I don’t know if any of you have ever gone through this, but I went through a nasty health scare the past week or so. I had had a sore throat for about the past two -three weeks, and it would go away, come back, go away, etc., so finally last week I went to the doctor to get it checked out. I had no fever, just flu symptoms and a recurring sore throat.
At any rate, while there, my doctor mumbled something about leukoplakia over a molar, and as a former smoker, that sent me into near panic (for obvious reasons), and then after a battery of tests confirmed I did not have strep or mono or anything else, it was off to the CT scan. I’m not exaggerating when I state that the past week, until I got the results, has been one of near constant cancer panic. Maybe it was silly and I shouldn’t have been concerned, but I think all former smokers know what I am saying in that we all are waiting for the axe to fall at any given moment.
At any rate, I got the call a little bit ago, and I am clean. Today is a good day.
BTW, this is sort of related, but have any of you been reading the weekly Dana Jennings pieces at the NY Times? When people talk about the arrogance of newspapers and almost sneeringly want the papers to fail, I think of stuff like this and the NY Times magazine and all the good work they do and wonder if maybe people just don’t appreciate how good some of our newspapers really are.
wvng
John, glad you dodged the bullet.
The Grand Panjandrum
Great news. Does this mean we get a reprieve from the cranky Cole?
John Cole
@The Grand Panjandrum: Never.
Keith
As someone who has had a two week period of pins/needles waiting on an MRI re: a lump on the throat, I can empathize. That period of uncertainty is pure fear.
Lilly von Schtupp
Yipee! Glad you had some good news. Now relax and enjoy your new perspective.
Robin
What do/did you have, though.
John Cole
@Robin: A cold.
DougJ
Glad you’re okay! That would have scared the hell out of me.
DougJ
I totally agree.
But at the same time, the arrogance of the Times can be overwhelming. I guess I’d say that the Times is annoying, badly mismanaged, and not as good as it could be, given its resources, but that losing it would still be catastrophic.
Napoleon
Good to hear the good news John.
Newspapers, for all their faults, do some great work. As for the NY Times David Leohart (sp?) and Joe Nicero (sp?) have had some great pieces on the financial crisis. Every time my local paper p–s me off and I am tempted to cancel I think about how paying for it is a little like buying insurance on our democracy. Without them looking over the shoulders of officeholders they will be even more incomptent and corrupt then they already are.
The Grand Panjandrum
@John Cole: Good! I would have been very disappointed. The vinegary John Cole is the one I have come to admire.
Slash and burn, baby!
Again, glad to hear you are healthy and will be around for at least a while longer.
The Moar You Know
Daily chest pains, family history of heart disease. Kaiser refused to do an angioplasty. I’ve been dealing with this for months. Scared shitless, as anyone would be.
A couple of weeks ago, went out to see my old family doctor. Gave me a cortisone shot in the spine right between my shoulder blades. Bam. Pain gone. I sleep in a weird position and it’s been putting pressure on that disc and associated nerves. Learning to sleep in a new position is hard.
Been there, JC. Glad you’re OK.
Phaedrus
Glad to hear you’re doing well, John. I read every morning!
Leelee for Obama
Glad you got good news, John. That’s a scary time to go through.
sus
Glad to hear you’re doing well John.
Take more vitamins.
As for the newspapers, didn’t I see a clip of the CPAC where it was mentioned that the newspapers are in trouble, and the audience loudly applauded. I really don’t get it.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
Good to hear, JC. Since the demise of another great blogger (RIP), I’ve been living on daily portions of your "mordant wit"- and of course, the odd Tunchpic.
By the way– ain’t it great to have healthcare?
Media Browski
Glad to hear you’re well. My SO and I went through the real cancer thing, and every check-up is a minor panic.
Best to you and Tunch!
djork
Glad you’re well, John.
Yet another reason I’m slowly quitting. Yesterday was my first day of smoking only 2 per day. It went pretty well. I’m hoping today goes just as easily.
Send me good vibes, people.
schrodinger's cat
I am glad your health scare turned out to be a false alarm and that you are OK. Does Tunch take care of you when you are under the weather?
Hana
Then today is a good day for us too :)
edmund dantes
Good news. Always a good day when you can get that call.
Violet
Glad you are okay, John. Been in a similar situation with a lump in my bre*st. (Sorry for * – not sure what words will send me to mod.) Various doctor visits, mammogram, long wait for appointment with specialist, etc. I was young, in grad school, poor, and terrified. The waiting period was really tough. Like you the news was good in the end, so I’m familiar with the blessed feeling of relief. Glad it all turned out okay for you too.
Elroy's Lunch
Good news John. I hope Tunch made you some nice hot chicken soup. With matzo balls.
Persia
A scary damn cold! Glad you’re okay.
Poopyman
My father quit smoking on October 17, 1968, and he lived until 2000, age 87. (Died of an infection picked up in a hospital, but that’s another story.) My point is that quitting smoking does only good things for your body. Yes, you might have an elevated risk for some cancers, but having smoked earlier in life is no death sentence.
The other point I have is that I had a very similar cold, as have a lot of people I know. The way that cold virus has mutated is scary enough for me.
jnfr
I’m very glad to hear you’re okay.
