8 - 28

Part 2

8/28

After a week of trying those protein shakes again and getting diarrhea so bad I had to take an Imodium, Nita asked me to either switch brands or stop all together.  So Thursday August 27, as we went to a Dr.s Appt with her, my stomach started rumbling.  It could have been any number of things.  Stress, I didn’t have time to eat what normally eat, I changed shakes, etc.  Anyway by that evening my stomach was distended and I was feeling sharp stabbing pains in my abdomen.  That night was terrible.  I couldn’t get comfortable, couldn’t pass gas, and even alka seltzer didn’t help.  In the morning I informed Nita that I was going to just get a laxative and maybe buy an activa yogurt, but I couldn’t take Connor to school.  I said I’d wait there with Josie until she got home.  She made me promise to go see a doctor. 

There is a new Austin Regional Clinic on 620 that is the best kept secret in Austin.  They have an awesome facility and no one knows about them, so you can always get a convenient same day appointment.  I made my appointment and at 9:30 went to see a provider.  He didn’t like the stomach distension and asked for some X-rays.  Again, this is a great place because the other facilities would have farmed me off to some other place and it might have been hours before the lab results were read and orders given.  This place has a lab and X-ray lab on site. When the film came back he pointed to two lines that he “didn’t like.”  He asked me to pick an ER.  I had that “Really” look like is it that big a deal?  He said I needed a CT scan, it might be nothing, but it could be a blockage and there was no sense in messing around with it. 

Now I’m thinking, this is going to get expensive fast, but what are you going to do.  So off to St Davids North Austin where a very good friend of mine Koushik Shaw, a Urologist, rounds and does surgery.  I texted him what was going on and he said he’d stop by.  The CT scan showed an inflamed appendix and a blockage of my colon (upper intestine).  The general surgeon was just coming around to say they were going to put an Nasal Gastro intestinal (NG) tube (runs from nose to stomach) to relieve some pressure because I wasn’t releasing any gas, there was a blockage, and frankly something would rupture if we didn’t relieve some pressure.  It would also buy us some time to figure out what might be causing the blockage.

Dr. Shaw walked in and asked if he could look at the CT scan.  He introduced himself to the surgeon on call as he had never met her.  When he had seen the scan he came back and held my hand and said, “Marco, there is more than just appendicitis here.  I’m sure this doctor is very capable, but with your permission, I’m going to replace your entire surgical team.  I’ve got guys who are specialists in every field you’ll be needing, and it might get a little political early on, but the NG tube will buy us enough time to get the right people in place to do everything the right way.  I also want you to know that the CT scan showed some nodules on your lungs.  That indicates that the blockage may be caused by a tumor in your colon that is cancerous and may have already started spreading to other organs.  But you hang tough, and try to relax, just know that I’m going to do my very best to get you the best.

He came to visit me that night and said I would spend the next three nights in the hospital getting drained, and having his team gear up.  They all accepted my case on a favor to him and I do not say lightly that I firmly believe Dr. Shaw saved my life that night.  He said he was up all night assembling this team and it also was pretty hard on him due to our friendship.  Afterwards I told him I would be one of the five people he meets in heaven.

Dr. Shaw showed up with Neil Peart, Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, and James Brown and said, I put together a little band for you, I hope you don’t mind.  In reality he did assemble the best colo-rectal, oncology, GI, etc. team that checked on me daily.  The surgeon Dr. Lakshman is a pioneer in robotics and because of him alone I left surgery with minimal entry points, small scars (mostly laparoscopic), no NG tube, and more importantly no colostomy bag.  He cut out 9 inches of colon, several polyps, high 20s number of lymph nodes, appendix and then reattached my upper and lower intestine.  He then went inch by inch over my colon to look for any polyps and found a few and removed them.  He was operating somewhat blind in that since the blockage was so severe they could not perform a pre-op colonoscopy.

Most were encouraged by my attitude, ease of acceptance of my situation, and willingness to do whatever it took.  I don’t think they see a lot of resolve anymore and it may have been refreshing because the oncologist was really wanting to come at me aggressively.  He then said, for the sake of your children and their medical history (any my lack thereof), I should schedule an MD Anderson visit to see his colleague.  He said the facilities are great, equipment is superior, and they can do some better genetic testing that my children can use down the road.  They were also very straight with me. There is no cure.  This will be a constant battle of getting me to state of remission, testing, re-attacking when it springs up again.  The finish line is when I decide to ring the bell.  The fight will last as long I choose to continue the fight.