Paul's Heart

Life As A Dad, And A Survivor

Archive for the category “Education”

12 Mar 2014

Cross This Off My List


Part 1 – National Colon/Rectal Cancer Month

This month is the annual push for colonoscopies to hopefully prevent a cancer that can be prevented. Not only be prevented, but treatable when caught early enough. Yet so many will ignore this life saving recommendation. For the second year in a row (it was only supposed to be once – but my body did not cooperate with the “clean out” so it had to be repeated), I underwent a colonoscopy today. I also underwent an endoscopy at the same time. More on that later.

My prep was a little more involved this year because of issues I had last year, but for the average person, it is usually just a heavy dose of a laxative the night before the scoping. Depending on the method, yes, there is a large quantity to drink, but it is doable, and many times, you can drink any fluid to mix with the drug. Overnight, you sleep it off. Then you go for the procedure. Most people will be put into twilight anesthesia, meaning you will not remember anything other than the time on the clock on the wall. Again, because I have complicated cancer-related issues, I cannot do twilight, so I am out cold. I have no idea what has been done, but for those who are afraid of this simple test, here is what I felt like afterwards… nothing. I did not walk funny. Nothing leaked out of my butt (sorry for the graphic, but trying to prove a point for the fearsome). Except for a little groggy, I was good to go home in fifteen minutes. I have no recollection of this afternoon. But here is what I will find out and know.

I will find out if polyps had been removed. If they were, they will be tested. If cancerous, that is one road to cross, and hopefully caught early. If not cancerous, the polyp was prevented from becoming cancer. See the urgency of this test? Yet many of you will still blow this recommendation by your doctor for literally no acceptable reason. If your doctor recommends it, you are a fool not to do it.

My situation is a little more complicated because I have other underlying issues. But then again, just like the average person going through a colonoscopy, prevention and screening for my long term cancer survivor issues is the reason I went through my “pig on the spit” day. I mentioned to my doctor before I went out, all asked was to make sure that my breath did not smell like shit when I woke up. Today, just like last year, I went through two procedures at the same time, a colonoscopy and endoscopy. And as my “pig on the spit” comment implies, cameras went through both ends.

The purpose was two-fold. One, to make sure there is no secondary cancer to my Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Two, to deal with situations that can actually lead up to the development of secondary cancers for me. The extreme treatments I went through more than 25 years ago have left certain areas of my body at risk for some nasty issues. But the great thing is, I am under constant surveillance to prevent, or catch if necessary, things before they get bad, unlike what happened with my heart nearly six years ago.

Radiation reeked havoc on my esophagus. After several years, I have developed some slight swallowing issues, as well as some reflux problems. Long story short, the old esophagus does not work as well as it should. I have two things called Esophogitis Esophanil which I do not fully understand, and honestly neither do the doctors, and something called Barrett’s Esophagus. This is the one factor being watched because it can lead to cancer of the esophagus. Usually biopsies are taken, and occasionally other tests are done just to make sure. So far, neither issue has advanced dramatically. So I do not expect the news to change much if at all when I hear.

The colonoscopy is done because of the increased risk of colon cancer for me from going through the strong types of treatments. I do know polyps were removed last year, and I expect that some have been removed this time. The thing I am grateful for was that the polyps last year did not have the chance to turn cancerous. Hopefully the same result occurs this year.

Do you get my drift? If you can prevent cancer, why not do it? And this is one that can be prevented or if necessary treated if caught early enough.

Posted in Cancer, Education, Family and Friends, Inspired By..., Side Effects, The Heart | Leave a comment
09 Mar 2014

How Far We Have Come


An odd thing occurred to me today while visiting with my father in the hospital. I was nearly run over by a robot. Okay, maybe I am being a bit dramatic. There was no chance of me being run over by the robot, or even blasted with its powerful lasers.

Okay. I was raised with Twiki from Buck Rogers and of course R2D2 from Star Wars. It should come as no surprise that after Star Trek foretold of flip cell phones with their “communicators”, that with Twiki and R2D2 we would have robots doing human tasks.

The concept does not always work. I have seen my employer throw away millions of dollars trying to replace the hard work that humans do in an effort to be efficient and replace human workers. But how about when the robots actually work. I saw the medical “R2D2” this evening on my way back from the restroom. There had been some nurse work going on in my father’s room, so I stopped outside of his doorway to wait for everyone to leave. And there it was.

Creeping behind me ever so quietly was this box on wheels, but no one had been pushing it. It rolled by itself. There was no tracking on the floor for it to follow. It stopped about a foot and a half away from me. I was not sure if I should move out of its way as if playing some sort of game of robotic chicken. But the delay from my thought displayed something amazing. Its rollers on the bottom of the cart had turned approximately forty five degrees and then the unit rolled two feet. The rollers then turned forty five degrees to the left and the unit rolled, stopped and straightened and continued on its way another four feet until it had arrived at the nurse’s station. As it stopped, it announce, “your delivery has arrived.”

The robotic cart had been delivering medical supplies or prescriptions for the patients on the floor. The nurse put her combination into the lock and the unit opened. The nurse took her delivery, closed the box back up, and the unit continued on its way. It was amazing to watch. I had to wave my hand by a sensor on the wall to open the door to the patient room corridor. The doors just opened for the robot. I had to push buttons to call the elevator. The robot called the elevator directly.

I have seen plenty of television shows and movies and looking back, it is amazing the things we saw in science fiction that have come true today. It no longer seems far fetched to watch a movie and wonder how long before we see cars that fly and other inventions. Of course I would rather see a movie that discovers a cure for all cancers, and then hope scientists and inventors come up with the same idea in the near future.

Posted in Cancer, Education, Inspired By..., Recreation | Leave a comment
03 Mar 2014
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Half Of My Life With Cancer


If you have followed “Paul’s Heart,” you notice a countdown box off to the right of the screen. It has a milestone, that to the majority of people, represent something once thought impossible, surviving 25 years from cancer. Yes, today I begin my 25th year of having survived Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. So the countdown should change from twelve months to go, to days left to go.

I am a 24 year survivor of cancer. I have lived half of my life in spite of a disease that kills millions and yet a cure for all seems so far away. Another year down, I know it is no small feat. But once again, as always, my heart is too heavy to celebrate yet another year gone by. I miss so many that I have had to say goodbye to, and this year gone by I include Kim, Karen, Peter, and Michael.

Last week, as I sat across from my father in his hospital room, a nurse asked my father who had been just told his cancer had returned, “what would you like?” To which my father responded, “to survive cancer like my son.”

Today I recognize, but not celebrate, my 24th completed year of remission for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It is a sad commentary that in the twenty-first century, we still have not found a cure for cancer for everyone. I am disappointed that follow-up guidelines are not more well known so that survivors are better followed-up for late developing side effects. I want to see better surveillance of patients for critical side effects for drugs that are known to have the possibility of causing side effects, some potentially fatal.

We are so close. Seriously, part of the survivor guilt I deal with, is why I have gotten to live, while so many do not. I am hoping that if anything at this point, is that I may see in my lifetime, a cure for cancer is found, patients are followed more closely during their treatments, and survivors are better followed-up. And as the days count down to one next year, I want to celebrate.

Posted in Adoption, Animals, Cancer, Education, Family and Friends, Food, Inspired By..., Politics, Recreation, Side Effects, The Heart

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