Space Invaders

I was always pretty good at playing Space Invaders.  Mostly Atari, but I did alright at the arcade too.  At Alladin's Castle in the mall I had the high score more than once.  I usually put JAF for my initials, but once I went too far and put JJ, then added another J and decided that looked better.  So a couple of times, my high score initials were JJJ.

Right now there are some space invaders in my lungs.  They may be pushing through my upper left chest wall, into the soft tissue of my neck and also down through my diaphragm.  They go by the name of Squamous Cell Carcinoma.  

Today I had an MRI, which lasted for two hours and was not unlike lying in a tanning booth in the middle of a rave.  Although I was aware that I'd be in this enclosed round shaped space,  I was unaware of the noises this round shaped machine would be making.  It really was somewhat like a dance beat and jittery and loud, but I actually felt relaxed being in this machine.   It was as though it was protecting me and offering a steady noise to distract me at the same time.  I'm pretty sure this is not how most people feel having an MRI.  Also, after two hours of being in there, I felt less protected and relaxed.

The PET scan the other day was a different story.  This I did not like.  Most of the not liking had to do with the syringe the size of a toilet paper roll, encased in steel, and full of bright yellow liquid.  That and the sign on the door that said Nuclear Medicine.  Anyway, that syringe is full of the contrast that makes the space invaders glow.  I wish it could also shoot them with little dashes and make them disintegrate.

 So there are PET scans, and CT scans and MRIs and I've done all those.  I'm waiting for my doctor to call me tomorrow with hopefully good news about my lumbar spine and soft neck tissue.  I'm also a bit worried about my diaphragm.  I know they can take out my upper left lung lobe to get rid of this one certain tumor, but if the diaphragm is involved it may be a whole different story.

The doctor will (also hopefully) tell me tomorrow whether awful Hospital on the Hill has sent over my slides and reports so Much Better New Hospital can look them over and determine whether these cells are coming from my earlier cervical cancer, or if they are a whole new set of out of control cells coming from who the hell knows where.  As was explained more than once to me, both scenarios would be odd.  I never had much of a problem being considered odd, but in this case I do.

It's New Year's Eve.  In 2008, I maybe got in the Top 10 at my own game of Space Invaders - aka Cell Wars.  In 2009, I plan on getting the high score.  JJJ.