Svensker
Now I understand why your posts lately have been scattered and slightly distant. Glad to hear the good news — and see lots of Ol’ John Cole posts up this morning.
Zifnab
Thank you for not dying! Plz stay in good health!
passerby
Glad to hear all is ok John. Lately I’ve been having that feeling like flu but not running a temperature too.
I’d like to echo was sus said upthread, and to everyone, take a daily multi-vitamin, even though you eat well. Anyone so inclined, take this challenge: take a multi everyday for 30 days and make water your main beverage. Expect to feel more energetic and some may even find weight loss easier. It’s a simple trial that will illustrate the impact of having adequate Vitamin stores in the body.
Sub clinical vitamin deficiencies go undiagnosed because correcting them does not require a prescription and Docs haven’t be trained to think that way.
As a smoker, several grams of Vit C daily is my best counter measure.
With regard to print publications, in my view, if more journalists would return to basic reporting instead of concerning themselves with writing a piece designed to draw o noes (Editors, take note), they might gain credibility. Seems like nowadays, every article is Op-Ed, laced with adjectives and adverbs aimed at conveying a point of view.
Or:
We’ve become a society of Jerry Springer or Billo type TV viewers who are addicted to being entertained by the misfortunes of others or always looking for a fight and demand that from the print medium too. Alas, if it bleeds, it leads.
Betsy
That’s excellent news. The father of two good friends of mine (never a smoker of anything other than the occasional joint) has had the most horrific battle with tongue cancer the last 5 years. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, and I’m very glad to hear you’re A-OK.
MarkusB
Congrats, John. I know the feelings, to some extent.
gil mann
I’ve got no substantial beef with the Times, but this is an example of its irreplaceable awesomeness? A piece about how medicine and science have their place, but what you really need to get through the tough times is religious faith?
Yeah, I can see how it’d be nice to believe in the afterlife when facing down the reaper, but just once I’d like to see an op-ed along the lines of "WORM FOOD: Why I Didn’t Start Believing in Metaphysical Nonsense Just Because it was My Ass on the Line."
Weird, me too. I usually don’t know what the big words mean on this blog; hell of a way to end a streak.
John Cole
@gil mann: I’m just pointing out that the Times, on top of all the other things they do, also has a variety of interesting things that many other news organizations do not.
I’m not religious, but I find that guy’s struggle interesting.
Screamin' Demon
1000 IU of Vitamin D would also be a good idea.
DanSmoot'sGhost
@djork:
Keep it up man.
3.5 years tobacco free and counting. As I always say, if I can do it, anybody can. I was the total tobacco addict, I’d eat the stuff for breakfast if it was safe. Im totally pathetic in the face of nicotine.
You can beat the weed.
Genine
I’m very glad to hear you’re OK, John.
Sending positive energy your way. We want you around for a good long while.
Jess
Yep–I got it too, including the re-occurring sore throat. It’s back again this morning. O joy.
Jay McDonough
Happy to hear you’re fine. I had a similar experience a while ago with a lump on my ball. After some 4 weeks of not knowing, finally had surgery – it turned out OK, scar tissue. But it scared the shit out of me.
And, without sounding too goofy, finding out everything is OK gives you this great sense of relief and freedom. It’s a shame it doesn’t last.
Violet
I wish I could get off sugar. That’s my addiction. I can’t seem to quit.
Billy K
Glad you got the good news, John. I went through something similar last summer, but in my case, it took several months to find out I was clean. It was nerve-wracking. And yes, as a former smoker, I am also "waiting for the axe to fall." It’s a lousy feeling, but I brought it on myself.
In the words of Brian Johnson, "have a drink on me."
Just Some Fuckhead
Did you figure out the sore throat? Maybe acid reflux?
Omeros Peanut
Good news, indeed. Did the sore throat go away on its own?
D-Chance.
Cole, quit watching so much House. Between all the "medical dramas", pharmaceutical ads, daytime talkies, etc, the country is becoming one big hypochondria patient.
It’s spring. When the highs get into the 80’s, then one cold front sends it back to the 20’s… it’s called "cold and flu season" for a reason.
And, BTW, how much did all this testing cost? You want a health care system everyone can afford, and they spend thousands to tell you you have a cold? The last time I had to visit a doctor, it was suggested I take an MRI (at an estimated $2300 plus all the associated extra costs) for a pain in my shoulder… which I declined and which turned out to be a simple pulled muscle, fixable with a few "free" (well, doctor’s visit and two x-rays = $150) samples of Mobic and a few days of resting the arm/shoulder.
gil mann
Oh, I got your meaning, I’m just saying that this is exactly the kind of thing you’ll find at any print media outlet.
What really setsTimes apart is the gay wedding announcements with unfortunate last names, e.g. "Steele-Cochran," though it looks like (hopefully) their monopoly’s coming to an end.
alamacTHC
Yeah I know the feeling. The worst 6 weeks of my life was the time between a diagnosis of kidney cancer & the removal & biopsy of the kidney which showed the cancer had not spread.
