22 April 2023
As I mentioned in my notice, I had hoped to add to my travel blog with a trip to western South and North Carolina to take in some waterfalls, along with a visit with my cousin in Greensboro. Then came 26 inches of rain in 6 hours.
The trip was a nonstarter after the Fort Lauderdale deluge. I had everything planned out. I was to drive to Savannah and spend one night at Foley House Inn. It would have been the second time I stayed there and it’s a great place. They do a killer breakfast. My first time there was several years ago and I stayed in the main house. This trip I would have been in the carriage house section.
From there it was a short drive to Butterfly Ridge Mountain Retreat in Salem, South Carolina. I really, really wanted to stay in their Mountain View Suite for three nights. For a little extra, I added evening meals, because, let’s face it, the retreat is in the middle of nowhere and I would have to drive miles to find a restaurant.
I had even lined up several waterfall hikes: Opossum Creek, Long Creek, Blue Hole, Station Cove, Riley Moore, Bee Cove, and Lee falls. Some of the trails would have been more than a little challenging. I don’t normally think of mountains when I think of South Carolina, but there are several of the falls trails that are listed as strenuous.
From there I was to travel to Sapphire Valley, NC for a couple of nights at at Hampton Inn and more falls. There are three falls really close to the Inn: Maidenhair, Twin, and Fairfield Falls.
Then, it was to be three nights in Greensboro and then one night in Jacksonville before heading home.
That all went out the window when April 12 arrived. We had three solid days of rain before but it rained like I’ve never seen it on April 12th all day. I was just about to go to bed around 10:30 am when I heard a really heavy downpour. A couple of times during the day the rain had been horizontal and we had 4 tornado warnings during the day. I figured I’d better check it out.
Someone years ago had enclosed a portion of my front porch to provide a little more space to the living room area. It’s not much, but it adds about 4 feet to the living room. That means where the old, outside wall used to be, there’s a 5 inch step up into the living room. I stepped down to look out the front windows and stepped into water.
The area of the living room that flooded.
I’m nothing if not practical. I realized there was absolutely nothing I could do about it at 10:30 at night so I went to bed. Later, the high water mark there and in the utility room was 2 1/2 inches.
Floating laundry basket in the utility room.
It rose to 9 1/4 inches in the garage.
Everything was floating around in the garage but at least it didn’t get into the jeep.
The next morning I filed a claim with the federal flood insurance program (I’ve always kept that policy even though I’ve been declared in a flood free zone). They sent someone out two days later. By then, I had removed everything that had been soaked in the utility and living rooms and eventually emptied the garage.
The flood insurance is through Wright Flood and there is a $2000 deductible. The biggest thing is to remove and replace dry wall 2 feet above high water. Then I’ll have to remove the wall paper, have all the dry wall in that area refinished and painted. One contractor suggested I replace the indoor/outdoor carpet in the utility room with tile. I asked for a quote on both.
As you might guess, with insurance, it’s hurry, hurry, wait, wait. I still haven’t gotten a dollar figure from the insurance company nor a quote from the contractor. Meanwhile, mold and mildew progresses.
If that wasn’t distraction enough, on March 9th, I noticed a soreness around the areola of my left breast. I previously knew that the nipple of that breast had become inverted. I Googled male breast cancer and one of the signs was an inverted nipple. I called my primary the next morning and he saw me the next afternoon. He examined both breasts and immediately had me schedule a mammogram and ultrasound for both breasts. He wanted the right on done so he could compare the two. The earliest I could get an appointment was on the 14th of April. I even checked around to a couple of other hospitals and there was only a day or two difference in the times, so I stuck with my primary’s hospital, Holy Cross.
The morning of the 14th I arrived early for the mammogram and ultrasound and they got me in early. I had to wait, first for the physician to come to work to interpret the results of the mammograms and then again for the ultrasounds to be read. I knew something was up when a “patient navigator” asked to speak with me. She told me the results indicated I needed a biopsy. I got a little more concerned when she told me it would be two weeks before Holy Cross could do it at the Dorothy Mangurian Comprehensive Women’s Center where I was sitting with the navigator. Then she proceeded to tell me she might be able to get me in with one of two physicians that actually did the biopsy at their offices.
I really got nervous when she called me at home and told me she found an earlier appointment with Dr. Jessica Burgers for the following week. I made the appointment.
