Down the Rabbit Hole Part 3 – Mediastenoscopy and The Beach Boys Concert at Lowell High School Reunion

 

Hello readers. Part 2 of this blog series covered our first visit with the thoracic surgeon, another biopsy, and celebrating 40 years of marriage.

Another Procedure

Monday, October 17, 2016:  Dr. G performed a mediastenoscopy by making a small incision in George’s neck, right where a tracheotomy would be done, then used a scope with a light on it to be guided to the desired lymph node/nodes.

I thought the doctor was going get a biopsy of the hilar lymph node in the lung when he did the mediastenoscopy, but I misunderstood. He wanted to biopsy a lymph node in the throat area (paratrachael region). If that came back as malignant, he would have known the spot in the lung was cancer and had spread outside the lung.

While under anesthesia for the mediastenoscopy, they also put a tube down George’s throat to look at the inside of his lung prior to the upcoming surgery. We liked Dr. G because he seemed to be thorough.

George’s throat was sore from the tube, so he got lots of sleep the next few days.

The Results

The biopsy was benign. Yay for good news!

Lynn Kelley, Down the Rabbit Hole Part 3

Image: Courtesy of Conmongt at Pixabay

If it had come back malignant, that would have meant George had Stage 3 lung cancer, so we were relieved to hear the cancer hadn’t spread, if it turned out it actually was cancer in his lung.

Dr. G explained the worst case scenario would be Stage 2 lung cancer.

Best case scenario: Pre-cancer.

Our thoughts at the time: “Whatever it is, it will be removed and that should be the end of it.”

In the meantime, the cardiologist did an echocardiogram and cleared George for surgery. Yay! Made it over another hurdle!

Lynn Kelley, Down the Rabbit Hole Part 3, mediastenoscopy

Image: Courtesy of pohjakroon at Pixabay

Woo Hoo! The Beach Boys at Our School Reunion

Saturday, October 22, 2016: George felt well enough to attend my All School Reunion, featuring The Beach Boys in concert at the old Lowell High School campus in Whittier, California. The campus is now a chiropractic college. Also, Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean was there.

The reunion was hosted by the Class of 1966 (I believe) for their 50th reunion and somehow got The Beach Boys to come. They invited all graduating classes to join them. They went all out, had a Mexican restaurant cater the food, and even had a classic old car show. The original Batmobile was there and it looked mighty spiffy. Check out the video below.

Lead singer, Mike Love, greeted us with, “Hello youngsters!” He was funny, enthusiastic, and energized. His voice sounded the same even though he’s in his 70s. The music made us feel young again and some of us rocked out to favorite tunes from our youth.

Good Vibrations!

We had such a wonderful time, but George’s throat was still sore. He got a tickle in his throat when he talked, which made him cough, so he had to take it slow and easy.

After the concert ended, an In’N’Out Burger truck provided complimentary burgers and fries, George’s favorites, so that was the icing on the cake.

It was a stellar event. Such a huge blessing we were able to go to it.

We prayed George would feel better by Monday, October 26, for the scheduled surgery. Poor guy. His throat was going to be even more raw after the three- to five-hour operation, which I’ll cover in Part 4.

What are your thoughts? Are you a Beach Boys fan? Does good music lift your spirits? Do you enjoy seeing old friends?

I’d love to hear from you.

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Thanks for stopping by!

 

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6 Responses to Down the Rabbit Hole Part 3 – Mediastenoscopy and The Beach Boys Concert at Lowell High School Reunion

  1. Pingback: Down the Rabbit Hole Part 2 - Another Biopsy and Celebrating Our 40th Anniversary - Lynn Kelley, AuthorLynn Kelley, Author

  2. He was a trouper to go with you.

    • Lynn Kelley says:

      He sure was. He enjoyed it and was happy to get out of the house so it was good for both of us, but he wasn’t feeling up to par. It was a blessing we were able to go. Thanks for stopping by, Alex!

  3. Pambelina says:

    Wow, a reunion at Lowell H.S. You guys have a lot of school spirit to go to those things. Or was it the Beach Boys that got you there? Either way, good for you, and yes, it was awesome that George pulled out his energy reserves to go with you.

    • We went to another all school reunion years ago, but with all that George was dealing with, we wouldn’t have gone if the Beach Boys weren’t there. George wasn’t feeling great, but he was happy to get out of the house for some fun! Thanks for stopping in, Pambelina!

  4. Pingback: Pushing Sorrow Aside to Embrace a Day of Joy - Parenting Plights & Delights - Lynn Kelley, AuthorLynn Kelley, Author

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