July 12, 2024

Consult with the thoracic surgeon today puts me on a quick schedule for another surgery. I go in Monday for a lung function test, and then surgery on Thursday, with an overnight stay in the hospital. Surgery involves a breathing tube in my right lung, then my left lung will be purposely collapsed. Three small incisions will be made about two-thirds the way down my left ribcage. A little camera goes in one, and the other two are for operating. A V-shaped portion will be cut from the very top of my left lung, with the nodule in the point of the V. Then samples will be taken from the nearest lymph nodes. All of that goes to Pathology to find out for certain what the nodule is. Could be melanoma that's spread from my head, or some form of pneumonia. Either way, the problem will be resolved, and if it is cancer, the immunotherapy later on will finish the job. Then everything inside and out is closed up, and my lung gets reinflated. Then I wake up in the recovery room with it all done. It sounds like a huge deal all spelled out like that, and it certainly isn't small, but it's a fairly straightforward surgery that will have me home the next day. And after a scalp excision, skin graft, and neck dissection (no shit, that's really the technical term for the removal of the lymph nodes behind my ear), this one will be an easy experience.

Somehow, I'm still taking this all in stride. Still surprising myself with that. I used to be most comfortable wallowing in my own misery. Now I don't really have any, and I'm finding a lot of that is a matter of choice. It's just a set of things that needs to be gotten through, and it's easiest to just get on with it. Some of it even makes me laugh at times because it's all part of how absolutely absurd life is.