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It's December, 2005...I'm working at a local restaraunt since I'm out of work in my actual field (telecommunications network design/network engineering). How I got to that point is another story, but the short version is that, due to a screw-up in renewing the contract I was working under, a screw-up which involved my task accidentally not showing up on the new contract, I got laid off from my old job (a job that meant everything to me, btw).
I'm having some rather serious problems with what appears to be my usual allergies at this time of year—lots of coughing, to the point of injuring ribs, my sternum, and so on. I've also got another medical problem that hasn't been checked due to lack of medical insurance combined with the fear of huge hospital bills, at a time when I've already got bills I can't pay, and am basically scared to death of the thought of adding still more.... But that medical problem is, I'm sure, not in any way related to my allergies, after all, the coughing, etc., happens every year about this time of year, depending on exactly when the pollen comes out..... That problem had, by the way, also been around since somewhere about April, 2005.
Ok, so, it's the night before our employee Christmas party at The Summerhouse. The boss and I are just leaving, and we just happen to get on the topic of how my immune system is much stronger, thanks to my allergies constantly keeping it under pressure (i.e., the bright side of what I was going through at exactly that time), and how, unless a certain set of conditions are met, I very rarely get sick. Later that week, I had to call in sick several times, once with a fever of 103°F. I was sick (to the point of missing work) for almost a week, and then was recovering...or so I thought.
Still having the most unbelievable time getting over what I think is/was the flu. Constantly getting short of breath, particularly at work and when going up the stairs to my apartment...and it's getting steadily worse. My boss is starting to get both concerned and unhappy—I'm not able to do my job as well, but more importantly, he really wants me to see a doctor and get whatever it is taken care of.
Skip forward to the second of two nights off...it's now Thursday, 26Jan06. I've been thoroughly miserable, having difficulty breathing, for the last two days (longer, actually, but at this point it's gotten REALLY bad). It's about 2300L, and I've had enough. It's time to head for the emergency room, and to hell with the fact that it's another bill I can't pay.
After checking me out (and putting me on oxygen plus frequent respiratory treatments to try to improve my breathing, not to mention an IV), various tests, etc., the doctor tells me that the other problem that I didn't think was related was, in fact, very much at the heart of the matter—it was cancer, and it had spread to my lungs (seems my allergies had some company this year—company which was responsible for a LOT more of the problem than my allergies were).
I was admitted to the Cancer Care unit at Ft. Walton Beach Medical Center (room 464).
After one full day of tests (everything from chest X-Rays to a CT scan to ultrasound imaging to countless blood tests to .... it was eventually time to go to sleep, with surgery scheduled for first thing the next morning.
Big event for the 28th: surgery. One cancerous organ removed. After that, I woke up in my room, with an IV (same as before, except now they've added something new—a powerful pain reliever called dilaudid. I've heard this stuff compared to both morphine and opium...whatever it is, it's potent. Very potent......
For the 29th: recovery from surgery, more tests (I think), and getting ready for chemotherapy to begin tomorrow. More of the potent stuff in the IV, too...feeling no pain with that stuff in me. Of course, it's leaving my head a bit wonky, too...but....