8 Hours Of Waiting
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 11:56PM 
Tomorrow morning my dad finds out if he has an easy surgery, a not so easy surgery, or a pain in the ass surgery. All this will happen after the surgeons take a biopsy of the lump in his right lung. They know it's there and they know it's cancer and it comes down to a chunk of the lump taken out through his trachea to find out which sort of surgery dad gets.
And actually, when I think about it, he'll be asleep for the whole thing and won't know what sort of invasive procedure he's having until after it's done. I'm 1000 miles away and I'll know before he does.
The cancer was found from the body scan they gave him after his stroke in December. Everyone says it, and it's true, but without the stroke they wouldn't have found the cancer until maybe it did a bit more damage. I still don't know what I think about that line of thought. I mean, maybe he's had this little old lump for a very long time. Maybe he could have lived a long and happy life with that little lump.
I suppose I'm just worried. I'm assuming he's going to have the simple solution--lump out through tiny tube--but worried that it will be the worst: take a lobe of his lung out and chemotherapy. How much can a body handle a mere 4 months after having half of that same body shut down?
When he first told me about the lump he said, "Well, I did smoke for a long time."
I reminded him that he quit 40 years ago.
"Well, maybe it was the asbestos I worked with. Or the uranium. Or plutonium."
Yah, I would say that it could have been any of those.
Or it could just be any of the environments he's lived in over the past 71 years of his life. The neighborhood that I was raised in was on an old apple orchard. At least four of my neighbors developed lupus, with one dying from it. I mean, any house, any foundation, any city is going to have something that does not do a body good.
Or it could be that he's 71 years old.
For tonight, I'll just assume that dad will have the biopsy, have the easy surgery, and I'll be able to visit him at home where he'll continue to be learning how to balance again, to walk up and down stairs, just as he's been doing for the past four months.
This is what I'll assume.
Reader Comments (8)
Oh Annie....fingers crossed.
Good vibes and wishes being sent to your dad. He's just a few cities away from me I suspect.
hoping for the best and thinking about what a FIGHTER your dad has been this past year. ain't no stupid cancer gonna hold him down!!!
sending tons of good thoughts and crossed fingers and love and everything.
Remember - my pops never smoked a day in his life. Never drank. Never did NOTHIN'. Got a tumor in his kidney - renal cell carcinoma, a cancer with a notoriously low survival rate - and nearly bled to death before they discovered the thing. We're talking 40% blood loss. Emergency surgery, removed the kidney. Nearly 9 years later, he's still trucking. Sometimes cancer has a rhyme and reason. Sometimes it just happens.
Big love to you, Annie. These are scary, upsetting times, but we are with you and your awesome pops all the way. No matter what, we will be here with whatever you two need.
xoxoxoxox
yeah. It'll be okay. I'm glad you'll be able to go visit him after.
mox -- my thoughts are with you and your family.
how did i miss this? such hard, important stuff. i'm hoping your dad will be strong. the photos you posted today are so beautiful and show the big strength that he has. sending big love to you and your whole family.
I hoped this has turned out well, and your father is well on his way to a full recovery and many more years with you... My father's lung tumor was discovered similarly -- he was stung by a swarm of bees and went into anaphylactic shock. Doctors found the tumors during the ensuing lung scan. Small favors, I suppose... That was three years ago and now he's as good as new. I hope the same for your father.