TheBanyanTree: Off on a New Adventure

[Kitty]

I really enjoy "travelogues".  We'll be watching for Banyan Tree posts when 
you're in the mood to write and monitor Facebook for early updates as well.
Kitty
mzzkitty at sssnet.com
kcp-parkplace.blogspot.com
parkplaceohio.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A. Christopher Hammon" <chris at oates.org>
To: "The Banyan Tree" <thebanyantree at remsset.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 11:30 AM
Subject: TheBanyanTree: Off on a New Adventure


>I am off on a grand new adventure at the out set of this year and decade. 
>It is not one I would choose, however, but it seems to be the one that I 
>have drawn to be my next grand adventure.
>
> A microscopic trace of blood in my urine sample during a routine physical 
> before Thanksgiving prompted an abdominal CT scan the beginning of 
> December to check for any problems with kidney and bladder. That was an 
> interesting experience and included my first ever experience with an IV. 
> The last time I was in a hospital as a patient was for a tonsillectomy in 
> 1957, when they still used ether...that was traumatic. As an aside, I had 
> my second experience just before Christmas for a combination endoscopy and 
> colinoscopy. I couldn't resist asking the IV nurse to be gentle, it was 
> only my second time. To which she promptly shouted out for all to hear, 
> "Hey, I've got almost a virgin here." Gotta have some fun with this stuff.
>
> The abdominal CT turned up no problems with the kidneys or bladder, but 
> much to our surprise we discovered mucinous material secreting from a 
> tumor on my appendix; apparently a rare condition known as pseudomyxoma 
> peritonei. This is not good. The good news is that it is very treatable 
> (you just have to recover from the treatment) and that it is typically 
> benign. It is a "Trouble with Tribbles" story where cells we need on one 
> side of the intestinal wall were reproducing on the wrong side of the 
> intestinal wall ... where they had no place to go except to accumulate.
>
> The next stop for getting started on this grand adventure was to meet with 
> my lead tour guide, the surgical oncologist in the area that specializes 
> in the treatment for this. He is a great doc; a prof at the medical school 
> with a rep for being really slick in the OR
>
> The most successful approach to this in current practice is to surgically 
> debulk all of the mucinous material gathering in my abdomen, remove the 
> appendix, gall bladder, areas of the colon where the mucinous cells have 
> gathers (in my case, most likely the right half), and a lot of the 
> omentum. Then as part of the surgical procedure to introduce a heated 
> intraperitoneal chemotherapy that they slosh around in the abdominal area 
> for a little over an hour. This generally gets it and life goes on once 
> you recover from the surgery. My job, the big part of the adventure ahead, 
> is to recover. And then they added that the big side effects of the 
> surgery/chemo are that it zaps all of your energy and depletes your immune 
> system. It will take time, patience, and perseverance, they say.
>
> So it is "game on" for this grand adventure; we have the surgery scheduled 
> for January 13.
>
> The good news is that with the exception of this I am in very good health 
> and should be able to get right on through this fine. I anticipate plenty 
> of stories coming out of this and hopefully I will find the energy to 
> write them down before they get away from me. I have loaded up my Kindle 
> with fun reading while I recoup and my iPhone with plenty of music. I also 
> have myself a stack of DVDs to entertain me. Most important to me, though, 
> is that I am gathering the energy of friends and family as cheerleaders to 
> help me sustain my energy through the journey. Family members have opened 
> up a Facebook group where they will be posting updates, if anyone is 
> interested (Updates on Chris Hammon).
>
> And now, like it or not, I am off on this grand new adventure to see where 
> my journeys take me and to learn what I might learn along the way. In the 
> meantime, I made my reservations for the week long bicycle tour of Indiana 
> State Parks in September that includes bicycling all of those Brown County 
> hills. I still plan to make that.
>
> Cheers and bon voyage,
> Chris
>
>
> /_________________________________________
> A. Christopher Hammon, D.Min.
> Director of Online Learning and Publication //
> Wayne E. Oates Institute
> Integrating Spirituality, Ethics, and Health
> http://www.oates.org/
>
> /Affiliate Faculty, Doctor of Ministry Program
> Drew University Theological School/
>
>
>
>
>
>