More Surprises!

I was going to write about the surprise my cat left for me on our front step. I even have a picture!

It's definitely not a mouse. Look at how long that tail is! We were all very excited to see my cat had gotten one of these rats, as previously we worried they were too big for her.

Of course, the pest control company can't come by until Thursday, so I'm hoping that a picture will be okay for identification. With this weather we're having, who wants to store a dead animal for several days? (Not me.)

The other surprise today came when I (finally!) checked the messages on my phone. Mostly it was to see if the pest guy had left a message to schedule an appointment. What I got was a message on my phone from my oncologist.

Let me back up a bit. Ever since my surgery, the doctors have been satisfied about the cancer being completely gone. Since there was no evidence of the cancer in my lymph nodes, I was given an "all clear" from them and all follow-up is routine. When I found the two new spots right next to my scar, these were assumed to be nothing. Fortunately, after being tested, they actually were nothing.

I was supposed to see my oncologist after three-months and was expecting a call in December or January. I never heard from the doctor's office, so I called at the end of January and got in last week. Included in my follow-up appointment were a blood test and chest x-ray. The blood tests (already!) came back within the normal ranges.

I've been trying to figure out how to get the chest x-ray ever since. I'm so incredibly curious to see if I broke a rib or two from the Dragging Incident. I wasn't worried about not getting an x-ray at the emergency room because I knew this one was coming up.

The message on my phone from my oncologist was to tell me I broke a rib. No, I'm lying. The message was that I needed to get a new set of x-rays because they see some shadows in my lungs and think it might be a technical error but want to be sure.

My x-rays were not clear.

On one hand, I get new x-rays and they are clear and I see him again in another three-months. On the other hand, I have tumors in my lungs. Being a worrier, I would normally obsess over the latter, but I think I'm going to just go with the former this time. I'm going to work under the assumption that I exhaled at the wrong time or moved during the procedure or the earth shook at the precise moment that the rays were flowing through my bones. I don't really know what good this will do me not to worry, but I have things I'd rather be doing today. Then I'll run up to get x-rays when the oven is fixed and we'll all know for certain.