I'm Taking a (Short) Leave of Absence
Posted: October 10th, 2015, 10:21 pm
Guys,
I've kept this under wraps for a while, but I need to tell you guys something important.
In August, I was hospitalized for a bad bowel infection. In the course of my stay at the ER, I had a CT scan.
Thankfully, the infection and the pain that resulted from it cleared up in four days. However, the CT scan revealed a spot on my kidney.
I went to see an oncologist, who informed me that the CT scan revealed what looked to be a mass on my kidney. He immediately sent me for two additional scans, an MRI and a PET scan, to make sure.
Then came the news: it looks like I have cancer.
Now, before you lot go writing my epitaph, let me tell you the good news. All of my doctors (and I've seen a LOT of them over the last two months) tell me that it looks to be in the very early stages. They can't even tell whether it is malignant or benign, and won't know that until they remove the mass and biopsy it. (Oh, and btw, I also have a lymph node in the same general vicinity, near the pancreas, that also looks to be cancerous, so they'll be removing that as well.)
What's funny about all this is, I have had ZERO symptoms from whatever this is. Were it not for that completely unrelated bowel infection that sent me to the ER, I still would not even know about it, and likely wouldn't until, quite possibly, it was too late. So that's a good thing.
So on Monday, October 12th, at 8:00 am (Arizona time), I will be having TWO surgeons work on me. One is a surgeon that specializes in kidney cancer, and he says it's entirely possible that he might be able to remove the mass without removing the entire kidney. Not that I can't sustain myself with only one kidney, people have lived for decades with only one kidney, but I'm hoping that he can at least save part of it, because hey, 1.5 kidneys is better than just 1. The other surgeon is a general surgeon, who will be removing the affected lymph node. The entire operation will likely last five hours, after which I will be in the hospital for anywhere from 3-5 days.
Best case scenario - they are able to do both procedures laparoscopically, which means that they will be using tiny robots to do the work (gotta love technology). It also means smaller scars and a much shorter recovery time. If this is what happens, I may be back to normal in as little as two weeks.
Worst case scenario - they can't do it laparoscopically, rather, they have to open me up and do it. I lose the entire kidney, and my recovery time jumps to 4-6 weeks. I certainly hope this is NOT the case... apart from the obvious reasons, I am hoping to fly down to Miami in mid-November to accept my Gold Medal prize in the Reader's Favorite contest that I won last month for Joshua's Island. I simply CAN'T miss that. Period.
I seem to have very good doctors, and they have every confidence that I will be up and around very quickly. This isn't like heart surgery. I should be able to walk, climb stairs, drive a car, and perform my duties as a medical biller within two weeks if all goes well (which is also good because I'm damn near out of vacation time this year).
And the question you may be asking yourself: is there a chance I could die? Well, it's surgery. Shit can happen. I think my chances of survival are about 99.5%. And yes, that .5% still scares me shitless.
I will not be pushing myself to return, but while I recover, I imagine I won't be doing much but reading, writing, watching TV, and other stuff that doesn't require much mobility. I hope to be able to return to the boards within a week. If I can't, I will pop in to let you know before popping out again.
I'm not a religious man, but many people I know are. The support has been overwhelming. I have members of my family, my wife's family, my close friends, my wife's friends, my online writers' group, my Phoenix-based writers' group, my co-workers, my Scrabble club, basically everyone I know praying for me. And I know I can count on this group to lend their support as well. I have a whole nation behind me, and I know I will make a full recovery. I have books to write, Dammit!! I'm not shuffling off this mortal coil now! (And if I do, believe me, I'm kicking God in the nuts when I see him.)
Thanks to all of you for continuing to be part of this community. It's been a slow year, but we've all persevered. I'm honored to know each and every one of you.
Best wishes,
Patrick Hodges (aka Shrykespeare)
I've kept this under wraps for a while, but I need to tell you guys something important.
In August, I was hospitalized for a bad bowel infection. In the course of my stay at the ER, I had a CT scan.
Thankfully, the infection and the pain that resulted from it cleared up in four days. However, the CT scan revealed a spot on my kidney.
I went to see an oncologist, who informed me that the CT scan revealed what looked to be a mass on my kidney. He immediately sent me for two additional scans, an MRI and a PET scan, to make sure.
Then came the news: it looks like I have cancer.
Now, before you lot go writing my epitaph, let me tell you the good news. All of my doctors (and I've seen a LOT of them over the last two months) tell me that it looks to be in the very early stages. They can't even tell whether it is malignant or benign, and won't know that until they remove the mass and biopsy it. (Oh, and btw, I also have a lymph node in the same general vicinity, near the pancreas, that also looks to be cancerous, so they'll be removing that as well.)
What's funny about all this is, I have had ZERO symptoms from whatever this is. Were it not for that completely unrelated bowel infection that sent me to the ER, I still would not even know about it, and likely wouldn't until, quite possibly, it was too late. So that's a good thing.
So on Monday, October 12th, at 8:00 am (Arizona time), I will be having TWO surgeons work on me. One is a surgeon that specializes in kidney cancer, and he says it's entirely possible that he might be able to remove the mass without removing the entire kidney. Not that I can't sustain myself with only one kidney, people have lived for decades with only one kidney, but I'm hoping that he can at least save part of it, because hey, 1.5 kidneys is better than just 1. The other surgeon is a general surgeon, who will be removing the affected lymph node. The entire operation will likely last five hours, after which I will be in the hospital for anywhere from 3-5 days.
Best case scenario - they are able to do both procedures laparoscopically, which means that they will be using tiny robots to do the work (gotta love technology). It also means smaller scars and a much shorter recovery time. If this is what happens, I may be back to normal in as little as two weeks.
Worst case scenario - they can't do it laparoscopically, rather, they have to open me up and do it. I lose the entire kidney, and my recovery time jumps to 4-6 weeks. I certainly hope this is NOT the case... apart from the obvious reasons, I am hoping to fly down to Miami in mid-November to accept my Gold Medal prize in the Reader's Favorite contest that I won last month for Joshua's Island. I simply CAN'T miss that. Period.
I seem to have very good doctors, and they have every confidence that I will be up and around very quickly. This isn't like heart surgery. I should be able to walk, climb stairs, drive a car, and perform my duties as a medical biller within two weeks if all goes well (which is also good because I'm damn near out of vacation time this year).
And the question you may be asking yourself: is there a chance I could die? Well, it's surgery. Shit can happen. I think my chances of survival are about 99.5%. And yes, that .5% still scares me shitless.
I will not be pushing myself to return, but while I recover, I imagine I won't be doing much but reading, writing, watching TV, and other stuff that doesn't require much mobility. I hope to be able to return to the boards within a week. If I can't, I will pop in to let you know before popping out again.
I'm not a religious man, but many people I know are. The support has been overwhelming. I have members of my family, my wife's family, my close friends, my wife's friends, my online writers' group, my Phoenix-based writers' group, my co-workers, my Scrabble club, basically everyone I know praying for me. And I know I can count on this group to lend their support as well. I have a whole nation behind me, and I know I will make a full recovery. I have books to write, Dammit!! I'm not shuffling off this mortal coil now! (And if I do, believe me, I'm kicking God in the nuts when I see him.)
Thanks to all of you for continuing to be part of this community. It's been a slow year, but we've all persevered. I'm honored to know each and every one of you.
Best wishes,
Patrick Hodges (aka Shrykespeare)