Monthly Archives: February 2010

Well, I’m finally out of the hospital and back in the apartment.  It was a lengthier stay than anticipated, but everything is good now.  After my lung surgery I developed a 3mm air leak in my lung, which soon grew to 6mm, and then grew to 2cm.  After 6 days in the hospital the leak finally started healing and I was discharged.   I’m left with 3 sore incisions a little longer than an inch each, but I am breathing much easier now that the chest tube is gone.  It ended up that the chunk that they removed from my lung was 2cm by 3cm by 8cm.  So far, all the results coming back have all been negative, so they’ve never really figured out what it was.  I met with my team doctor today and it was determined that we would let me recover about another week before we begin the transplant process. 

while in the hospital, my hair started growing like a weed!

6 millimeters… it’s hardly visible to the naked eye, but can make for a huge difference in a bunch of things.  My first thoughts would be to make an analogy with a sporting event, for instance, in baseball it could be the difference between a home-run and a long fly ball.  But really, is that true? I mean 6mm is pretty small, I somehow think there is a little more than a 6mm forgiveness when hitting a baseball out of the park.  But, what about a 6mm air-leak on a cycling tire?  How long would a tire hold air if there was a 6mm air-leak? 

Well, I’m still in the hospital because of a 6mm air-leak.  At first I was like, “are you kidding me?”.  How can you see a 6mm air leak on an x-ray?  But then I got to thinking, that I am very grateful for the skilled radiologist who saw this mi-nute leak.  Because, much like a cycling tire, a small air leak is ok in the short run, but over time, an air-leak in the lungs can become very dangerous.  So, even though I had not planned on sitting in a hospital room for the past 4 days with an uncomfortable chest tube dangling out of my chest, I know it’s for the best.  Apparently I guess if I swallow some gum, it will only plug the hole for 7 years, and they’re looking for a longer term fix

Somehow, going into this procedure, I didn’t think it was that major of a surgery.  But really, I’m not sure how or why I thought that as I knew that they were going to have to collapse my lung to get to the area.  The day after surgery was definitely one of the more painful days I’ve experienced, and I’m still reminded of the chest tube every breath I take, but today I was able to walk two loops, and I’m starting to be able to think a little clearer.  Let’s just mark this one on the list of things I probably won’t want to do again. 

LivingSTRONG!

Tim

Husky Stadium, Lake Washington, Blue Skies, & Sunshine

While it’s a great view, we didn’t expect to be in the hospital today. But the right top of Tim’s lung is still a bit “flat,” so the Dr chose to leave the suction tube in one more day. (Tim says it feels like he has a chicken bone stuck in his lung–not good!)

However, the initial reports coming in from the pathologist are great news; it’s not Hodgkin’s! The BIG question of “what is it?” is still unknown.

So…while things are still out of our control, this is the day the LORD has made, and His love endures forever!

God is good all the time; it’s a matter of trust.
Phyllis

Well, about 9:00 this morning our RockStar had his thoracic surgery at the UW Medical Center. It only took about 45 min for Dr Mulligan to remove a wedge of Tim’s lung that contained all 3 of the “lung issues”:  the one calcified nodule plus the infection and the 2 new, smaller nodules. The wedge was sent to the path lab, and we should have results in 5-7 days.
 
Tim got to his room (on the 8th floor overlooking Huskie Stadium) at 1:00 p.m., and from there it’s been a “normal” day after just having had surgery: much pain, nausea, etc. They keep telling him he’ll feel well enough in the morning to go home, but as yet, he’s not buying! 

Rockin to "I Love Rock & Roll"

I did meet the surgeon today, Dr. Michael Mulligan.  He’s quite the surgeon.  He is the only lung transplant doctor in the Northwest and is on call 24/7.  The downside is that if a transplant comes up, then I will be delayed again.  He seems pretty confident that he will be able to remove the abnormality in my lung by doing a VATS  procedure, which is much less invasive than the alternative.  He stated that if his partner were doing the procedure that I would have an incision 6-10 inches and he would have to spread apart my ribcage and remove a rib to be able to get to the area.  I’m very thankful to be able to get in with Dr. Mulligan in short notice.  I’ll probably be in the hospital at least one-two nights until they can remove the breathing tube.

