Day 17 - October 2

Today was a long, but good day. Thankfully, on top of all the good news we received today we received even better care and tumor humor!

We arrived at Tacoma General at 6:00 AM ready for Kim's second biopsy in 9 days. Today's was what is called a mediastinoscopy. They knocked her out with general anesthesia and removed a golf-ball sized amount of tumor tissue, as well as some fatty material, to test. At this point, nothing about the tumor is screaming cancer, and they are leaning away from lymphoma. It still could be some disease of the thymus, including germ cell tumor or a thymoma. They did say that the really bad bad bad stuff would be obvious. They didn't see that. That is good good good. She recovered well and came home at about 3:00 PM after spending an hour in the operating room.

I have to say again the doctors, nurses, and support staff are fantastic at TG. There was a woman of retirement age working as a volunteer in the waiting room. We briefly checked in, gave her our names, and she remembered who we were all day, finding us whenever there was updates without having to page us or ask us for our names. She was adorable.

Now...for tumor humor.

• We were asked again today if she was depressed or had significant changes. Duh.


• She was NOT asked if she was smokin' hot or pot, though she was hot!


• Her mother told her she has had good luck with some anesthesia called "Milk of Amnesia". Ironic she forgot the technical name, eh? The anesthesiologist (whom she wants to marry, much like the anesthesiologist from child birth) was freakin' hilarious. He informed us that "Milk of Amnesia" is actually something called Propofol. Those not living under a rock recognize this as the stuff that Michael Jackson was on. I now call is Michael Jackson Juice. Didn't work out so well for him...worked beautifully for Kim. Don't know if it is coincidence or not that she moon-walked out of the hospital. Hmmmmmm...


• When asked about intibation he said it would happen. Kim asked if she would be out by then...he said no. He said most people don't choke that much, and then when all the color was completely gone from her face he smiled and said "Just kidding!" Gotta love someone who has fun at work!


• Our new surgeon today, Dr. Anderson, was great. He explained that he thought the tumor was high in her chest, thus not requiring him to dig deep in her chest looking for it. This is good considering that the heart, lungs, arteries and veins are all deep in the chest. The quote of the day came from him..."We don't want to go in too deep and start poking skunks."

For those keeping score at home:
1)Thymoma
2)Germ Cell Tumor
3)Goiter
4)Gargoyle
5)Skunk

I'm so confused.

Overheard in the waiting room:
(Two friends talking) "She has a big heart shaped ass! It's a nice ass. What shape ass do I have?"
(Same two friends walking past us later...two adults talking) "Really? You're reading a book without pictures?"
Observation: We're sitting in the surgical waiting area of TG, which is beautiful. People have surgery because they are sick. This makes me want to be healthy. Why is it then that the other people waiting had brought a dozen donuts to eat, and another woman was eating a whole bag of puffy spiral Cheetos? I had to laugh...and craved celery.

Doctor is pleased with the samples, and explained that Kim may feel discomfort for a few days as he pulled out fatty tissue (lipo for her thoracic cavity?) and a big tumor chunk and left a void in her chest. Reminded me of a song from first grade. Remember the song about a hole in the bucket? I offer my own version:

(Steve) There's a hole in your thymus dear Kimi dear Kimi. There's a hole in your thymus dear Kimmi a hole.

(Kim) Well why dear Stevie dear Stevie dear Stevie. Well why dear Stevie dear Stevie well why?

(Steve) Your tumor dear Kimi dear Kimi dear Kimi. Your tumor dear Kimi dear Kimi your tumor.

You get the drift.

So...we're home and resting. Kim was fully scrubbed from the edge of her chin to her navel with betadyne...she looks like a hot oompa loompa! She's a trooper. We both appreciate all the support. Email is good now as she has no voice. When we hear word back...you'll be updated.

Have a great weekend.