July 2006 - "to have no regrets"

Sunday July 2nd, 2006 - the day that we stopped waiting for everyone else to get on board.

We'd seen Robin's family doctor on June 16, 2006. The doctor had ordered a CT scan which was completed on June 22, 2006 and which confirmed what the doctor had expected - a 95% blockage in Robin's right sinus indicated a severe sinus infection. Some significant nuances of the image wouldn't be pointed out to us until nearly a month later when it was viewed by an experienced surgeon.

We'd had difficulty getting an appointment with a specialist - our initial appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) physician wasn't until mid-July, but by July 2nd Robin had persistent discomfort in her right cheek. She had been biking less and less and it appeared that this was going to interfere with a bicycle tour we planned to participate in the last week of July - a 500 mile ride from Niagara Falls to Saratoga Springs, NY. No bother, we talked about contingency plans and we figured maybe we'd just bring a car on the trip and take turns driving, so Robin could bike as much (or as little) as she wanted.

Even though she wasn't getting in lots of biking miles, she was still doing medium length rides and on this Sunday in 2006 we completed a twenty-eight mile ride along the Mohawk River. The last third of the ride we were extra motivated by a dark sky which threatened to let loose a torrent of rain. Upon arriving home we unpacked the car and we were getting settled down when I found Robin on the couch holding her cheek. In what would become the most common question of the next eight months I asked "What is your pain level?" and she replied that it was a "6".

It had been two weeks since her initial symptoms and I think we were both getting nervous about the situation. Fourteen days of antibiotics were having no effect on the increasing discomfort. She was starting to cough up chunks of grayish-reddish material which we knew didn't match the snotty yellow of a sinus infection.

After all the restraint we'd exhibited my brain now switched to action mode. I considered that if this truly turned out to be cancer and it turned out to be a disaster, then I would personally regret if I hadn't done everything possible, as soon as possible, to find out what was going on and to start fighting back. With this idea imprinted in my brain I said that based upon her pain level we needed to head over to the Emergency Room.

This would be the beginning of a long week of phone calls, appointments and discontent.