Monday Another Colonoscopy Done

I always cover the scenario that the colonoscopy will find a tumor of cancer, and I have only a few years then to enjoy my IRA money. That world cruise becomes a likely choice as I try to close out this life with nothing left for my estate. But only six polyps were found and removed. Nothing to be too concerned about, and it is unlikely to require concern anymore. Next, I have a CT scan including my neck, and if that shows no changes like the last two (the MRI of my head showed no change, and thus the tumor there seems to be gone), then that brings a close to this adventure with cancer and brain tumors.

Rising at 4:30 to drink the potion and then exit it, and whatever it carried, was the early and later morning. Just as annoying as before and left my lower end uncomfortable. In 2029, at the next colonoscopy prep, I will buy softer toilet paper! I had gotten into the habit of buying the cheaper, thinner stuff. I will splurge from here on!

I was tired and dizzy but still functional. The figures and some Call of Cthulhu tabletop role-playing material I put out to work on got no attention, and I made no progress. I finished my Japanese novel, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, and was less happy with its second half. I cannot recommend it, but I would suggest it is still a good entry point to new Japanese stories.

I also finished Season 3 of Ted Lasso, which is also the end of the stories based on the original show. Season 4 starts new stories, from what I can tell. I am not ready to start the new arc. Deborah has started the next season and said they pulled off a new start. Excellent.

Winter is coming. I am waking later and later as the sunrise moves to 6 and sunset to 8 in Oregon. It is still desert August, with cold mornings and hot 90+ Monday afternoons. I stayed in the cold, with the AC on, at the facility and at home.

Next, at 9:40 or so, Joan S picked me up, and we made a quick trip to NW Portland near Good Samaritan Hospital. We parked on the street, but the door would not open as the curb was too high. Interesting. I had not noticed that the curbs are too high in part of Portland. Some go back to the Great Depression, when the government, like during the Great Recession, undertook many shovel-ready projects. A few are even older, with horse hitches. I thought that horses don’t have doors, and cars and wagons were higher then, I guess. With some maneuvering, I was able to get out (and later back in). It was a short walk to the office; this was not in the hospital.

We went to the wrong office, and Joan S spotted the note to send us to the sixth floor. At the correct location, I checked in and was soon in the hands of Ben, an RN, who had me IV’d, put me in a gown, and put me in a bed. I met Ann, the anesthesiologist, who checked my answers to questions and then rolled me to another room with another nurse and Doctor H. I was happy to discuss my medical past, and Doctor H was able to recall that I had colon cancer and was up to date on my history. I was then happy to proceed. Ann got a huge plastic syringe, and what I soon realized was propofol (it can be quite painful), and she asked me where I wanted to dream about as a vacation: “Rome, the Dan Brown tour.” The pain in my hand was quite intense as she did a full push. She squeezed my hand as I did not enjoy the process; that helped, and the pain–or more correctly–I stopped.

I awoke to another nurse or nurse aide; I never read her badge and decided to rest a bit more, as I was not quite myself. Likely ten minutes later, quite happy to be over this and reading the report (six and no concerns), I returned to my swimsuit, sneakers, and Kolchak T-Shirt and was soon out. The T-Shirt, part of the swag from a Kickstarter to republish the original book that started it all (here is the amazing opening credits scene of the TV series). I explained the shirt to some folks who had not heard of it. I have been tempted to write a fan story, but the material is still copyrighted and would have to remain within fair use and fan-level guidelines.

Joan S was able to drive me home (she had a misadventure, but that is her story to tell), and we stopped at Gyro House to get me a to-go lunch. I thanked her (THANKS, JOAN S!!!!!!), and she headed home. I ate too much food, but I was still flaky and should have stuck to just the soup. Joan had reminded me to text Deborah, and that was about as far as I got (I forgot to send a note to Linda, my sister, and others later, too). Deborah found it fun that I was still high on propofol, and we had a silly chat. All good. It was good to be silly again after recent events.

I slept until 5. I woke up, and I was dragging and slightly nauseated, and things were still adjusting post-procedure, and again I regretted my toilet paper choices. I started the alternative history Star City on Apple and found it an interesting retelling of the successful Soviet space race in the 1960s-70s, with the horror stories of the Gulag and state-led surveillance. The show tells the story of the cosmonauts, scientists, and engineers through recordings from the bugged rooms (which give the audience an explanation of how we know so much about the characters). I find myself cheering the Chief Designer and hoping they can stop whatever nefarious plans the US has to stop them or to steal their secrets. While dark and awful, the story arcs are interesting, and I love a good spy story, and this had rockets and space travel. I really enjoyed it and binged through four hour-long episodes. It is, from what I read, a one-season show and related to For All Mankind, which I might have to watch too.

I was still not feeling that well. As I said above, I skipped any meaningful work and did brain cookies like Star City instead. I looked at various DoorDash offerings, and nothing worked for me. At one funny moment, I found all these new places to order from and realized I was delivering this to the hotel I stayed at in St. Louis. Hmmm. Yes, propofol leaves you less capable than you realize!

I finally decided I was hungry, ordered from The Cheesecake Factory for too much money, and had their most excellent Chinese-style salad delivered with a banana cream cheesecake and two scoops of ice cream. It was lovely, and I felt much better. I had 1/2 of it, and the ice cream was delivered still frozen! The rest is in the fridge/freezer for Tuesday’s quick dinner.

Fed, and it was now past 10:30; after another Star City episode, I headed to bed. I read some more of The Yellow King by Richard W. Chambers, an acquaintance of H.P. Lovecraft, finding stories I do not recognize in this special (and expensive) annotated version I purchased from Subterranean Press. 

Thanks for reading.