Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Mutant Booger?

I'm writing from the recovery room now at Ben and Jerry's hospital. The procedure took about 3 hours. Then, I slept all afternoon, exhausted from the surgery, but also because I haven't had a decent night's sleep in the past two weeks. (Hmm. Why would that be?)

I'm actually feeling pretty good. The only thing that bothers me is that the awkward location of the IV in my left hand makes it hard to type, and also, I  haven't eaten. I'm starving. Dinner is coming.

The preliminary news from pathology seems good. Weirdly good. There appears to be NO CANCER. It appears to be an infection. I'm guessing it must be an obscure slow growing bacteria, or a fungus. That may take a long course of IV antibiotics to eradicate, but usually, that beats chemo hands down.

Thinking along those lines, we still have no source for the stroke. That's actually not unusual. However, it's conceivable was caused by a mycotic embolus (small chunk of bacteria or fungi and infected tissue that breaks loose into the bloodstream and causes a stroke. (It was a roving death booger.) I won't think to hard about the implications of that until the pathologists are finished playing. Nevertheless, situation looks much better than it did this morning.

Now where is my dinner?!

4 comments:

  1. Tom - We are all expecting you at the NYU med 10 year reunion this Spring! I have been following your story and hope that your recovery is speedy. Gwen

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  2. I hope they brought you Cherry Garcia for dessert! So relieved things went smoothly today - and I hope the recovery is quick and there's more positive news next week. xxx Niki

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  3. So the mutant booger may be a mutant mushroom? Oh, Tom, you've always been a fun guy!

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  4. I'm totally starting a Metal Band called "Roving Death Booger."

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