Although I slept like a rock last night, I can feel the anxiety building some this morning. My first trip to a cancer doc. Yikes! Even considering some ugly possibilities, I’m still relatively calm because I feel certain that today’s doctor visit won’t provide me with any conclusions, probably only some blood drawn and testing. More needle sticks! "Happy, happy, joy, joy!"
Holy shit! Finding 1010 Bethesda Court (not Rd.) was a royal pain in the ass! I must have turned around at least 5 times looking for the Derrick Davis Cancer Center, which is where Dr. Paschold’s office is located. Bad omen! I finally had to call what I thought was Dr. Paschold’s office to ask for directions. It seems when you do an internet search for Dr. Paschold it shows you his Thomasville office phone number. So, when I called it they gave me the correct number in Winston-Salem. When I called the correct number, that’s when I learned the place was called the Derrick Davis Cancer Center. I wonder who the hell Derrick Davis is/was? Hopefully he was someone treated by Dr. Paschold who lived a very long and fruitful life but didn't publish a fancy blog about it.
Gene Paschold is a hoot! He’s funny, informative and always attempting to put you at ease. In fact, at times, the other cancer center staff seems to go over the top in trying to accommodate and make you feel anxiety-free, which is understandable in a place like that. I tried to rise to the occasion and be just as humorous.
As it turns out, Gene goes to RIH too! That was a very refreshing and cool revelation. He spoke highly of the practice and the practice's practices, meaning that they don’t prescribe Rx meds unless necessary and give natural supplements if they will do the trick. Apparently this guy (Gene) is a top notch cancer doc and it’s very reassuring that he goes to RIH and that RIH referred me to him.
His first comment to me was that I shouldn’t be too concerned about the high lymphocyte count. Even so, they drew blood and immediately analyzed it – CBC and he checked it out under the microscope. Pretty slick I thought since now almost all lab work is farmed out and takes days to get the results back. Apparently the DD Cancer Center is a one-stop shopping place because they also have a pharmacy in the building.
Gene himself came to the waiting room to greet me and take me to the examining room after my blood was drawn. That was also impressive. That’s a great attitude and bedside manner when you’re possibly dealing with a life-threatening disease like cancer. Brownie points for the nice facility, affable staff and fantastic doc.
When Mari Jo told Gene that she was previously a Winkle, he immediately remembered her and they had a warm embrace. See, I can never go any fucking place without my wife knowing someone. Should I be comforted or concerned about that? Regardless, that’s how it is.
When my blood work came back Gene went over it with me and again reassured me that there was nothing too concerning in the results. However, my lymphocyte count had blossomed to 6000, up 1100 since my blood test 3 weeks earlier at RIH. WTF is going on in my bone marrow and thymus, a lymphocyte orgy? (I later learned that lymphocytes maintain their numbers through normal, or in my case, abnormal, cell division. The ol’ thymus doesn’t produce lymphocytes in adults, it’s just a place they go to hang out for a bit.) Obviously my bone marrow is extremely fertile and studly. So, if lymphocytes are part of the immune system why isn’t more better? Apparently a given unit of blood can only hold so many of all the different kinds of cells that make up the blood and when one kind of cell starts crowding out others it’s a problem. Gene explained that all of my other blood stuff looked fine except that a couple were inverted 60/40 to 40/60. He suggested that what I might have is chronic lymphocytic leukemia but that a further analysis to ‘label’ the lymphocytes would reveal more. He said my lymphocytes look benign (whew!) under the scope but he was sending the blood sample to a pathology lab for flow cytometry and polymerase chain reaction assay to determine more.
Overall, it was a good visit and somewhat reassuring. On to the next chapter when the more complete analysis comes back. I made a follow-up visit for July 15.
About Me
- Wayne Turner
- I was born, raised and went to school in eastern NC. Too immature at 17 to comprehend the seriousness of university life, I dropped out after two years and joined the Air Force. I spent two years of my four year military career in Germany, which I enjoyed immensely. I completed my Bachelor's Degree at Guilford College in 1985. My first career was in the computer field where I did everything short of design one. I've spent the last 30 years in the environmental field working for local governments. In December 2017 I retired from full time work. My overdeveloped sense of fairness and justice lands me on the liberal side in my political views. I think government plays a large role in social responsibility in a civilized state. I believe in the innate compassion and goodness in everyone despite the daily news reports to the contrary. My genetic predisposition for generosity in nearly all things is sometimes a source of future angst. I've been a musician and still have a deep love of music. I am naturally curious about all things especially metaphysics and science.
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