Jay Lake: Writer

[cancer] Surgery

I’m going in this morning to have a right hepatic resectioning. That is to say, my surgical oncologist will be removing segment six of my liver. Thanks to my prior left hepatic resectioning, my liver has a rather atypical morphology. Loosely speaking, they’re taking about 25% of the existing tissue.

This resectioning will excise a malignant metastatic tumor about the size of a golf ball. This is of course a continuation of the colon cancer with which I was diagnosed in April of 2008. The procedure tomorrow is my fourth round of major surgery, and accompanies my second round of chemotherapy.

I expect to be in the hospital six to eight days. This is a bit longer than normal for post-operative recovery, but we’re dealing with my idiosyncratic lower GI problems in responses to anaesthesia. After last year’s surgery, I had to be readmitted to the hospital for constipation, having gone eleven days with no movement.

Let me assure you that being admitted to the hospital for that particular complaint leads to some deeply unpleasant procedures.

So I was on a liquid diet yesterday preparatory to an evening bowel purge. They’re not tapping my lower GI in this surgery, they just want me clean and empty. I’ll be on IV feeding for some days post-operatively, then I’ll be on a liquid diet again until my lower GI is properly functioning. This likely represents close to ten days without actual solid food. I am overjoyed.

Also due to my lower GI responses, we’re going on a significantly different pain management regimen this time, with the intention of minimizing my opiate intake. It appears to be the opiates that cause such a nigh catastrophic lower GI shutdown for me. I believe I’ll be on intravenous Tylenol among other interesting things. We’ll see… the opiates are quite successful at pain management for me, as I respond well to them (other than Oxycontin, which makes me high as a kite and sweat rivers).

I’ll be going in to pre-operative prep around 6:30 or 7:00 am this morning, and be out in recovery probably a bit before noon. From there I’ll be transferred to ICU for a day. Assuming no complications or other issues, I’ll move to a regular ward Wednesday afternoon. Prior experience strongly suggests I’ll be looped within an inch of my life the first day or so, with a gradual return to awareness and some species of mental acuity in the days following.

The surgical plan is for open incision in my upper right abdomen and some relocation of my lower right ribs. Having previously experienced rib issues in surgery (my partial left thoracectomy of November, 2009) I anticipate than any nerve damage or rib pain will be the hardest thing to recover from.

My sister will update my blogs and Facebook and Twitter with surgical outcomes or any other important news. I don’t expect to be back online for at least a few days, and likely when I re-emerge I won’t make a whole lot of sense.

As I’ve commented before, I find myself oddly cheerful about the surgery. I figure at some point I’ll start feeling more overwhelmed, but it’s not like I haven’t done this before.

So, well, here we go again.

I may be some time.

Tags: Cancer, health, Personal

Posted: 5:19 am Tue July 19 2011 | Comments(18) |

[photos] Your Tuesday moment of zen

Your Tuesday moment of zen.

Equipment, eastern Washington state. © 2007, 2011, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Tags: Photos, zen

Posted: 5:17 am Tue July 19 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad goes under the knife

Asteroid Vesta reveals its scars

Southern lights greet ISS and Atlantis — This is cool.

All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal, Genetics Confirm

Science and religion: God didn’t make man; man made gods

Michele Bachmann officially leaves her church — Remember what a big deal Your Liberal Media made of Obama’s connection to Reverend Wright?

Alaska sued in transgender driver’s license case

State Rep Who Got A DUI With Stripper In The Car Calls It Quits — Guess which family values party he belonged to.

?otD: Ever been a bad liver?

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7/19/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (surgery prep)
Body movement: 0.0 minutes (surgery prep)
Hours slept: 5.75 hours (interrupted)
Weight: 229.6
Currently reading: Objects of Worship by Claude Lalumière

Tags: Cool, gender, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, Religion, Science

Posted: 5:16 am Tue July 19 2011 | Comments(0) |

[process|cancer] Bookus interruptus

As it happens, I am ready to begin drafting the third section of Calamity of So Long a Life. I’ve completed my read throughs of the synopsis and the first two sections, I’ve pulled together an outline of the third section from the material in the synopsis, and I’m ready to go.

I did a bunch of this work yesterday on the plane home from Readercon. Then I reached a point where it was time to start actually writing the text. And it occurred to me, as it has several times recently, that as of Tuesday and my surgery I’ll drop out of this effort for two to three weeks, possibly a little longer.

It felt very strange to contemplate writing for two days of what will probably be a 20-25 day project, then immediately stop. Bookus interruptus, as I said in the subject line.

Likewise, I am reading short fiction by Claude Lalumière, his collection Objects of Worship, even though the new GRRM tome is here waiting for me to crack it open. Why? Because I don’t want to spend two days reading the first 100 pages of A Dance With Dragons, and then drop out of that book for two to three weeks, possible a little longer.

This whole having cancer thing is remarkably inconvenient, I must say.

