An Anniverary Of Sorts.

So I was looking through some of my old post when I came across a blog I wrote just over a year ago..... And I missed an anniversary of sorts.

In this particular blog I mentioned how I had received the all clear on the tumor that they found in my esophagus. And with that came the news that I was all done with my trips down to the Mayo Clinic. I had ended one big part of this journey. A little over a year ago the hospitalization portion of this adventure stopped and it is kind of a big deal.

You see since then: 

I have not had to be admitted back into the hospital even once. 

I have not had to worry about how I was going to get to and from Rochester or who was going to drive me.

I have not had to worry about strictures.

I have not had to have dilations, or talk about getting another “damn stent”. 

I have not had a I.V. stuck in my arm.

I have not been put to sleep.

Now that is not to say that this year was filled with sunbeams and unicorns. Plenty of things have happened to take the place of hospital stays, as they say "life goes on". I also don't go a day without being reminded that I do not have a stomach. I have to think about it every time I eat, because if I don't then something gets stuck. Yes, even after all this time without a stomach, I still get food stuck on more occasions than I care to admit. When food gets stuck, then the area where the food is stuck swells and nothing goes down. Not even water. So once this happens there is nothing I can do about it except wait it out.

It is just my new normal but it is a new normal without a hospital stay.

On a side note, I have finished getting the steroid injections for my scar. All in all I had four sets of steroid injections. They were painful but they seem to have done the trick. My scar is not as pronounced as it once was.

The next step in this process happens on May 3rd when I go back to the U of M for a “training” session . They are going to be training on a new laser procedure which they hope will help reduce the redness of the scar tissue. Since it is a training session, there will be 25-30 people in the room when they do the procedure and I will be their test rat. Test Rat, another bucket list item checked off.

Funny story though. When the Dr. was “selling” me on this idea, he mentioned that it was totally safe and I didn’t need to worry about it. The most common side effect was an upset stomach. I just stared at him.
He went on to tell me that they could give me some medication before the procedure to lessen the impact to my stomach if I was concerned about it. Again I didn’t say anything I just looked at him and smiled. Really? 
It must have been five minutes later when he stopped mid-sentence and started to laugh. “telling a guy without a stomach that I could give him something to calm his stomach…. It’s gonna be a long day.” 
And I agreed to let this guy shoot me with a laser!  At least the procedure is free.

Hear the echoes and feel yourself starting to turn
Don't know why you should feel
That there's something to learn
It's just a game that you play

(Time Passages.  Al Stewart)