RSS FeedA Little Lighter On The Left Side
“This is the worst dude to dude news there is,” said the urologist as he cupped my left testicle, “I’m 95 percent certain that’s cancer.”
Exactly one week after hearing those words, that same doctor removed my cancer, and my left testicle with it.
It may not sound like it, but I was lucky. I caught the cancer myself during what doctors would call self-examination, but most others would consider the Al Bundy method of watching TV. And while you never want to hear the word cancer, the diagnosis wasn’t a total surprise. When you feel a lump on one of the boys, the only lottery you’ve won is the kind Shirley Jackson wrote about. But as I said I was lucky; I found it early and testicular cancer is extremely curable. I’m also lucky because I have great insurance which allowed me to skip my general practitioner (a great guy, but I knew I needed a specialist) and go right to the urologist without a referral.
My prognosis is great and my attitude has stayed pretty positive throughout this ordeal. I’ve endured both surgery and follow-up cancer therapy, so far so good. This diagnosis did once again point out to me what a great neighborhood PQ is, both in terms of location (I never knew we had such easy access to medical specialists) and the way my neighbors all pitched in to do whatever they could.
But I’ll start with our location. While there may not be many doctors in our immediate neighborhood, The K Street/Farragut North corridor is loaded with medical practices. I began with my diagnosis at Urologic Surgeons of Washington (2021 K st NW), the closest practice to me that also accepted my insurance. They were able to do much of the lab work in their K street office, but what they couldn’t do I was able to accomplish just a block away at Diagnostic Health (2121 K st NW). My urologist was associated with GW Hospital (900 23rd st NW), which ended up being where I had my surgery performed. The entire first half of my ordeal was all accomplished in one week between 20th-23rd streets NW. I took the metro to every one of my appointments, I walked home from a few of them, and took my neighbor up on an offer to pick me up from the hospital a few hours after my surgery (that’s right fellas, losing lefty was considered outpatient).
A few weeks after the surgery when I was getting back to my old self, it came time to face follow up treatment. For that I had to make two stops. One was again on K street at Washington Oncology-Hematology (2141 K st NW); the other was at the Cancer Center at Sibley Hospital. Sibley of course is not in downtown DC, but we’ve got numerous D6 bus stops in PQ. That D6 bus takes you directly to Sibley (last stop), and lets you out about 100 feet from the Cancer Center entrance. The ride is almost an hour each way, but it’s an easy door to door route.
Such easy access to quality health care was fantastic, but most important to my wellbeing was that throughout my ordeal I never felt stranded or alone. Did I need my dog walked while at treatment? Did I need a ride somewhere or to borrow a car? Did I need groceries, take out, or a drink? I never had to ask someone if they would help, I merely had to accept one of the numerous offers pouring in. I haven’t lived in PQ very long, right at 4 years, and over that time I’ve made some friends. I’m not sure I was aware of just how many friends and how strong those friendships were though, until this. I had to take the first step of course, and tell people I was hurting. I decided the day I got the diagnosis not to try to keep this a secret or go it alone. To get all the offers of assistance, my neighbors had to know what I was going through.
I’ve had friends who didn’t want to move downtown because they wanted to live someplace with more of a neighborhood feel. It’s hard to explain to those who don’t live here that PQ isn’t just a shopping or restaurant destination. Penn Quarter is a neighborhood, with its own unique feel. And I’m now convinced of what I’ve always suspected: There are no better neighbors to be had than I’ve got here in PQ.
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Comments
I thought this was a Penn Quarter blog, why is this here? I dont care – if I wanted to read about a man’s health problems I’d pick up Men’s Health Magazine!
Dear Columbo, As a fellow PQ resident, I have enjoyed your postings for awhile now. I’m glad that your prognosis is good! This posting is quite relevant for PQ residents as often people in the PQ wonder where the nearest locations to seek medical treatment are – very informative information! I also agree with you that, having lived in the PQ now for 3.5 years, I often run into my PQ neighbors and I love the neighborhood feel to the PQ! Take care!
I am very thankful for this post. I feel like there is not enough sharing of info when it comes to medical issues (even common issues like cancer) and that people too often use the guise of “TMI” to silence discussion. It also nice to know about some of the medical facilities that we have downtown since I know that many of us are still programmed to trek out to suburbia for medical services.
living downtown is great for access to health care services. the D6 to Sibley or the subway to GW are great ways to leave the car in the garage (or ZipCar on the street) if you need to visit a hospital (for non-emergencies, of course). it is hard to explain to non-downtowners that we really do have a neighborhood.
