The Waiting is Over

Friday, October 15, 2021

Today should be THE DAY with some answers. We went to bed last night after the Buccaneers beat the Eagles and the Dodgers prevailed over the Giants to win that series. While we are sports fans, we aren’t nuts, but now we apparently are. Nothing says major sports events like those two games–what the heck. Maybe we can find a couple of junior high teams to watch.  Heck, we have now officially seen all Datelines and 20/20 episodes produced in the 21st Century.  We had a challenging night’s sleep. I woke Diane up at 2 a.m. as she was having some sort of nightmare—not surprising. At 5 a.m. I quietly whispered, “Are you awake?” and the reply came, “Of course.”  So being creatures of habit, we got up, made the bed, and were down stairs fully clothed at 5:15 as if we had someplace to go.  Coffee for Diane and “product” for me.  At 6:15 I was out the door to walk on a dark (of course) cold, foreboding morning and Diane was preparing to finish up with her last “paint by numbers” (they are really nice but that is what they are) painting.

At 7:15 I was walking towards the Macomb Square when I observed a man coming towards me wearing a suit and tie. This guy was going somewhere but what the heck was he thinking.  You just don’t expect to see that so early in the morning, so I assumed it was a homeless guy wearing what was left of his wardrobe.  It turned out to be Dean of the College of Business and Technology, Dr. Craig Conrad.  I asked him if he was lost and he said no, he just saw me walking, parked his car and wanted to ask how I was doing—a wonderful gesture. You can’t make this stuff up and this is our lives these days—people caring and reaching out in ways large and small. Guess you just can’t teach “class.”  This is another example of what can happen when you live in a small town.  People genuinely care about one another.  It shows.  

I was then walking by the Dairy Queen (unfortunately closed for the season) and literally almost walked into Dr. Jack McPherson, Director of Hospitalists at McDonough District Hospital.  He has been one of our “go to” professionals during this adventure in our lives.  I got home at 8 a.m.  Now what? I read the paper and came upstairs to lie down but that was futile so here I am.  Diane answered a few emails and texts and has been pacing the house, cell phone in hand, waiting, waiting, waiting.  It is now 10 a.m.  If this is what we are experiencing, I can only imagine what it must have been like for General Dwight David Eisenhower on June 6, 1944 as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces sent thousands of men to the beaches of Normandy to free Europe. No wonder they called it “The Longest Day.”

Six hours later…

We just got the call—not cancer! I am in the 10% of folks whose PET scan lights up, and it is good news.  Also it is not a tumor—possibly calcification of tissue and that could be a function of the aging process.  Diane asked the doctor, “Should we be doing a happy dance?” and he said “that would be appropriate.” Diane is calling the kids while I type this, and it will be a “good news” weekend for the Taylors. We have had so much “down” news the past four months that we are cautiously optimistic that we have turned the corner on this onerous episode in our lives.

With cancer behind us, it is time to revisit the whole PEG issue as dragging a tube around hanging out of my stomach for the past almost three months has caused me to lose my old man sex symbol status.  We will call Dr. Henrich, my Burlington ENT doctor, and schedule an appointment to determine how he feels we should proceed which I assume means we start with a new “swallow” test.  Even if that does not work out, it is a relief to have this cancer scare in the proverbial rearview mirror.

As I type this, I am in a bit of a fog, a happy fog I might add. At some time, will need to process all that has happened to date and take stock of our good fortune.  I do know that I will let myself believe that the prayers of loved ones and friends has made a difference in the positive outcome we got on the phone thirty minutes ago.  This is as good a spot as any to say THANK YOU to all of you who have been there for us since we started recounting this story back at the end of June. I look forward in the weeks/months ahead to get back to the original purpose of my blog with an occasional PEG update interspersed as well. 

It is Friday night and raining in Macomb but not at 35 Indian Trail. The sun is shining here, and I’ll bet there is a rainbow out there somewhere as well.  Hooray and hallelujah.  The waiting is over….