Cancer Inc., The Half Full Side
By: M.G. Evans
Copyright M.G. Evans 2010
Published by www.jtstarrbooks.com at Smashwords
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Chapter 1
The Day My Life Changed
Nobody wants to be diagnosed – not only with cancer, but with any disease that can shorten your life. Some say the chances of having cancer is like winning the lotto. Well, it looks like my six numbers just hit the jackpot. As humans, we hold life very dear. It is the most precious of all human possessions. My story actually started with a three week tour to Europe. The plane ride back was approximately nine hours. The doctors said that many passengers have their parotid gland become enlarged in their neck from dehydration. So for the next two months I had several rounds of very strong antibiotics and two negative fine needle biopsies. Both came back negative. Finally, on January 3rd, 2010, the pain became unbearable and surgery was scheduled for January 5th, I believe. If cancer is found the doctor would need to remove it and the gland, which would take approximately four hours and two doctors. This would also leave my face paralyzed on my right side.
Two hours had passed and I was in the recovery room. I could blink both eyes and move my mouth on the right side. That meant something went very well or very bad. The good news: it was not my parotid gland. The bad news was the lymph gland below it showed signs of cancer. The surgeon removed the gland with no complications.
..
Talk about a wakeup call in life. Not only do I have to fight the cancer, but now I must stay strong so others will not need to worry. My mother always said, ”Look at life from the positive side and a good attitude does a lot to help you heal.”
So taking what I have learned though life, I wanted to share the half full side of this deadly disease – a disease that kills so many people every day.
After my consultation with Dr. Vance and his nurse Leah, I immediately knew I was in good hands. He indicated that they needed to determine if it was a more aggressive form of leukemia, or not. As soon as they have all the test results back, he will be able to determine what types of chemo to prescribe.
It seemed like I was having a very bad dream and I could not wake up. My partner, Curtis, and I were fortunate enough to not put off our trip to Europe. I guess it was a blessing that we went on the trip. That may have caused the parotid gland to swell, or I may never have known I had cancer.
The story I am about to tell is non-fiction with the focus being on the positive. All goodness and light come from the positive just as God is goodness and light.
Chapter 2
From: Curtis
To: Friends & Family
Subject: Doctors Visit scheduled for Thursday at 2:30 PM
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 8:51 PM
Hello Everyone,
Many of you have called and emailed today asking for an update on Marc's visit to the oncologist. He received a call from Dr. Vance's office today and they have all of his paper work and recent test results and have set up an appointment for Thursday at 2:30 PM to consult with the doctor. They will be discussing the biopsy test results on the lymph node and what additional tests they want to perform and possible direction of treatment depending on those results. He does have another lump under his arm that he is concerned about and will be discussing that in detail with the doctor on his next visit.
He is in good spirits as always and continues to make jokes and be his normal upbeat self. I know that he has a lot on his plate and does not want me to worry even though I always will but a positive attitude is very important at this time.
I will keep everyone posted on his meeting with the doctor on Thursday. Marc wants to get back in the grind “as soon as his neck is healed enough so he does not scare small children”, his words. Leave it to him to crack a joke.
Keep him in your prayers and I will keep all of you updated on his condition.
Hugs,
Curtis
Chapter 3
From: Curtis
To: Friends & Family
Subject: Oncologist Doctors Visit 1-21-10 Update
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010 9:08 PM
Hello Everyone,
I have received many texts, emails, and phone calls today asking for an update on Marc’s visit to the oncologist today. It took about 4 hours, and Dr. Vance is absolutely wonderful. He really seems to know his stuff. And due to the research we had done prior to the meeting, we were prepared with many questions. He is running blood work on Marc now… lots and lots of blood work. From the biopsy results, and how fast this has developed, it led him to believe this is a type of Burkitt’s lymphoma.
This is a highly aggressive tumor and often life threatening. But it is also one of the more curable forms of lymphoma. With current aggressive forms of chemotherapy that uses drugs in high doses, and with the availability of new measures to support individuals during intensive treatment, this lymphoma is curable in many patients. Nearly 80% of those with localized disease are cured. Late relapses are rarely seen.
Marc will need to undergo many tests next week. They want to do a spinal tap, heart test, bone marrow test, pet scan, and put in a pix line that will be accessed under the skin for his IV Chemo treatments. One thing the doctor would be concerned about is any types of infection during the treatment, as they will be watching that very closely.
