Friday morning was pretty fantastic. I woke up with no Seymour Butts complaining, my nurse didn't forget to bring me some coffee that I'd asked for, and I didn't have to wake up to give blood for more testing. I watched some news, and poopsocked (played World of Warcraft) for a little bit before my shower. The nurses had told me that I would be going down to get some more fluid drained from my abdomen, but there wasn't a specific time for the procedure in the computer. I hung out some more, and Rocky dropped by with some cookies and to pick up his laptop. I went out to the parking garage (with the nurse's permission) to meet Rocky and walk him back to my room. While I was out, the transporters stopped by to pick me up for the paracentesis (fluid draining). Damn. Also, Uncle Tony showed up in my room.
I missed the transport, but they came back about a half hour later. I rode the gurney to the interventional radiology section and waited for the procedure to begin. While waiting, like I had done the at the previous day's testing, I visualized the catfish on my liver and kidneys, gently sucking away the bad cells. I was called in to the room where the procedure was taking place and met the physician's assistants that were doing my procedure. Like the rest of the people who did tests during the week, they asked about my tattoos, and then we got into discussions about various topics about food.
The procedure was over fast! They had pulled another 1.5 Liters of fluid from my abdomen in the amount of time that it had taken the doctor in my room to the equipment set up. I feel so much better. All-in-all, they pulled around 2.25 Liters, which they think would be about 10 pounds of fluid.
I got back to my room and hung out with Uncle Tony for a bit longer. He said that it was a marked difference in the appearance of my abdomen. I ate and ate and ate. I could finally eat more, I could finally breath better, I finally didn't feel like a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was awesome.
Uncle Tony left, and I watched some documentaries on netflix. Lizze stopped by my room for a little bit and we talked about a lot of stuff. We made plans to hang out with Nell on Saturday, if I were still there. Lizzie had to get back to work, so I saw her off, and continued with the documentaries.
Dr. Dawit and his attending doctor came to visit and let me know that I would be getting my first injection that night. I was really excited about that. I want to get this under way, and start fighting this abomination in my belly. They left, and the urology team came in to talk to me. They said that they want to biopsy my kidney, but they would do it outpatient and in a few weeks. They said that my right kidney appeared to have renal cell carcinoma, but they want to make sure. I guess some complex cysts can look like the cancer. If it ends up being the carcinoma, they'll want to look at removing my right kidney at some point down the line. Slightly distressing news, but one thing at a time.
I went and walked around for a bit, and somehow wound up in the chapel. I just sat there trying to take the whole week in. It's been surreal for sure. I knew that something was up, I just didn't begin to imagine how serious it all was. Luckily, they have a treatment plan in place, and I have the support of all of you and then some.
I got a call from the doctor on my floor, letting me know that I could be discharged that night if I wanted. I jumped on the opportunity to go home. I went back up to my room, where the Octreotide was waiting. I don't really flinch at needles, and very rarely do I find them to be really painful. This was different. This needle was huge, and went into my hip. It made me say "fuck" a little more loudly than I would have liked. My hip is a bit sore today, and I guess it will be like that for a few more days. A small price if it makes me better.
That's yesterday, I'll work on another post about today and post it tonight. Thanks again everyone. I love you all, and your support means the world to me.
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