DC and me

 

Deb and I are up in DC today for reasons I'll explain later.  This afternoon we had some time to wonder around the Foggy Bottom area of George Washington University.  As we came out of the hotel on Washington Circle I noticed a cab.  It was unremarkable in most respects, except the quintessential name - "Yellow Cab."  If you are imagining a big and roundish yellow taxi, you would be so wrong.  It's Red with a Silver stripe on the side.  I didn't have my camera out in time to snap a photo, so as we walked I kept a look out for another opportunity.

Finally a yellow "Yellow Cab"

I didn't have to wait long to spot another red with silver striped vehicle.  Only it was not a 'Yellow Cab.'  I'm not sure which company I spotted first, but I quickly realized that there are MANY companies with red and silver taxis.  What ever happened to 'branding?'  Where is the Checkered Cab?  There were two companies that made sense.  Sky had a blue car.  Red Top in fact did have a red top and White Top was true to its moniker. So, all of these shots are different companies; Rapid, AA Fareshare, ICON, Merritt, Federal, VIP, Empire, Dial, Star,  and finally I did find a Yellow Cab in red/sliver.  I also got an actual yellow Yellow (Hybrid) Cab.

If you've hung out this far, I'll share a few more findings before getting to  'the rest of the story.'



I'm not much of a city boy, but I do like architecture and seeing different 'lines' that are all around.


 I didn't take many photos of people today, but people watching is kind of fun too.

City Style - suit, backpack, bike

 I guess I've put this off enough, and asked for you to follow along.  Now's the time to bail if you don't want Too Much Information (TMI.)




 Okay then, here we go....


Many know that I've been dealing with Colitis over the last 5 or so years.  My colon has been inflamed for years, and I got really bad about a year ago.  This means frequent trips to the John.  In the last year though I had been doing well in terms of symptoms.  Only one trip to the bathroom a day and the output being closer to normal than not (hey I warned you about TMI.)

Today I had my yearly (or so) colonoscopy and expected to hear about improvement.  Well, I guess you don't always get what you want.  The positive part was there was some areas of reduced inflammation... but...  there were many pseudopolyps and maybe some polyps. Pseudopolyps are from the repeated inflammation and healing and are raised from the surface.  Polyps are little growths that occur and can eventually lead to cancer.  The doc removed these resulting in some bleeding that needed little surgical clips to be placed on the sites in two places.  They apparently fall off once the area is healed.  So, I'm told I may have a little bleeding over the next couple days - not great for someone who is already anemic.  But the best (kidding) is this; there is a 'mass' in a fold of the colon.  This was biopsied - as well as a number of other areas and will be sent for evaluation.  It could hopefully be just an area of excessive inflammation, or it could be something else...  not ready to say it out loud (or type it in black and white.)  What does all this mean?

Doctors have been telling me for years that it's not a question of if but rather when my colon will need to come out.  If I do this while 'healthy' there is a chance that a surgery making a 'colon' out of the small intestine could work.  This allows you to control your own bowels, though 4 to 7 times a day.  There are risks that you never are able to control it, or that a full colostomy w/ the nice collection device could be needed.  Ie, a nice bag of shit is strapped to your abdomen.

 The upside to all of this?  My risk of cancer of the colon (if I don't have it already) is very high - this is due to both my colitis and my transplant meds.  If I remove the colon this risk obviously goes away.  There is also the possibility that with the removal and reduction of the inflammation in my body I may not need Procrit injections - that's the drug I take to keep my blood counts up.

So, I kind of feel like the squirrel above.  Upside down and hanging on.

Guess I need to dig in, do some research, and visit a surgeon again to get some information.  The doc recommended a woman up at Hopkins.  He suggests having it done at a facility familiar with transplant patients like me.

Hoping that I get back up on my feet and pose for the camera... like below.

Thanks for listening,

Brian