Geek and SWMBO Medical

Thanks for all the friends, new and old, who have responded to the medical reports I've been sending out lately. Your support and concern is very much appreciated. I've not intended to play on your sympathies, I only wanted to let you know why we haven't been showing up at matches much lately.

SWMBO and I both had doctor appointments today, here's what is going on.

SWMBO:
... was in the hospital for a few hours this morning for a second Biopsy. You may recall that the last one, a Bronchoscopy (sp?) and biopsy was not successful in gathering enough material in the infected pocket of her right lung to determine the nature of the infection (I use the word advisedly ... so far, we don't know what it is that lingers from her 'walking pneumonia'.)

We were told that the first biopsy attempt was dramatically unsuccessful, and the second attempt would include an incision in the chest wall to insert a fiber-optic cable and 'surgical instruments'.

A consultation with the new surgeon revealed that a different procedure would be possible, where they performed the biopsy via a needle inserted into the lung via the chest wall. (Actually, through the back.) This was performed this morning, and as I was unable to accompany SWMBO to the hospital I waited nervously all morning to hear from her. About 12a:30 I called her on her cell phone. She was in a restaurant, eating lunch with her sister, who had accompanied her to the hospital as a driver.

She was fine, the procedure was a success and it provided sufficient material for a biopsy. Since the procedure was performed under a local rather than a general anesthetic, she was not groggy ... just hungry, because she had not been allowed to eat breakfast.

I saw her later in the afternoon and she seemed fine; no problems other than that she was very tender on her back. She'll receive more information about the results of the biopsy from her physician next week.

GEEK:
I also had a medical appointment this week. My exam by my new doctor earlier this week revealed no urgent need for treatment, so this was only an Ultra-Sound examination by a technician, to search for anomalies in the veins and artery in my left leg. After a 30-minute examination, the technician reported that she could see no signs of either an aneurysm or blockage, so I don't expect any immediate medical complications.

Of course, the results of the Ultra-Sound examination still needs to be interpreted by my doctor. However, he will be on vacation next week, so it will be the second week in August before he has the opportunity to review the results. That shows you how concerned he is. (Nothing against The Good Doctor, it's just that he doesn't consider my condition to be any kind of emergency.) My guess is that he will send me for a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to search for a cause of the discomfort.

I'll keep you informed. Okay, it may not be very interesting to you, but it helps me to write it all down.