I neglected to mention Donna’s new portable computer table in yesterday’s post. She ordered  it from Bradd and Hall a few weeks ago and it arrived on Wednesday. It’s very nicely made with a dark cherry finish. And it’s height adjustable.

Donna’s new height-adjustable laptop table

The top also tilts.

Tilting table top

There is a compartment under the table top for storing papers or folders and a smaller compartment on the right side for supplies.

Side compartment propped open with a white rubber ball

I ended my story yesterday with my primary care physician, Dr. Gary Schillhammer, telling me to come back in 30 days if the swollen lymph node on my neck wasn’t resolved. To be honest, I have no recollection of him telling me that. I was taking powerful anti-inflammatory and pain medication for my shoulder at the time. I remember him measuring the lymph node and saying he didn’t think it was a big deal.

When my shoulder started to improve, I started physical therapy to strengthen it. By spring, it was getting stronger and I felt pretty good.

I had highs and lows in 2001. My marriage to my ex-wife lasted 21 years, but our relationship deteriorated over the last few years of our marriage. By late spring, we decided it was time to end it. Washington  State requires a period of physical separation before you can file for divorce. I moved out of our home in Darrington and rented a small apartment in Arlington. The owner of the apartment had converted the upstairs level of his house into separate living quarters. I had my own entry, bath and two rooms. One room was the kitchen and dining areas, the other was my bedroom/living room. It wasn’t much bigger than the motorhome I live in today.

I started racing motorcycles again with the Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association (WMRRA). Motorcycle racing is very demanding. Contrary to how it looks on TV, with the riders appearing to smoothly flow around the track, you have incredible G forces to deal with, especially under braking. In club racing, there are fast guys that aren’t in great physical condition. These guys are fast for a couple of laps, but then they fade. You have to be strong and have good endurance to consistently put in fast lap times.

I worked hard at my physical conditioning. Every day, I either ran three to five miles or I worked on strength training. I continued this all summer and into the fall. I was in great shape, I weighed 170 pounds, but one thing bothered me. Every day, after I returned home from work, I had to take a 20- or 30-minute power nap. I would be so exhausted, I couldn’t do anything without taking a nap first. I was 45 years old that fall and I thought it was just a function of growing older.

At the end of the racing season, I struck a sponsorship deal with Beaudry Motorsports of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Steve Beaudry set me up with a 2002 Suzuki GSXR 600, new and still in the shipping crate. Over the winter I planned to gain more sponsors and build it into a top-shelf 600 Supersport race bike.

I made an appointment with Dr. Schillhammer to have my annual physical exam in December. Dr. Gary Shillhammer wasn’t just my primary care physician, he was a close friend. We hiked, hunted and kayaked together. My ex-wife and his wife were good friends with each other and we had them over for dinner or joined them for dinner at their place from time to time before my divorce. My youngest daughter, Shauna, went to school with Gary’s daughter, Eliza, from kindergarten through high school graduation.

During my routine exam, Gary asked me if I was having any issues. I told him how I needed a daily nap after work. He didn’t seem too concerned about that. Then I told him I still had the lump on my neck from the swollen lymph node. He looked at my chart, then he measured the lymph node.

That’s when he lost it. He said, “I told you to come back if it wasn’t gone in 30 days! Why did you wait, why didn’t you come back? You should have told me.” He was almost shouting and was very agitated. He gathered his composure and got back into his professional role as my primary care physician. I knew then that something was very wrong. The lump had been there for more than a year at this point. Dr. Schillhammer gave me a referral to have a biopsy done.

My next appointment was with an otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) specialist, Dr. Gary Brown in Mt Vernon, Washington. He took a sample of the lymph node tissue. He told me his wife was going through cancer treatment. He understood the anxiety of waiting for test results and said he would call as soon as he had the results.

I was riding in a car with friends when the call came on my cell phone. He told me the tissue was malignant, but there was another problem. He said it was squamous cell cancer. Squamous cell cancer doesn’t originate in your lymph system. The cancerous lymph node was a secondary site. I had a primary tumor somewhere else in my body that had spread cancer cells into my lymph system.

I thought about how slowly my broken shoulder healed. My doctors couldn’t understand it. Now it made sense, cancer was spreading through my body while I was recovering from the hunting accident.

The next step was to find the primary site. To be continued…