Borderline normal

My gastroenterologist has a habit of being the bearer of bad news. He's the first doctor ever who told me I have a small hernia. He's the one who performed the colonoscopy and told me I had cancer. He always shares the bad news first and might get around to the good news later. Of course he, along with the rest of the medical profession, communicates using a foreign language which needs translation into English through an interpreter. So, the first thing the doctor does is ask the rhetorical question that I think all health care providers should strike from their vocabulary, unless they REALLY mean it, which they usually don't. When the receptionists and nurses in the doctors office ask this question, I usually just ignore the actual words and just play the game and give the pat answer. But when a doctor asks the question, I give a truthful answer. So, when the doctor says, "Hello, how are you?" I told him, "I'm sick!" He looked taken back for a second, as if he was deciding whether one of us should be wearing a mask so as to decrease the chance of disease transmission. Then it dawned on him what I meant and he said, "You're not sick; you just have a 'problem' that we're going to take care of." Sorry, Doc...but in *my* book, having cancer qualifies as being sick.

The next thing he did was share with me the results of the EKG and echocardiogram tests that were performed last week. Now before I reveal the results, I want to remind everyone that when I had this test performed (see several blog entries ago), the technician was so impressed with my heart pattern that he asked me if I was a runner. True to form, he tells me the echocardiogram revealed that I have "mitral valve prolapse". After I struggle to pronounce the words myself and write them down but still have a puzzled look on my face, he draws me a picture on the examination table's disposable paper pillow cover to show me that one of the valves in my heart doesn't completely close all the time due to a slightly floppy valve flap. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mitral-valve-prolapse/DS00504) After I wonder how I could have cycled more than 17,000 miles in the past 3 years without this being a problem, he finally tells me that I have only a very minor case that should not be a problem and requires no action. Gee thanks, Doc. Once again, bad news first, then the good news. The EKG printout summary says: "Borderline Normal- unconfirmed analysis"

He then asked if I had met with or selected a surgeon. This told me that he had not been in contact with Dr. Stamos. Not good. I told him that I had met with Dr. Stamos who is the Chief Colorectal Surgeon at UCI and he was operating on me in the morning. He said that he'd never heard of Dr. Stamos. Swell. When I met with Dr. Stamos, he hadn't heard of my gastroenterologist, either. Its rather surprising that two specialists in very similar fields who've practiced so close to each other for years have never heard of each other. I was disappointed and a bit worried that he had not been contacted by Dr. Stamos. So was he. He asked whether I'd had a chest x-ray, which I had. He asked whether I'd had a cardiac stress test and received a cardiac clearance for major surgery. The answer to both questions was no. I told him that I remember Dr. Stamos saying that he didn't think I needed a stress test. I didn't say it, but I was thinking that my Triple Crown jersey (http://www.caltriplecrown.com) was all the proof I need that my heart works under stress just fine, thank you very much.

The doctor gave me copies of the reports that my surgeon might need to look at and even gave me his cell phone number and said that even though he rarely uses it, he would keep it on for me tomorrow morning in case Dr. Stamos chooses to call him.

Both Kim and I are grateful that our good friend Doctor Steve Johnson has agreed to wait with Kim in the waiting room tomorrow morning and help to interpret all the doctor speak. :)

Thanks again for all your support of me and my family. With all this help, how can I not come through this experience with flying colors? It's also very reassuring to remember that I've been promised by a servant of God that I am in God's hands and I know that he will help me. See you all soon.