I just had a complete cancer checkup (2 years late due to lack of medical insurance) and am still cancer-free. But I tell you I hope I get killed by a falling tree or something–I really REALLY don’t want to go through that period of wondering again. You can concentrate on nothing but the fear, and you compulsively plan your demise & how you want to leave things. Horrible. Ain’t nothing like it, folks.
Glad you’re okay. Stay away from tobacco. If you gotta smoke, pot won’t hurt you (lungs clear after nearly 40 years of smoking–tho I recommend a good vaporizer instead of actually setting fire to it)…
John Cole
@D-Chance.: I don’t watch House, I had a sore throat and a lump in my throat for several weeks, I treated it as a cold until it would not go away, then I sought medical advice when it would not go away, and my doctor, not me, ordered the god damned tests.
I did everything exactly as you are supposed to.
Teemu
My father went through a medical check-up a while ago due to some very minor symptoms. They also took some samples to check for possible cancer ("very very improbable, but better to be sure"). Of course, since doctor mentioned cancer, he was quite a bit panicky before going back to hear the results.
Doc opened the file and began by saying "I’m very sorry to inform you that the cancer you have has already spread so widely that there’s nothing we can really do, except to relieve the pain so that…" Then he passed out. After waking up and crying and cursing for couple of minutes, he noticed that his name was misspelled on file cover.
– It’s Erik, with ‘k’. And the SSN is wrong, too!
– Oh. Heh. Let’s see… *clicketyclickety* Well, Erik, you’re clean. Sorry about that.
These few months since that have been the best time of his life. He seems like twenty years younger now, too.
Enjoy it while it lasts. I have to settle for the feeling of finding my wallet after couple of minutes of frantic searching.
Anne
Glad to hear you’re healthy, and good call to get it checked out. My grandmother is getting out of the hospital this week after her second throat cancer surgery in five years. They think that this one was due to the radiation they used after the first cancer was excised. Fortunately, other than slightly impaired speech and difficulty eating certain things, she’s as healthy and active as ever.
Hope that throat feels better, whatever it is!
Xanthippas
Well that’s a dumb comment. Cole is kinder to you than he should be, as his and your situation are not exactly comparable. If I had an ache in my shoulder I’d probably pass on an MRI too, mostly because it’d be a pain in the ass to get it done. As a matter of fact, I do have an ache in my shoulder, and have had for months, that I decline to do anything about because I’m busy, am pretty sure I know what it is, and don’t really want to mess with treating it right now. But if I went to the doc and he said "Well, there’s a small chance that this little sore throat of yours could be cancerous" you bet your ass I’d be lining up for every test he could give me that I can and cannot afford. Why? Because cancer, unlike the pain in my shoulder, CAN KILL ME. So a slightly different response is appropriate, methinks.
Anyway, nice try try cramming together two different anecdotes that don’t really fit so you can make your point about a nation of hypochondriacs and bad medical shows. Personally, I’m inclined to treat someone who’s had an even minor cancer scare with a little more sympathy and understanding.
Jeremy
Glad that you got the all clear, John.
I think I understand some of what you’ve been feeling: last year I had a testicular cancer scare. Like you, I got the all clear after a couple of weeks, but the waiting for the test results wasn’t much fun.
One difference between us, though, is that I didn’t feel freaked out or panicked or anything. Just… numb. I buried myself in my work, watched dvds, surfed the web – basically anything I could think of to avoid finding myself alone with my thoughts. Quite a lonely feeling, especially since I’m not one to share my problems with others.
You’re right. It’s a good day. :-)
Zuzu's Petals
Congratulations on taking care of yourself, John. That includes paying attention to symptoms and getting appropriate care.
Glad to hear all is well. Feel better soon.
TenguPhule
Yes, it means we get to poke fun at you on this blog for many years to come.
Sojourner
Congrats, John!
I wasn’t so lucky. I got breast cancer for Xmas.
Chasm
I had a similar freak-out a couple of years ago – sore throat, swollen glands – a throat specialist was stumped.
I found the answer browsing symptoms on the web: Bartonella, aka Cat Scratch Fever. After I suggested it, both Ridley and I tested positive. We both did Z-paks and that was that.
John Cole
@Sojourner: How are you doing?
justcorbly
And, BTW, how much did all this testing cost? You want a health care system everyone can afford, and they spend thousands to tell you you have a cold?
Yes, that is an epecially dumb statement. The only basis for making it is a willingness to allow some finite number of people — who cannot afford those tests and who, in fact, have cancer rather than a cold, and learn that sad fact only when pain compels them to seek care — to very likely die after facing catastrophic costs and bankruptcy.
Like most everything else about it, the right’s way of thinking demeans the concept of reason. They have fixated on one idea of the way the world works, and are vainly pounding it with sticks to make it conform.
John: I know exactly how you feel, altough I had to take it one more step. I was diagnosed with a malignant colon polyp several years ago, and found myself in surgery a few days later. It was a very happy day later that week when the surgeon told me the lab had called and said "We got it all. It hadn’t spread beyond the polyp." (Consider this the obligatory urging folks to get those colonoscopies. The more a polyp grows, the more likely it will become malignant. If the cancer spreads to the colon wall, you are looking at dire statistics.)