannot be reached by a bronchoscope, I'd have to have a rib removed and go in thru the chest, hopefully missing the diaphragm. So instead scanning is done every 6 months. If it shows growth then it will be surgically removed. I have gotten better at waiting than when I began this cancer journey on 6-6-2002. But it is still waiting, and that is hard.

In 3 weeks I leave for my niece's wedding in Hawaii. She is in the Army, stationed at Fort Shafter, the oldest U.S. Military base on Oahu, completed in 1907. It looks identical to the way it looked on December 7, 1941, and thus is the location for many WWII movies. Julie is marrying a career Army man. They will remain in Hawaii another 2 years or so. Right now Julie's job is playing taps at military funerals in Hawaii. She is a surveyor with the Corps of Engineers but surveying is on hold as money is being spent in Iraq instead. Her undergraduate and master's degrees are in criminal justice. This is the same Army that drafted my Dad at the age of 40. His entire life had been spent in the business world but they tested him and decided he'd make a good bombardier mechanic, LOL. Needless to say they soon realized he was not at all inclined to anything mechanical so they reassigned him on a special project at the Navy Ship Yard in New York City. And there he met my mother, the Admiral's secretary. The rest is history.

Speaking of Iraq, my surgeon is once again there. This is his second tour. He is in the Navy reserves. He was called up between my 1st breast cancer surgery and my second. He served a year at that time. Now he was called up again. I feel bad for his wife and 2 young children. I'm hoping I don't need any surgery before his deployment is up. The Navy Nurse Corps, in which I served, and the Navy Medical Corps take care of the Marines. Where Marines go we go, thus the need for good nurses and doctors in Iraq. I hope we are out of Iraq soon.