Doctor Ruth calls with the results of the CT Scan. It is not good. No mention of Diverticulitis anymore. Spots of the liver which should not be there. Do I have a temperature? No. Are you sure? I tell her about the growth in my sternum. She is calm. We make an appointment for July 28 to talk about all this and what is going to happen. Ultrasound will reveal more details. She puts me back on anti-biotics. She loves those pills. It is just a precaution since we have no idea what we are fighting. Pharmacy calls me letting me know that my prescription is ready.
Boy, gone from constipation to cancer in one month! Fuck. CANCER. I go out, pick up the drugs, and get a booster juice, something called Kombusha. Have to write them and see what is in it. Whatever it is, it is mixed with apple and ginger. Can’t be that bad for you! I take a walk along the Danforth. This is not good. How do you call people and tell them you going to die by suppertime. And Janet is still in NY. How do I break this to her? I am moping. Slow walk. Take some pills, and now have to avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight. Fuck!
Janet calls and we have a long conversation. She wants to come home. Really no reason for that. Nothing to be done until Tuesday anyways, and her being home won’t accomplish much.
I make my way home, and decide to look up liver spots, and more to the point, liver cancer. Not so bad, but creates more questions. Turns out the liver gets cancerous from some other source. I have none of the symptoms of liver cancer. And I mean none. What a relief. Let Janet know. I won’t be dead by suppertime. But now there are more questions.
What is the source of the spots? Is it cancer? And if it is, why am I basically returning to good health? According to the Mayo Clinic web site, I should be feeling really bad, and I mean really bad. And I am not.
I talk to a few people like my sister, Nancy, my brother, Leslie. By the time I have my last conversation, I don’t feel so bad anymore. I have to make a decision to either keep this a secret or publish it in the Toronto Star. I opt for the latter. Too many secrets about our health issues is unhealthy. Get it out in the open. Let everyone talk about it. You never know what comes out in what conversation.
Janet is coming home. No way she is staying away. Everyone is NY is telling her to go home.
