Back to Houston...
So here I am in Houston about an hour before my plane leaves to go back home to Georgia. Unfortunately, I won't be on that plane. Instead, I'll be on an operating table having yet another drainage tube installed (this will be my 5th if you're keeping score). I had a pretty uncomfortable day of tests on Wednesday, followed by consultations with my doctors on Thursday. The test results seem mostly promising, but my thoracic surgeon told me that they'd found another leak in my esophagus. I actually asked him if he was playing an early April Fool's gag on me. No. It seems that the extensive damage that my esophagus received from the radiation treatments may have caused a small rupture. He said he's not overly worried about the actual leak itself (which should heal as my radiation damage subsides), but there is a concern about fluid that has already collected in small pocket in my back. If left unchecked, the fluid could fester causing necrosis of the surrounding tissue. The solution: drainage tube.

I told my Houston friends Ron and Don (who've been amazingly supportive through all of this) that while some people collect shot glasses or spoons or t-shirts from cities they visit, I collect drainage tubes. It seems like I get some every time I come here. No fun. The tube is going to have to remain for "several weeks", which will make it hard for me to sit back or even lay on my back (which, of course, is how I sleep). I have to admit that I'm really disappointed by the tube prospect. I was hoping to come here and them send me straight home..."see you again in 3 months". No such luck. I hate tubes...

It's strangely emotional to be back here. It's a mix of nostalgia and dread. I find myself clinging to habits that I didn't know I'd formed during my 8 weeks here. I walk the same routes, I sit in the same spots, and yes, I'm reading the same magazines (well, it's not like they've replaced the magazines...this place might as well serve as a historical archive for lost magazines).

Ok...time to go under the knife (or maybe they use a drill for tubes?). More from me soon.

Hans