Thursday, June 1, 2006

Post-surgery Check-up

Went to see the doctor for a post-op check-up. He looked at how much blood/fluid had collected in the drains since the operation (about 70 ml. on the right, 30 on the left). He said it’s not the amount of fluid that’s important, but the color and consistency. Like wine. Dark black and thick, BAD. Light pink and thin, GOOD. So we don’t want a Shiraz or Bordeaux; we’re going for a Zinfandel or Rose. When it turns a golden color (champagne!), he said the drains are ready to come out. He said to come back in two days.

People try to make you feel better about cancer by saying that we’re all dying and any one of us could be hit by a bus any day so you never know when you’re going to go. Getting hit by a bus and dying of cancer is a bad analogy. That bus is not following you around everywhere you go with the sole purpose of killing you. So I think people should just stop it with the bus.

Frankly, sometimes I think I’d rather be hit by a bus. At least I wouldn’t know what hit me. Cancer is more like a slow-moving vehicle that’s coming right at you and you have to keep trying to dodge it. A slow, boring, laborious death. Getting hit by a bus is at least interesting. “How did it happen? Did the bus run a light? Did she die instantly?” No such questions with cancer. When someone dies of cancer, people don’t ask for details. They just nod sadly and that’s that.

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