Part 75 “Captain, we have sprung a leak!”


I start the next morning with a breakfast of cereal and blueberries, with fair success. At lunch break from work I have more luck with cream of mushroom soup (always easy to eat and tasty) and to some degree with a half grilled cheese sandwich. The dinner of salmon and Caesar salad is a flop, the former being too dry and the lettuce simply too difficult to swallow (they taste good, though).

On Wednesday morning I drive to the gigantic Champions Baptist Church, the site of my school district’s annual convocation/glorified pep rally. I take my seat alongside other staff members from my primary campus to listen to a Canadian speaker discuss the positive influences of the internet on students. First we must endure the cheerleader portion of the show, where each school in the district is introduced and everyone in that section stands and screams. Then we have the “heart wrenching” vocal (with band) performed earnestly by students. Eventually the speaker begins, and he is fairly interesting. When it is over, I stand to leave and suddenly feel something warm at my side. I walk briskly to the nearest exit, look down, and see dark fluid leaking all over my shirt and down my pants leg. I immediately untuck my shirt from my pants and try to hold a folder over the area as I practically run to my car. The fluid is suddenly pouring out. I drive home, which is fortunately close, as fast as I can.

I lie down in the bathroom and take off my clothes. The fluid is darker than Ensure and looks suspiciously like blood, so I am worried. Becah is calling every doctor on her list, and, since it is lunch time, no one is answering. We consider dialing 911 before we finally get Dr. Ra-’s office. They inform us that it is simply a leak in my tube, which happens occasionally, and that we should drive over to let him look at it. Fortunately, we already have an appointment with Dr. Ly- anyway, so we wrap me up and Becah drives downtown.

Dr. Ra- observes the tube, makes some minor adjustments, and I’m on my way. We walk over to Dr. Ly-’s office, where we wait for an astounding two hours (even watching the front desk staff go home for the day) before we are called in to his office (“sorry, he’s been running a little behind today”). He spends 45 minutes inspecting me very carefully and deliberately, and I am so impressed that I forget about the interminable wait. Maybe I’m just happy because he likes my last PET scan and, after inspection has determined that I am in “excellent” condition. I beg to differ with that description, but it sounds good to me anyway. He will see me again in three months and wants another scan done in six. Fortunately just routine follow up stuff.

Becah and I stop for Italian food on the way home. I order what should be easy on my throat – fettuccini alfredo. But I have difficulty swallowing even with that, and take most of it home to try later. The leaking at least appears to have stopped, so I am still in a good mood.