Well, today (Saturday that is) sure sucked.
Up until today I was feeling pretty good following Monday’s surgery; the surgical site was healing up pretty well, and it felt like my front teeth were beginning to move back into a normal position that would allow my jaw to close fully & allow for proper mastication to happen, if only on one side of my mouth. Not quite there, but almost. About the only thing bugging me was the stitches, but knowing that in a day or three they would fall out soon and give some relief made that bearable. I was to the point where I really didn’t even need ibuprofen for pain control; several days’ doses of hydrocodone just sat on the shelf, and I was happy to leave it there.
But around noon today I started to get some nasty aches & pains from my lower front teeth and the right side of my mouth. At first I wrote it off to the teeth moving back into their proper position, but at some point it dawned on me that this could be another tumor rearing its ugly head and making itself known. At this point I’m not sure if that’s the case or not, but I also noticed a nice little lump around the root of number 27 that I don’t recall being so prominent before. Great.
The rest of the day was more of the same. I stuck with ibuprofen and acetaminophen throughout the day, but dipped into the hydrocodone at about midnight because it wasn’t letting up. Even with that on board, the pain woke me up again at a little before 3am. I also noticed another spot that is quite sore on the roof of my mouth; that could be something totally different, but it sure brings to light how this diagnosis has made me a bit more paranoid about these things. I also had some sinus pain later in the day, which could just be allergies — I spent a fair amount of time working outside today, and it is spring — but that pain happens to be on the same side as the sore spot on the roof of my mouth (coincidence?) I took some Sudafed to loosen things up, but it’s pretty persistent (You know what they say about paranoia; just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that everyone isn’t out to get you.) I took a second hydrocodone at about 4 am; the label says to take one or two every four to six hours as needed, and I’m feeling that it’s needed, at least if I want to get any more sleep tonight. I’ll happily let Yvonne do the Easter Sunday driving.
And here it is, Easter morning. I hope I don’t see the sun rise, but wouldn’t be surprised if I did. Either way, knowing that Jesus is risen is a reminder that even though it seems this storm is only building steam, the one thing I can count on is that God is good.
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Just to catch up where the last post left off, Friday’s testing was interesting but uneventful. Showed up at 1:30, got checked in, got an IV stuck in my arm (good Lord, I hate those things), gave up about a dozen vials of blood for testing, and got the CT scan. This time they did the head & neck and the full torso, with an orally-administered contrast dye, and again with an IV-administered contrast dye. Then it was a long wait for a 5:30 date with the MRI. That was quite an experience; loud and cramped. Not terribly unpleasant, but I can see why they ask about claustrophobia before you go in there. It’s got to be a terrifying experience for little kids. Anyway, no results on any of that, but I have an 8 am appointment to visit with Dr. Bleeker on Monday morning. That should be an education. Thankfully I’ll have my favorite nurse and doctor-in-training along for the ride. Hoping for good news, but bracing for not… And praying a lot.
I’ve been sharing this business with family and friends, and word is getting around. Yvonne shared the news with one of the ladies in the church office, and a little while later the worship leader sends out an email to everyone on the tech team… “Today Dave Thornton received news that he has cancer. Caleb was scheduled to run camera Easter Sunday but we’d like to have him take the morning off to be with his family. Is there someone that will step in for him? Nice. Makes it sound like I’m scheduled to kick the bucket in a couple of days. He means well, but the delivery needs work; lots of it. And speaking of delivery… When I told Emily that Dr. Miller had given me the word on the diagnosis by way of a voicemail message, she was pretty shocked. Later on, she was talking about that with Yvonne and the line from Toy Story came to mind; one of the first things they teach in medical school is to deliver scary news in person, never, ever, ever by leaving a message. We thought it was pretty funny, after the fact!
Oh, and the title; it’s from a scene in the always excellent movie, The Princess Bride, and came to mind only because it hurts… The wallowing in freakish misery business doesn’t sound like my bag at all.
Tags: pain