A few things from yesterday

I realized after I posted last night that I forgot to tell you all about some other events in the day.  The first thing that happened was that I got a visit from Dr. Ginsburg, who is my geneticist.  He hasn't officially been consulted on the case yet, but will be, and has been in contact with Heather and I for the last few months.  He came in just to see how I was doing and let me know that he was following up with me.  He used the phrase "this wouldn't have happened in any other civilized country" about 15 times.  He is super pissed that I couldn't get preventative care and is unhappy that I'm in the boat that I'm in now.  He said that once they figured out what type of cells they are dealing with, they would bring in an oncology team that specializes in that type of cell, in that particular organ.  He said that he would be back around and would be working with whatever oncology team would be heading up my case. Dr. Ginsburg is a super nice guy and I'm glad that he's taken care of my family for so long.

A little later, I was visited by the nutritionist who got to tell me some pretty exciting news.  I have been placed on a high-calorie, high-fat diet!  She literally said, "Basically, eat anything that a normal person shouldn't eat, and eat a lot of it."  HELL YES.  Free license to eat as much butter, bacon, and other assorted animal parts as I want.  I took full license with that this morning when I ordered bacon and sausage for breakfast.  I would have ordered ham too, but they limit your entree selection to two items. 

I was visited by the tobacco consultation services people next.  They hooked me up with some nicotine gum, which doesn't really do anything.  The only cessation device I've ever used before was a patch, which was far too much nicotine.  The patch caused me to start sweating profusely and feel dizzy.  I immediately took it off.  The gum just tastes weird.  I think regular gum would work just as well.  I'm down to only a few cigarettes a day anyway, so it hasn't been that big of a deal.  I didn't actually have one at all yesterday.  I did get the approval of my nurses to go have one if I wanted to.  ("Just don't get hit by a car when you cross the street.")  Thanks to Rocky for picking me up some cigarettes.

I was visited by a fellow from the oncology department, who didn't really have much to say, just asked a bunch of questions and poked around my belly.  I apparently just missed him and the supervising oncology doctor when I was taken for my biopsy, but I hear that they'll be back today.



Today is probably going to be a quiet day.  No more procedures scheduled, at least until the biopsy results come back.  Apparently my belly is full of fluid from the liver not working as well as it is supposed to.  They may drain it tomorrow, which would be kind of awesome.  I may get a pass to leave the hospital for a little while today, which would definitely help with the cabin fever I've developed.  The doctor is going to find out when oncology is coming and consult the social worker about a pass and we'll go from there. 

Rocky lent me his laptop so that I could play some WoW, but the hospital has blocked access.  I'm going to try a work around with a proxy a little later.  I don't understand why they would block that, when their player base is mainly nerds who would be able to figure out a work around. 

I'll keep you all posted if I learn anything new today, but I think it's going to be pretty quiet.