The plan now is to try and have all of this done in one day. Marc was pushing for tomorrow, but they said probably not until next Tuesday. Then they would set him up for his chemo treatments. That may not start until Monday, February 1st. Marc said he had to go out of town for work for a week, but the doc vetoed the trip.
Mar was upset when they told him that he would probably lose his hair. The doc said it would come back curly. He liked that idea. But Marc has decided to prove him wrong even if it means setting it with glue and not brushing it until the treatments are done. He is so silly. He told them that all of his brothers and father were bald and he would prove to them that he would not lose his hair, and he would be damned if some city doctor was going to take it away now. I better start looking for cool hats for him to wear just in case. He will be real pissed if it starts falling out. I can see him with the super glue in the mirror, trying to tack it back into place.
Well, I will send everyone an update after I have more news. We should have all the plans by Monday. I want to thank everyone for all their support during this tough time. Marc keeps me laughing and refuses to let me be down. And with everyone’s kind works, I know this will all work out.
Love and Hugs to everyone,
Curtis
Chapter 4
From: Marc
To: Friends & Family
Subject: Let’s Get the Party Started – Update on Marc
Date: Monday, January 25, 2010 8:32 PM
Hi Guys and Gals,
I am giving Curtis the night off and thought I would drop everyone a line and tell them how much all of your cards, flowers, phone calls, letters and wonderful words of encouragement have meant to me. That type of support holds only one outcome and that is success.
I received an update today from Dr. Vance’s office, and it looks like they are ready to get the party started. And I am ready to get this over with so I can turn the page on this chapter in my life.
Besides all the fun tests I get to do tomorrow and wonderful drugs they are going to give me, followed by the S & M treatments that insurance is gonna pay for, I will get to go back on Wednesday for more fun and frolic.
Well on Wednesday, I got to start off the day with no food since midnight the night before. I better lose some weight after all this fasting. Someone should have warned them what a bitch I am without food. Then I have the pleasure of being invited for an echocardiogram for the first course at 11:15 AM, followed yet again by No Food. By this time, I will have probably killed an orderly, assaulted a nurse, and been handcuffed to a bed to keep me from raping a vending machine.
Well as I lay there dry mouth and starving, I get to check into the 2 Hoblitzelle hospital at noon for a wonderful dose of yet NO-DAMN-FOOD – followed by a palate cleanser of anesthesia. This fine establishment was able to squeeze me into an operating room as the third case for the day. So, sometime around 5 PM, they will knock me out if they have not done so already to get me to shut up and stop bitching about being so damn hungry. I am sure they will need to stick a gag in my mouth to keep me from biting a piece of meat out of the doctor’s hand during surgery.
So if all goes well, I will enjoy a side of sliced open chest with a main course of Port Placement. Yummy!!!!
So now when they bring me out from the anesthesia, which I am sure will be done by remote control robots because no human at this point would want to be within 100 yards of me, I will be released back into the wild to forge for food and drink until the next day.
They now have a whole new menu planned form me on Thursday or Friday. It is called Chemo-ka-bob. Yum. Yum. I cannot wait to be flooded with all of those chemicals. I will feel just like a bottle of oven cleaner when they get done washing out my veins. But with this lovely course you get a side of I-don’t-give-a-crap meds. So it would not matter if I was eating horse puckeys, it would still taste like chicken. Aren’t doctors wonderful? They are the envy of all dominatrix and sadists in the world and probably make a hell of a lot more money.
So, this should go on for many days. I’m not sure of the drug schedule. But I do know one thing, with super glue in hand, I am not losing my damn hair.
So again, thank you for all your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. I know life will continue after this show, and I will be back for many more encore additions. Please keep Curtis in your thoughts. He will probably be my communication line when all this crap gets going for a while, but I will pop on the line just to let ya know I am still kicking.
Love all of you and God Bless,
Marc
Chapter 5
From: Marc
To: Friends & Family
Subject: 18 holes and I still didn’t score
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 9:23 PM
Howdy all of you Buff Dudes and Dazzling Dames,
Today’s flight started off too damn early. The in-flight breakfast was a nice glass of iodine. This 4 star joint did allow you to recline while you prepared yourself for the show. For the next course, you have what is behind curtain number one. A nurse with cold hands and a warm heart looking for blood - darn vampires have jobs everywhere these days. Where is Buffy the Vampire Slayer when you need her? While she slung my chair into position, they all say the same thing as a flight attendant, “You may feel a little prick.” Kind of like a bad date! They try to make the whole experience feel like you are at a petting zoo. I had taken two Adavan the doctor prescribed for me to help relax me for the PET scan. She asked if I had taken both and I told her yes. She said usually you take one, 1 hour before, and the other right before the PET scan. Screw that. If they are going to make me forget this birth then give me four, otherwise I am calling for gas.