In other news, I did enjoy Readercon quite a bit, even though I spent much of it laying low in my room. A terrific dinner with la agente, seeing a number of folks I like and don’t see often (even if some of them didn’t see me), and, finally, meeting the last author in the field who can still reduce me to bubbling fanboy squee, Chip Delany. Who was very nice about my wibbling.

Tags: Books, Calamity, Cancer, Conventions, Funny, health, Personal, Process, Sunspin, Writing

Posted: 5:07 am Mon July 18 2011 | Comments(0) |

[cancer] On invisibility

Having come back from Readercon yesterday, I can confirm a phenomenon I first observed at the Locus Awards in late June. It is thus:

My hair loss from chemo has rendered me almost invisible. Or at least unrecognizable.

People I’ve known for years will walk right past me. Even if I wave or greet them, I often get the generic busy author nod with a clear lack of engagement. For a number of folks I had to either get within badge-reading distance, or state my name.

It’s a very peculiar feeling. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so anonymous. But without my hair, and especially without my beard, I simple don’t look like myself. I’m sure the effect is magnified by my chemo fatigue body language, which isn’t my usual energetic vibration state.

So far, I’ve for the most part found this amusing. At some point it will stop being funny and start being annoying.

Tags: Cancer, Conventions, Funny, health, weird

Posted: 5:04 am Mon July 18 2011 | Comments(0) |

[photos] Your Monday moment of zen

Your Monday moment of zen.

Wall, eastern Washington state. © 2007, 2011, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Tags: Photos, zen

Posted: 5:02 am Mon July 18 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad gets ready to vanish down the medical rathole

A review of Green — Definitely not with the liking. And once again, a reviewer has reviewed the dedication, which still seems odd to me.

A nice photo of me and the_child

First Demonstration of Time Cloaking — This story makes my head hurt. In a good way. (Thanks to danjite.)

Editing the Genetic Code of Living Bacteria — A new method for making genomewide changes to organisms could lead to better ways of producing useful new drugs and chemicals.

Earth’s original heat store still burning strongs

The Internet of Things — There are almost twenty Internet-enabled devices in my household. So, um, yeah. (Thanks to David Goldman.)

China’s New Parochialism

Bachmann on debt ceiling: Up is down, black is white — In case you were under the delusion that Bachmann is, you know, rational.

Poll: 71% shun GOP handling of debt crisis — Nice to see that for once the public is correctly identifying the source of the problem. Given that the GOP is now turning down more than they were asking for a year ago in the deficit proposals (and given that whole problem is political theatre anyway), they’ve pretty much jumped the shark.Again. Permanent Majority, anyone?

Spinning the News of the World Scandal at Fox News — Your liberal media. They distort, you deride.

?otD: Got any cutting remarks?

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7/18/2011
Writing time yesterday: 3.5 hours (Sunspin, short fiction, WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.0 hours (solid), plus airplane napping yesterday
Weight: 234.6 (!)
Currently reading: Objects of Worship by Claude Lalumière

Tags: Books, Child, China, Cool, Green, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, reviews, Science, weird

Posted: 5:01 am Mon July 18 2011 | Comments(1) |

[cancer] The forthcoming surgery

I’ll be talking about this some more tomorrow, but I’m having my liver resected for the second time this coming Tuesday. Flying home from Readercon today, going on a liquid diet tomorrow (along with bowel prep) and rolling in to the hospital probably very early Tuesday for a morning surgery. Among other delights, I’ll be on IV feeding for several day, then back on a liquid diet for a while, so after today, no solid food for me.

I’ll be offline probably for close to a week, depending on how long it takes my brain to come back to usefulness from the anesthesia and the post-operative pain medications. I’ll try to have someone post status updates on the surgery and any significant post-operative events, but as that will be out of my control, I make no promises.

The funny thing is I am oddly cheerful about the impending medical festivities. I don’t feel intimidated or freaked out. Which just goes to show that after three previous rounds of cancer surgery, a person really can get used to anything.

Tags: Cancer, Conventions, Food, health, Travel

Posted: 3:05 am Sun July 17 2011 | Comments(9) |

[photos] Your Sunday moment of zen

Your Sunday moment of zen.

Gears, eastern Washington state. © 2007, 2011, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Tags: Photos, zen

Posted: 2:58 am Sun July 17 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad tools up to fly home

SF spaceships to scale — (Snurched from Dark Roasted Blend.)

Peeve of the week: 20% correct — I love it when people moan about the decline of the language. And kids today.

Where did the Bible come from?

Who Would Jesus Smack Down? — Making Calvinism hip? Just what we need, a further revival of that grim theology. (Found at Slacktivist.)

?otD: What’s for breakfast?

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7/17/2011
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (Sunspin)
Body movement: n/a (suburban walking to come)
Hours slept: 5.75 hours (solid)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

Tags: Cool, Language, Links, Personal, Religion

Posted: 2:57 am Sun July 17 2011 | Comments(0) |