My friend Holley offered to drive me and after thinking it over, I realized she had been through this herself. I asked her if she would and if she would go in with me for the procedure. I figured she would know the questions to ask and be a good set of ears for me. She immediately agreed.
On the 21st of April, Holley picked me up a little before 9 am and we were on our way to the main hospital at Holy Cross. It took a little while before we found Dr. Burgers’ office but it was 9:30 when we walked in for a 10 am appointment to fill out paperwork. There must have been 15 pages of forms. Forms that I had already filled out online. Writers cramp set in.
The nurse took Holley and me in early and began taking blood pressure, temperature, oxygen levels, etc. Then it was more forms and more questions.
At 10:30, Dr. Burgers walks in and proceeds to explain the procedure. She listened carefully to any questions Holley and I had and answered them fully. The ultrasound indicated a mass that was 2cm x 1.1 cm x 1.7 cm. Apparently, that’s big but not too big. Dr. Burgers performed another ultrasound and she came close to the same measurements. Then it was injection with lidocaine and the biopsy. It was relatively painless.
Inverted nipple. A little bruising around the breast but just a couple of steristrips to close the incision.
I should know more if it is cancer and if it is benign or malignant by Wednesday.
Holley treated me to lunch afterwards and dropped me off at home.
The lidocaine wore off around 11:30 pm that night and by 1:30 am I decided enough was enough and downed two Advil. That allowed me to get to sleep and this morning it is much less sore.
27 April 2023
A lot has happened since I started this post. I got some references for remediation and reconstruction of the flood damage. The flood insurance appraisal came back. I got lab reports from the biopsy and today I had a long conversation with Dr. Burgers.
First, the flood.
The representative for Wright Flood sent me the appraisal and it was more than generous. In essence, after my $2000 deductible ($1k each for structure and contents) and depreciation, they will send me a check in 4-6 weeks.
I’ve had three contractors in to take a look. The first basically wanted to know how much the insurance would award and that’s what it would cost. I then called Servpro and they came out and they will give me a quote for remediation. A different branch of Servpro would come out later and provide a separate quote for reconstruction. My next door neighbor recommended the person who did their kitchen and he showed up today. I suspect if his quote is fair, I’ll go with him because he’s a one stop shop kind of company. I won’t have to get two separate quotes, like with Servpro.
The Biopsy
The biopsy came back about three days ago. In essence, yes, I have breast cancer. It is considered Grade 1 which means the cancer is slow growing and the prognosis is good. There was a bunch of other stuff in the report but that is the gist. What was missing was the report of the surface receptors of the cancer cells. That takes a little longer. That came today.
Cancer cells have all kinds of surface receptors but oncologists are mostly interested in three: estrogen, progesterone and Her2. They are either negative or positive. The cancer cells are positive for both estrogen and progesterone which means they respond readily to drug treatment. As far as Her2 receptors, my number is 2+. If it were 0-1, I would be negative and if I were a 3, I would be positive. A 2+ means equivocal. They will now do a FISH test (fluorescence in situ hybridization). Dr. Burgers thinks it will probably end up being negative. These receptor tests allow oncologists to determine the best treatment.
Dr. Burgers and I talked for around 30 minutes and she wants to do a mastectomy with follow-up of chemotherapy. I am scheduled for a team meeting with Dr. Burger’s team (consultants, counselors, etc.) on May 10th. I’ll need to schedule pre-op (blood work, x-rays, EEG, etc. with my primary). I leave for a vacation to Snoqualmie Falls in Washington state on May 16th and return on May 21st. Dr. Burgers anticipates surgery the week of the 22nd depending on scheduling.
The surgery will be outpatient under general anesthesia. While under, they will inspect sentinel lymph nodes to be sure the cancer hasn’t spread (and examine them immediately). If the lymph nodes are cancerous, they will remove them and I’ll have radiation therapy and, if not, sew me up and send me home the same day. The chemotherapy may be as simple as Tamoxifen or something more complicated.
I’ll have to have some help around the house for the first couple of days and no heavy lifting or exertion for 2 weeks after the surgery. I’ll have a surgical drain from the left breast for the first week or two.
It should be an interesting summer with remediation and reconstruction of flood damaged areas and breast surgery.
Anyway, stay tuned for more info on the Snoqualmie Falls trip and the surgery.
Your clear and appropriately detailed explanation of the flood and the breast situation make it abundantly clear why you were such a good teacher.