We did not even have time for a break before the CAT scan. It would not be done until 9:30 AM. This will be great. I have always wanted my head shoved into a giant donut... At least after this test we will get to eat.
We went to the restaurant, in the lobby of the hospital, to get something to eat. The surly employee behind the counted announced that it was 10:16 AM and no food would be served until 10:30 AM. I suddenly felt the urge to jump the counter and stick her head in the deep fryer. Curtis calmly led me by the hand out of the hospital and over to McDonald's where we enjoyed a late breakfast with the homeless people of East Dallas.
We then headed back to the cancer center to have them snag some more of the red jungle juice, before they hooked me up to another IV to administer pain meds so they could get some bone marrow. “Stir fried with onions and snow peas - it must taste wonderful.” (This quote was found in the Serial Killers’ Meal Reviews section of the Dallas Morning News.)
I love it when they ask me if I can feel the happy meds. I always tell them ”no” until my speech gives me away. Now, I am up to screw-the-world mode and in steps the PA Dr. (OMG) that will handle the bone marrow removal and spinal tap. What a little cutie patootie.
He proceeded to throw me on my stomach and slip his big wonderful hands under my shirt and lift it up. I had goose bumps. Dr. OMG then very slowly, gently lowered my fat boy sweat pants down just a little. I was hoping for the full Monty but I would have to settle for the orderly cling bag uniform look.
The bone marrow came out like caviar and little pain was involved. I felt like I was at Elizabeth Arden's “Red Door Spa” the way he scrubbed my back ever so softly and then tucked in a cloth in my sweatpants to be sure there was no dribbling on them, while he had me bent over a table. Trust me I was looking for a camera.
Now it was time to bend over a table and bare my back side to the doctor. It is so funny to have doctor hot hands trying to work his long thin tool into my broad firm back side. The more he poked the less success he had. He tried his best to poke and push. Pull and turn. It was like poke, push, pull turn, poke me, shove it in me and rotate. Finally, he pulls it out. After several of these attempts he was going to need to send me to radiology so they can determine where my slight opening is in my spine for the insertion. This could be the dialog for a porn movie. We shall call it "The Baylor Hospital Slut” starring me using Tom Welling to play my part. Yum. Yum.
Then they tilted me up like a cheap bottle of wine to drain out the fluid. Once they got their 10 to 12 CM (quite a load), they refilled the spot with chemotherapy. I’m not sure, but I think I can climb the walls now. It was so funny, but during one of the injections it caused male arousal. I bet if that got out they would start marketing it as the chemo drug that gives wood. I can see the billboard now. It will have a picture of BOB with a big smile on his face and no hair. The caption would read: “From Hairless to Hard-on, with one easy Chemo treatment from Baylor Medical.”
Well, I have been released to forage into the wild and I am gonna pig out since there is so much to look forward to.
XOXOXOXO
Marc,
For updates contact Curtis
Hugs
Chapter 6
From: Marc
To: Friends & Family
Subject: Great News - Update on Marc Headline Reads
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010 7:09 PM
Hello Again Guys and Gals,
----HEADLINES READ----
“TEST RESULTS ARE IN FROM THE PROVING GROUNDS AND GOOD NEWS ON THE FANNY FRONT”
With the current economic conditions, it is good to report some favorable results in the recent medical stocks.
Marc Inc. has seen a rise in some of it subsidiary holdings.
Recent testing in the Pet Scan division show only localized disease in the Neck division, while all other holdings are showing a clean balance sheet. Yeah!!!
In other areas of Marc Inc., the off-sea holdings of Bone Marrow also show negative results of the recent cancer that has eaten away at most of the country. This is great news and will yield high earnings in the futures market.
The next area reporting in for year end results is the spinal flailed. Even with the infusion of Chemo Cash yesterday to this division, over all, results are also positive and show no signs of cancer drawing from the overall earning of Marc Inc.
These are results that Marc Inc. will take to the bank as the stock in this corporation continues to increase with the announcement of the recent results in these three divisions.