From the Inside Out

This morning I went for an endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration because the CT scan taken ten days ago indicated something growing on my spleen. They sedate you during the procedure which requires putting a flexible tube with an ultrasound transducer through your mouth and down into the esophagus.

They wheel the gurney into the procedure room. Dr. Mohamed tells me he will do the procedure.

I say, "See I brought the mountain to Mohamed." He is young and laughed at my joke.

Left on my left side, the last thing I remember the nurse putting a plastic guard into my mouth to protect my teeth. When I awoke, I could feel the tube in my throat and wanted to cough. Next memory I am in recovery and the nurse wants me to drink and eat a cookie.

My throat is sore. My side is sore.

We have a diagnosis.

I have a gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) growing on the outside on my stomach. It measures 31 x 29 mm and it may have been there for a few years. It will grow bigger and when it does it is almost always malignant.

Removal of this GIST will happen soon enough but first they want the cytology report.

Knowing doesn't always make you less anxious.