Truly one of the strangest blog posts I’ve ever read. You definitely could’ve made your point without all of the very personal details. Is PQliving taking a new direction, hopefully not.
You write well, the posting had interesting facts and an uplifiting message. I know Penn Quarter is a neighborhood having been told by some taking jobs elsewhere downtown or in the suburbs and by people who move, needing larger living quarters in the same price range, that they really miss being in Penn Quarter. Most of us don’t usually think about how lucky we are until we read a posting like your. Thank you and may the force be with you!
Wishing you the best, Columbo! With all the challenges in the world, I think it is important that we all look out for each other.
In addition to great care GW and Sibley and Georgetown, many in the neighborhood may not be aware of our close proximity to the Washington Medical Center–one of the premiere medical facilities in the country. Getting there by public transportation is a bit convoluted, but a cab ride over is quick and relatively inexpensive (especially with the increase in Metro fares).
I disagree that this was TMI or inappropriate. The author made a good connection between his personal story and the interconnectedness with the neighborhood, so it works here.
What’s next — you’re going to give us an exhaustive account of a bout with constipation to enlighten readers about the great access to CVS in PQ to buy laxatives. Let’s get some more posts from gpliving, please.
I have read this blog for a while, and I’m really glad to hear you’re on the mend!
One thing you touched on that I would be interested in hearing more about from the PQLiving writers is how you meet your neighbors. I’ve lived in two buildings here in PQ over the past three years, and my experience has been a little different than the one you describe. It has not been bad, to be sure, but the area still doesn’t quite feel like a neighborhood (i.e., a place where people know and look out for each other) to me.
downtowner — That is an excellent idea for a blog post. Look for something soon on this site addressing your question.
To the well wishers — Thank you very much, really appreciate the kind words.
To the TMI crowd — Message received, won’t happen again.
I assume the complaints are mostly in response to the opening of this article, and I get it. I was hoping the brutally honest opening would be buffered with (my attempts at) humor immediately following, and then the coming together of my neighbors at the end. But obviously that wasn’t the case; instead the opening was just to jarring.
I was really looking to reach a few others in PQ who were going through something similar (be it cancer, or any other malady). People who perhaps you can’t tell there is anything going on, and are too afraid or shy to share their pain. I won’t lie, I still hope I’ve reached a few of them, and I hope they will turn to their neighbors for help.
Organizations like Susan G Koman have done a great job at making breast cancer a common topic of conversation, one that doesn’t end up the butt of jokes. The Lance Armstrong Foundation still has a way to go to do the same for testicular cancer. Telling someone you have TC can evoke the best in people (as I described in my post), and sometimes it just makes them go for a joke (see Han Solo above, or my personal favorite “how’s it hanging”).
thank you very much for this post. Those who grumble about this being “TMI” are truly heartless in this case.
Columbo, I’m also very glad you’re OK. Adam K, I don’t think it necessarily makes a person heartless to think that some of this post was TMI. The subject matter is one thing (important to get the word out about screening/prevention), but how it’s written about is quite another. There are different ways to write about a subject that are appropriate to different venues. The beginning of the post, in particular, may be more appropriate to a different type of publication than a blog about neighborhood living, where you don’t necessarily expect to read a kind of cheeky, wink-wink discussion about touching yourself. You can say that that type of writing may not be best suited to this blog without saying that you don’t care about Columbo’s health, that cancer shouldn’t be talked about, etc.
Columbo, I am so glad that you shared this and I took your message of neighborly support to heart. This is one of my all time favorite postings on this blog and think that you are brave to share this with all of us. I am so glad to hear that you are doing better and wish you nothing but the best!
Never mind the naysayers. This needed to be said…exactly the way you needed to say it. Humanity is important in every neighborhood. May you get all the compassion and loving-kindness you need!
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aww sugar… ive had several friends go through this over last few years…keep your chin up… i think fellow blogger Jeff Simmeron said it best when he described his exp. with cancer …by saying something along the lines of “i didnt fight the cancer so much as the depression” just know we are all thinking of you…and wishing you as speedy recovery!
xoxo