My Aunt Ronna and Cousin Rachel left this morning, and we were sad to see them go.  We had a great time with them!  The only downside was that it rained every single day they were here.  But today, as soon as they left, the sun came out While they were here they saw a glimpse of  how fast my schedule can change.

On Thursday I received a schedule stating that I was going to begin my conditioning phase on Saturday.  On Friday I was told to throw that schedule away because we were delayed again.  My most recent CT scan revealed that the “thing” in my lung had decreased in size, but that there were two more new “things” that just showed up in this last scan.  When we left the clinic I was given a schedule telling me to come back on Monday for another dr. visit, around 5pm my mom got a call from the clinic with 2 more appointments on Tuesday, and then about 6pm, I received a call telling me to dis-regard all of those appointments because they’ve scheduled me for Thoracic surgery on Wednesday. 

So, as of now, that’s the plan.  On Wednesday I’m scheduled for Thoracic surgery to either remove the “thing(s)” or get a biopsy.  So far, all of the results from the last biopsy have all been negative. Not a whole lot more to update at this point.

At the table with Rachel and Ronna while it's raining outside

I was sitting down ready to write a big sentimental post since one year ago on Tuesday (Feb. 9^th) was when I was first diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.  I was thinking how I would recount how the past year has forever changed my life, but I must have writer’s block, because not a whole lot is coming to my mind.  The thing is, when I say that my life has forever been changed, most people will probably read into that statement and assume that it has changed in a bad way, but that isn’t necessarily the case.  It’s just a fact, that my life is much different, and will always be different, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The truth is that I have grown so much throughout the last year.  I have been able to interact with many people that I would have never interacted with had it not been for this experience. 

As I recount back one year ago to the day that Dr. Schwarz informed me that I had Hodgkins Lymphoma, I remember many many questions and thoughts running through my head about the unknown and what the future held for me.  Here I am, one year later, and the same is true, many many thoughts run through my head about the unknown of the future.  Even though there are many questions about the unknown of the future,  what I do know, is that God has carried me through and provided for me this past year, and I have faith that He will continue to carry me through and provide for me moving forward. 

Today I had another CT scan of my chest and we also had our weekly doctors visit, but still no results regarding what is in my lung.  Tomorrow we are scheduled for my data review, and supposedly they’re supposed to have a little more info.  We got the hint from my nurse today that the doctor is likely going to tell us in the data review tomorrow that we’re ready to move forward.  If that is the case, it sounds like I could begin as soon as Saturday. 

Today my dad flew in as well as my Aunt Ronna and Cousin Rachel from Reno.  It’s going to be a quick weekend as we try to squeeze in as many Seattle sites as we can while they are here, but I am excited to spend it with them!

On a side note, my mom and I went to Microsoft this week.  While I was there, I was offered the CEO position to take over for Steve Ballmer.  Here I’m seen going to my orientation, but it looks like if I’m going to start my transplant process this week, I might have to turn down the job and the millions of dollars that would come with it and go through the transplant. 

being the CEO of Microsoft really isn't all it's cracked up to be... they still make you go to the new employee orientation with everyone else

The transplant is delayed until they find out what is on my lungs

  Well, yesterday (Sunday) was supposed to be the first day of my conditioning phase, where I begin getting high dosages of radiation and chemo, but the process has been delayed.  During the past week one of the tests revealed a spot on my right lung that the doctors aren’t sure what it is, and they don’t want to proceed until they know.  So, instead of having chemo, I got 4 clinic-free days to do whatever I wanted!  It was perfect timing as Derek, one of my best friends from college, flew in from Ohio for the weekend, and so we had plenty of time to see the Seattle sites.  The clinic gave us free passes to go up the space needle, go on a site seeing harbor cruise, and also to a basketball game (which by the end I was too tired to go to the basketball game), but we had a great time. 

This weeks schedule is tentatively pretty light until they can find out what is on my lung.  I’m scheduled for a bronchoscopy on Tuesday, where they will stick a small camera up my nose and down to my lungs to hopefully find a diagnosis.  My mom has a few “care giver” classes that she has to attend, but other than a few blood draws, that’s about all we have scheduled for now for this week.  This morning we took both Derek and my dad to the airport to fly back to their respective destinations. 

Derek and I enjoying a cup of coffee...trying to fit in as Seattle-ites