The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #124413   Message #2749757
Posted By: GUEST,Bat Goddess at Holiday Inn
21-Oct-09 - 05:54 PM
Thread Name: BS: Curmudgeon's Vocal Cord Cancer, Oct. 2009
Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Vocal Cord Cancer, Oct. 2009
Ah hah! Finally got online via the hotel's business center.

What Mary said -- when I got back to the hospital (go in closest entrance to hospital, take elevator to Main Lobby, got to other side of Main Lobby, go down corridor a couple miles, turn left at Ellison Corridor, take Ellison elevators to 3, walk down another long corridor, beg entrance at PACU..., they'd returned Tom's clothes from wherever they held them hostage and had unhooked most of the stuff connected to him. (Spent the next half hour finding and removing other connections.) We needed to get to Dr. Z's offices in the Voice Center in Bowdoin Square, so they organized the shuttle. Finally, they took Tom by wheelchair to the opposite side of the hospital (through corridors Mary & I hadn't traversed previously), and the shuttle got us to about a half block from the Voice Center. Upt to the 11th floor, then wait. Then get into examining room...and wait. Snake cameras down his throat & nostril...and wait. Sonny came in and entertained us. Dr. Z wanted more pics...moved to another room, waited. More stuff snaked through nostril...and waited.

Yes, Tom's curmudgeoning. Finally got several more appointments sorted out, got the shuttle called and made it back to the hotel a little after 5. Had to go fill a prescription. Hope to get back to the room in a couple minutes so we can find close food.

Since Tom won't look at any of the pictures of his throat & vocal cords, I'm on more intimate terms with them than he is. And, by the way, the doctor who did the biopsy and told him it was "early stage" was full of compost right up to his eyeballs. It's been brewing for years -- right vocal cord is a goner and part of the left was involved. It's going to be a looooong haul with lots of work involved for both Dr. Z and Tom. But Tom's in a pretty positive state considering he can't have caffeine during the healing process -- or beer (carbonation), etc.

Thanks for EVERYONE's good wishes and positive thoughts.

By the way, Mary -- the name of the nurse that was taking care of Tom today was Mary Sullivan. I didn't actually look at her tag until I went back after you left. She got a kick out of it, too.

Linn