little bit of this a little bit of that

Monday, March 30, 2009

The day my life stood still

On March 16th my world changed. Troy had been losing weight. Lots of it. It was driving me crazy because I was sure it was his thyroid. About a month before he went to the DR he started having problems with food getting stuck in his esophagus. It only happened a few times but it was a scary experience. It was what drove him to see the Dr., even though I had been nagging him about it for some time. We all thought it was a simply stricture, a common throat ailment. Easily fixed. Troy was scheduled for a scope. As he was waking up from the scope the DR walked in and walked straight to Troy. I sat in a chair out of his view. He touched Troy's arm and delivered the words I will never forget. We found a tumor. We knew this was a possibility. We know how to google. When you google weight loss and difficulty swallowing, only one thing comes up. Esophagus cancer. I lost it. Troy being too smart for his own good knew all of the odds. My friends it was not good. Most people who get this cancer don't know they have it until it's too late. Only 5% live 5 years. As I cried in my corner Troy asked questions. The DR left and we were free to go. As we walked out of the hospital in a dazed silence I wondered if people somehow knew what was happening to us. Could they see it in our faces? How did we get to this place? How could this be happening to us?