9/29

i go to work with the intention of going to the doctor after the close, but with intervention from my co-workiers i leave for the hospital around 10:30. my general doctor is will harper at the university of chicago, and i had had a full physical in april, so i arrived at the u of c e.r. around 11. you have never seen people move faster than when you walk into an e.r. and say "i think i had a heart attack". surrounded by screaming babies and crying adults, i am immediately taken to an examination room. after being connected to an ekg and showing no signs of a heart attack, the extreme urgency exhibited just seconds ago is gone. i am moved to a stall in the back of the e.r. where, after quite sometime, a doctor begins examining me. in the course of the examination, trying to figure out my symptoms, i mention that i have a swollen gland in my throat. i have had water in my ear and the swollen gland for about 6 weeks. i thought it was an ear infection. after the doctor sees this, he orders a ct scan of my throat and some blood work. after he sees the results, he comes in, and tells me i have a malignant tumor in my throat. the blood work had shown that i had "blast cells" (inmature cancer cells) and the ct scan confirmed it was a tumor.
as i sit there, he says "do you understand the gravity of what i just told you." as i numbly shake my head, he tells me that i am being admitted. as the news sinks in, i call jani, and tell her that the good news is i didn't have a heart attack, but the bad news is i have lymphoma (the original diagnosis) and have been admitted. it turns out leukimia is misdiagnosed as lymphoma over 50% of the time. jani immediately packs me a bag and comes to the hospital. she arrives around 4, and we spend the next several hours waiting for a bed upstairs. it turns out to be 11:00 pm before i am given a bed in a non private room. very long night.