Finally went to see GI MD after badgering from my wife due to my long history of reflux since I was a kid (hadn't been scoped in nearly 30yrs so probably have precancerous changes known as Barrett's esophagus).. So that's coming end of next week.. Then the next thing he said stopped me dead in my tracks.. He wants to do a PET Scan.. Now for those who have some medical knowledge and have dealt with people with a certain serious health condition you know what a PET Scan is done for.. For those who don't.. Its done as a body scan to check for above all else CANCER.. Apparently my last CT I had when I was in the ER and admitted 6 weeks ago or so showed some suspicious lymphnode issues around and near my pancreas.. As if I don't have enough shit to worry about trying to finally get my back surgery Im now getting the "you may have something seriously wrong medically" shit.. I dodged the bullet with the cardiologist when a few tests showed a possible small mass in or near my heart and the final result was it either disappeared suddenly or the MRI just proved whatever was showing up from the echocardiogram was wrong.
Now he did say it could be nothing, could be chronic pancreatitis, could be lymphoma or even the very early stages of myeloma (which is only suspected due to some skewed blood tests from visit with primary again from a month or so ago). Anyway not that anybody cares but it seems I go from one potential major health crisis and dodge the bullet only to get slapped by my body saying Hold on there mister you aint in the clear yet.. Theres zero history in the family of pancreatic issues other then the diabetes (which now I find out may not even be true Type II it may indeed be a new type the Brits have been studying known as Type 3C which would explain a lot with the bad swings crashes and sky high sugars along with some other problems all indicative of a malfunctioning pancreas that goes beyond just the insulin cells not working properly..
Beginning to think I was exposed to some nasty shit as a FF/Medic and now its catching up to me decade+ later.. I wasn't smart at times then again it was common practice to take off your air packs during fire overall once it was out.. That practice has since been stopped after years of research showed exposure to carcinogens was as bad if not worse then during the emergent fire scene due to smoldering products of combustion.. Always a live and learn process.. Used to be lung cancer was presumed to be firefighting related (even though a lot of guys I knew smoked cigs).. The fight to get other diseases and cancers recognized as potentially caused by hazardous exposures is slow to come to this date despite proof that rates of Leukemia, Lymphoma and other blood related and bone marrow cancers are skyrocketing among firefighters in the US. Not to mention autoimmune issues appear to be linked.. All thanks to advances in manufacturing with absolute toxic shit being the result including some byproducts if they were isolated on their own would be considered chemical warfare agents actually (phosgene which was used as a chemical weapon is a product of combustion in many things found in households today not the least of which is the refrigerants found in Refrigerators, Freezers and of course AC units.. Its not just Carbon Monoxide that is the killer in smoke inhalation its a myriad of SHIT that is released when furnature and electronics burn up, melt, etc.. That being said even if I do have something in the Big C department proving it was as a direct result of my time in Fire/EMS is like the ancient Greek story of Sissyphus.. (food for thought if you don't know the story look it up it fits well even with poker players at times)
Anyway I hope folks are having a good week.. Even I have to remind myself of this one fact which is true.. no matter how shitty things seem somebody always has it worse then you.. Its true we all have roofs over our heads we have food to eat, many homeless folks don't have that even and rely just on kindness of folks to keep on keeping on.. Yeah some are alchys and take the cash to buy booze. Its why anytime I do offer to help its either to buy them food directly or get them a gift card to someplace where there isn't liquor/beer/wine sold and they can get a hot meal even if its $5 from McDonalds or TacoBell.. Sure its not nutritious honestly but compared to nothing it has to be be worth something ya hope..
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