Sometimes, I’m told people can see right through me. I never know if they mean I’m transparent, or I’m hiding something, and what is hidden is transparent. A conundrum to say the least. Today I might wish that ‘transparency’ were indeed the case.

It started with a sharp stabbing pain in my right hand. This had occurred, to some degree, in the past. I was told then, it was most likely carpel tunnel syndrome. Okay. I’ll bite. So way back when I was given some smelly bright blue polypro wrist straps, some anti-inflammatories and that was that. Hadn’t had an issue since. Fast forward several years, to two weeks ago …. and the pain. It started in the right hand. A week later and the left hand joined in … either in sympathy, or solidarity.

Okay. It has been a while. Well … actually it’s been over a year. So much has gone on. So much has improved. But where to start?

At he beginning Joe. At the beginning.

It seemed like only yesterday … oye … already with the cliches. Okay it seems like it was only, 668 days, no 95 weeks, no, 1 Year, 9 Months, and 30 Days since my last confession or blog entry … take your pick. Break out your abacus & double check my math. Can people still do math in this country … can we?

Since those last entries a LOT of things have changed. First and foremost my health has gotten markedly better. My Sarcoidosis has been pushed to the back burner, there are very few, if any, signs that I ever had it. And believe me … I did & still do HAVE it. It’s like a bad toe fungus … you can make it subside, but it might come back. But I won’t linger on that thought.

Senior Pulmonologist Dr Spaghetti-Sauce has told me my lung capacity is back to “normal for a man my age.” I didn’t know whether to kiss him (no tongue please) or smack him … “a man my age” … indeed! Then Again I just turned the big five oh!!! Yup fifty big ones. No big thing.

Bought a new car. Yup. Traded in the gas-aholic 4-Runner for a tea totaling Scion tC. Chris & I moved out of Eastlake and bought a condo in the Pinehurst neighborhood of Seattle.

Never thought I could own a “home of my own” but here I sit. Though for the first month I didn’t do much sitting. I painted walls, made art, removed a wet bar … and it was all fun. It now looks like our home. Pretty amazing stuff … heady … if you will. And yes I will! Yes we will!

Hmmm. I looked in my back pocket. Not there. Looked in my front pockets. Not there either. I looked behind me. I looked on the floor, under the bed. Damn! Where could they be? Somehow I misplaced them. In a situation like this, what do you do?

Start from the beginning. Okay … easy enough.

It started around 6:59 AM. I heard that sound—that faint beep beep beeping of the alarm. I guess it didn’t really matter. I didn’t really think anything could take it away from me. I didn’t give it a second thought. Though I did plenty of thinking, seemingly only a few hours ago, when head hits pillow. Hoping for a good nights sleep. But it was my head. It was full of thoughts that I didn’t want to escape my lips.

Just got back from Dr R’s office. Had to have an EKG done. Señor Pulmonologist thought I should have one. I’m too tired to be witty right now … so nothing but the facts. The EKG was okay. My heart has not been affected … yet. This is good news. Now all I have to do is get through my bronchoscopy and lung biopsy tomorrow.

After I’ve been poked & peaked at … then it’s time to hold our collective breath for a week … figuratively speaking or course. It will take a week to find out the results. Again with this waiting thing! Oye!

So yeah …I’m nervous about what the doctor will find in there. Maybe a red 1957 Buick Skylark convertible?

I’m waiting for Godot, or Godar, or maybe François Truffaut, or any of the other directors of “cinéma de la nouvelle vague française”. Actually I’m waiting for Casey, Dr Mike’s assistant to call me back. He’s investigating getting my pulmonologist appointment moved up. It was set for Monday July 11 @ 2:00 PM, but I didn’t want to have to wait through another weekend for him to take a peak at my lungs … as it were.

Miracle of miracles! He did it. Got it moved to today @ 4:00 PM. I have to run to Swedish to pick up my chesty x-rays & other assorted items. Then I’m off to sell CDs for my friend Amy. She’s playing a lunchtime gig at the IDX tower downtown. Anywho … more later. Have to jam …

Thank you Hanz & Franz. Thank you Dr Mike. Steroids is the name. Treating Sarcoidosis is the game. Well as much as one can “treat” this disease. As Dr Mike told me today, “Sarcoidosis is the ‘soft’ diagnosis” for what’s going on with me. In other words … this is what we think it is. Now I will have to follow the yellow brick road from Emerald City Medical Arts to the pulmonologist he will send me to. But right now it’s mega-steroids for the next six day. I just took my first three pills. Five today. Four tomorrow … etc etc etc … for the next six day. So if I talk to you between now & then & I’m a bit “snappish” please forgive me ahead of time … for the drugs know not what they do.

Dr Mike says the roids will help my breathing “issues” … so that’s a good thing. I’m still not sure whether granulomas are forming in my lungs, along with the lymph nodes being enlarged. All I got from our meeting this morning was that the “shadowing” and the lymph node enlargement were probably causing my “breathing issues.” (My words … not Dr M’s.) From all the blood testing I STILL have elevated liver functions. This has been going on for a long time. My liver is also enlarged, according to images from an upper body ultrasound I had a few months ago. His thinking is that, knowing Sarcoidosis can affect any organ, my liver could have been the first casualty.