The call eventually came at about 4:45 pm yesterday. Give him the day to squirm.
Over the phone came the neutral voice of my physician’s nurse: “Hello, is this Rod?”
Instantly you fix on the tone of voice, analyze its pitch: happy or dour, pleased or disappointed, light ‘n breezy or coldly factual.
Eventually I reply, “Yes, this is Rod.”
She started in with a considerable preamble that I’m certain was relevant though I can’t recall a word of it. It’s like what they say about what an expectant dog hears, keywords, the rest is noise: “blah blah blah RUFUS blah blah blah TREAT blah blah blah…”
Likewise, I heard: “blah blah blah ROD blah blah blah GOOD NEWS blah blah…”
My tail begins to wag.
I ask her to repeat it, I didn’t hear the detail. Of course, she says, I understand. There is cheer in her tone. The mist in my mesentery had evidently cleared, nothing but an early morning haze that had burned off once the sun rose. You do not have an occult metastasis; in fact, she continued, improvement in your nodes was observed compared to the previous scan, so no need for any additional follow-up, we’re treating the original finding as an incidental discovery.
Tail wagging faster. Time passes.
“Rod, are you there, do you have any more questions for me?”
Finally, I manage, “Uh, no, that’s… excellent, thank you.
She invites me to enjoy the rest of my day, we hang up.