I am in a near panic mode as I look at the prospects of this surgical circus - a small brown patch on my shoulder has now ballooned into a major operation. I had expected some doctor to come along and simply cut a piece of skin off my body and that would be that. Maybe something in an office somewhere, under local anesthesia. And in a local atmosphere, maybe Allentown, 20 miles away, or worst-case, Wilkes-Barre. Show up in the morning, chop the little bugger off, and I'd be home in time for lunch. Now things are cascading out of MY control. I say "MY" because, as all of this starts to go down, I am learning that He is in control. Right now, I'm looking at major surgery, including plastic reconstructive surgery, to fix what I had thought was a very minor problem.
And as the picture starts to develop, I'm getting more and more worried. I talk to the plastic surgeon in Manhattan and get this story: I have the initial appointment on August 12th, which will be only a consultation on what procedures will be done. There will be other work to be done, and I will need to come back several times prior to the actual surgery. No way! This is how I'M going to do it - I'll talk to the first doctor, come back for the operation, and do all of the follow-up at W-B or Allentown. You will NOT make me go to NYC if I can help it. (And there I am, telling God what I'M going to do! I'm really good at bragging about prayer and miracles, but right now, I'm not following my own advice!)
After I get off the phone, I'm not a happy camper. WE JUST MOVED HERE, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!! I will not go to Manhattan willingly...they'll have to drag me, kicking and screaming, to that hospital. But my wonderful Jennifer manages to calm me down enough to suggest that we should pray about all of this, that God has brought us here, look at all He has done so far. Do you think He will not be here for us now? I hate it when she makes so much sense, but she's right. I'm deep in worldly concern, and not in my faith. But that is going to change.
Okay, Lord, what would you have me do? Well, first of all, use some common sense and admit that this is a serious issue and so far, everyone I have seen in the VA system has expedited my treatment. Is this SOP for the government? Absolutely, NO! Without sounding self-deprecating, I am a nobody. I served my country honorably, but I'm no hero. I'm not famous, I don't have "connections" anywhere, and I'm certainly not wealthy. There is no reason why this problem of mine should garner special attention.
But it has! The Orlando VA rushed my biopsy through. When the positive report came out, an appointment I had with the Allentown VA clinic was moved up a month and sent to W-B. The doctors at W-B had rushed through an appointment in Manhattan in what I consider record time. And now I'm bitching because I don't want to go to Manhattan! God, I am so sorry! You're the Man! I put myself in Your Hands! And when I released my fears and worries to Him, things began to change.
I had reluctantly accepted the initial appointment in Manhattan, but now Jen and I are figuring out how to get it accomplished. I have no idea on how I am going to get there, but now we have decided that I will drive over to W-B at 2 AM on the 12th, take the shuttle over, get through the consultation, take the shuttle back, and drive back home from W-B. Yeah, it'll be an all-day affair. But it has to be done, and there are no other solutions. Jen and I had even Mapquested the trip, thinking we could kennel the dogs and go together, but that idea was quickly shelved. I am not looking forward to this trip, but we have prayed about it; He is in control. And I am resigned to His will.
Why do I keep forgetting that we moved to PA to be with our family? And worse yet, why do I keep forgetting what "family" is? I have two wonderful daughters, two great sons-in-law, and (now) 7 beautiful grandchildren. Can anyone be more blessed? Well, God knows the heart, and daughter Annie just happens to stop by for lunch a week before the big trip. In talking about things, Jen mentions my upcoming trip to NYC, and describes the trip plan. And Annie tells her Mom that this is ridiculous, and that her husband, our son-in-law Dave will drive me to the hospital. Really??? I am dumbfounded! Speechless, even! Really? Thank you so much, Annie! It is as if someone had lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. I still have this trip to make, but at least it will be with family. W-B calls to tell me that my seat on the shuttle has been confirmed, and I happily tell them that I will not need it, as I have a ride!
I arrive at the hospital, and after a few minutes, I meet Dr. Zampell. The meeting goes something like this: Dr. Z checks out the melanoma and marks out some measurements around the area. She tells me that another surgeon will have to remove this piece from my shoulder. In addition, and I am learning new things all the time, cancers like this drain into lymph nodes, which may also become cancerous, so before any surgery, I will also be going to the nuclear medicine department, where they will inject a radioactive material around the melanoma and then trace it to a connected lymph node. Another surgeon will remove one or two lymph nodes for biopsy after the cancer has been removed. And THEN Dr. Zampell will cut a "flap" out of (hopefully) my armpit area and rotate it up and into the affected area, and close everything up. So, in this order: nuclear scan of my lymph nodes, removal of the cancer, removal of 1-2 lymph nodes, and flap surgery to finish up. How long will this take, doc? "Oh, about 3 hours."
Well, that's a mouthful! What's next? "You'll need to see the doctors that will be doing the main surgery. You can come back on Friday..." No, I cannot come back on Friday. What part of "I live 100 miles away" are you not hearing? Dr. Zampell makes a few phone calls and tells me that she has talked to the other doctors involved, and that we can meet with them today. "About how long will that be?" Oh, about 2-3 hours. Again I'm stymied - my son-in-law is sitting in the lobby waiting to take me back home, and the parking garage ticket is running out. I tell Dr. Z that I cannot wait that long, and that we'll have to get together by phone to work out the details. And she picks up her cell-phone and makes a call, and about 10 minutes later, I have the surgical staff in my examination room. And for the next 15 minutes, they talk to me, question me about my health, and explain what they will be doing. In a little more than an hour, we have accomplished what was going to take at least another week to do.
But there are other details - I have to come back in a week for what the hospital calls "pre-bed," which involves stress testing, blood work, EKG...all of the things that I have to pass before they will operate on me. Surgery will be the following week. Today is August 12th. I have to be here on the 21st for the pre-bed. Surgery will be on the 28th. Now, I have already had a consultation with the doctors that was supposed to happen in a week - that happened in 2 hours. Dr. Z tells me that the hospital will be in touch with me about the follow-ups, and I thank her and say goodbye, but what is going through my head is how I am going to meet these other appointments. I need a "wormhole" between Palmerton and Manhattan. There is no way I'm going to continue this 100-mile commute.
I'm so glad to be home from this trip, and still in suspense over what will happen next. How am I going to make another trip next week, and yet another one the following week for my surgery. Jen and I pray about this - we know that He has been working His miracles so far, and we put this in His hands once more. Our prayers are answered once more when the phone rings a few days later, a call from the Manhattan VA. It is one of the oncological surgeons that I saw on the 12th. They have decided that the surgery should be performed on the 23rd instead of the 28th. These doctors have changed their schedules to accommodate me. They ask if I can come over a few days early to get the pre-bed done, and I tell them that the soonest I can get a ride is the 21st. After a few minutes on hold, I am told to get there any time before 7 PM on that day - they will admit me, and do the pre-bed the following day. The doctor tells me that they usually want these tests done a week before to avoid having to cancel surgery if testing shows problems, but that my charts look good, I appear to be fairly healthy, and so they will go with the operation the following day, the 23rd.
And so, my surgery has been accelerated, I don't need to make any more trips to NYC until the week of my operation. This whole thing has been shortened by a week, doctors have changed their schedules for moi! And they have waived standard hospital procedures in doing so. None of this has happened because I have begged and pleaded, because I had some influence, because I was someone special. It has happened, I believe, because of my faith, our faith, me and Jen. God has opened these doors and made all of this happen.
(to be continued...)
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