It's May 3, 2013. It's about 10 days after my first hospital admission and first surgery. I am doing well but not yet back to my regular self. There's still a bit of pain on the surgical sites when doing certain daily activities but I am generally good and feeling great.
Back in January, about the last week of the month, I had my annual general physical examination, which was required by the company I work for. I had the usual tests for my age group but I also complained of another matter, one that has been plaguing me for a year now. The doctor advised further examinations including an ultrasound of the entire abdomen.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the ultrasound revealed a glaring 1.3 cm mass in my gall bladder. I got worried. A mass is a mass. No matter the circumstances (I am young, a non-smoker, non-alcoholic beverage drinker, and I exercise regularly), as long as it has not been declared benign and safe, we always think of the possibility of the big C.
My being a doctor may have made matters worse. I know where to get more information so I did. And the more information I read, the more grim everything became. Studies reveal that solitary gall bladder masses with size greater than 1 cm have a higher chance of being malignant (i.e. cancerous).
