The Life (and Hopefully Death) of Brian

Meet Brian the Chest Lemon. Apparently, Brian has been making himself comfortable in my mediastinum (don’t worry—I had to look that up, too) for a while now. I had a feeling he was there, but no one could figure out what was causing the various symptoms I was having--like a persistent cough and a change in my voice. And, since he’s literally 1 in a million, no one thought to look for him. Hide-and-seek is no fun when you don't know you are playing it! 

Brian was outed some time in the early hours of March 9th at an emergency department in Bloomington, IN. I was in Indiana for a long weekend--to see family and friends and, ironically, to spend some time in self-reflection after losing my mom a year ago. This is what happens when I try to take time for myself, you guys; I find a chest lemon. Randomly discovering a tumor at a hospital 5+ hours from my Ren and the kids was NOT on my itinerary!

So, as trips go, my meditation and rejuvenation-focused weekend was a bust, BUT I got to spend quality time with friends and breathe the air of places I love. Also, if I hadn't taken the trip, and if my friend hadn't insisted I go to the ED, Brian would still be enjoying his anonymity. Plus, my friend and I had a lot of time to laugh and talk in the waiting room for six hours. They came to get me from time to time to take me to do tests before dumping me back into the waiting room to, you know, wait. I guess once they determine you are not having a heart attack, they don’t mind keeping you up all night. My philosophy has always been that most ailments heal on their own while people wait in the ED.

Sometime around 2:30 in the morning, they called us into the triage room to tell me my symptoms were likely due to some new meds I was taking, and, oh also, did you know you have this giant thing growing in a part of your chest that you can't even locate because no one who is not a doctor or taking anatomy class has heard of it? My friend seemed much more surprised than I was. I imagine her response made more sense. I was so calm, in fact, that she asked if I had somehow already known about Brian.

I hadn't.

To be continued....