Good news from the good doc

I had a good visit today with Dr. Sigfredo Aldarondo (pictured from the Florida Hospital Web site), my pulmonologist. He said everything is looking good even though I still cough up more than I'd like.

He said it's pretty normal considering the surgery I had nearly a year ago and considering all the crap that has happened before and since.

Though he sees many patients and really only saw me once in his office and a couple of times in the hospital, Dr. Aldarondo remembered me specifically. "You're the blogger, right?" he asked when we shook hands. That's me. The blogger. I told him, "This will be on the blog tonight." And imagine, here it is.

But during my check-up with him, Dr. Aldarondo said the reason for my coughing remains a small amount of very mild reflux during my nighttime sleeping, and a bit of aspiration into my lungs. When I awaken, I cough it back out. It's not a good situation, but it's better than, say, two years ago.

He also said my lungs were clear during the exam and everything sounded good. So I won't have to see him for about six months, another good sign of my continuing recovery.

Speaking of which, another milestone will be reached on Wednesday, Nov. 19. It was a year ago on Nov. 19 that I ended my chemotherapy for the cancer. Earlier last year, my radiation ended, so with the chemo's conclusion, the bulk of my treatments came to an end and all that remained -- not that I'm trivializing it -- was the surgery in late December.

Between the end of chemo and the surgery, I had a "cooling-off period" to kind of build myself back up strength and weight wise, clear my body of the toxins and be tested to make sure I'd go through the surgery well. Turns out I did "light up" during a subsequent PET scan and required two biopsies before I was cleared for surgery. A spot on my liver and a lymph node became internal Christmas lights and concerned the docs.

Turns out, after the biopsies, that the hot spots were caused by the radiation. They scared the crap out of me at the time, for sure. But all was well as things turned out.

And after Dr. Alderondo's clean bill of lung health, it looks like that is how things are going a year later, as well.