Turning 60 sort of hit me between the eyes. To make matters worse, a serious health issue gripped me seemingly before I even finished blowing out the candles on my birthday cake. What I thought was a lingering stomach virus turned out, after a visit to the gastroenterologist, to be a small “lipoma.”
Say what!
The gastroenterologist assure me that a lipoma was nothing more than a fatty deposit in the stomach that was nothing to be worried about. But just to be sure he advised that I have it biopsied.
I had another procedure to biopsy the supposedly nonthreatening mass, and the attending physician said that the mass was a bit larger than originally thought, but that it was probably nothing to be worried about.
However, when I received my test results, it turned out that there was definitely something to be worried about.
PATIENT:BURNS, TIMOTHY G
DIAGNOSIS:
07/17/17 ST:fc
ANTRAL SUBEPITHELIAL MASS, TRANSGASTRIC FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATE (EUS) HYPOCELLULAR SPECIMEN WITH OCCASIONAL GROUPS OF MONOTONOUS EPITHELIAL CELLS AND A RARE FRAGMENT OF BENIGN ADIPOSE TISSUE
SUSPICIOUS FOR, BUT NOT DIAGNOSTIC OF A WELL DIFFERENTIATED
NEUROENDOCRINE TUMOR/CARCINOID TUMOR (SEE COMMENTS)
Comment: The epithelial cells seen in this specimen are suspicious for, but not diagnostic of, a
carcinoid tumor. Tissue studies are recommended for a definitive diagnosis.
Say what??? By the way, a nueroendocrine or carcinoid tumor is a polite way of saying cancer.
I was in complete shock. I tried to break the news gently to my wife, but unfortunately there’s nothing particularly gentle about cancer.
We cried. We prayed. I had a young son that I desperately wanted to raise. Would I be able to? How about my family? What would happen to them? During those horrible moments you naturally hope for the best but fear the worst.
The doctors prescribed a battery of tests to determine if the mass had spread to other areas of my body. I still couldn’t bring myself to even utter the C word because it was no terrifying.
Although the tests turned out to be encouraging, we couldn’t eliminate whether that little mass in my stomach, that wasn’t actually so little (4 centimeters) was merely a fatty tissue or something to be worried about. Unfortunately, another sample was inconclusive.
I decided that I wanted it out and consulted with a surgeon at a leading facility that specialized in neuroendocrine tumors. The optimism that I had built up to this point was quickly dampered by the physician’s belief that the tumor was probably very serious. All of the preop activity was done with with the assumption that I had cancer. My wife and I continued to pray for the best.
Finally, the mass was extracted and there was GOOD NEWS. Actually, not just good news, but fantastic, possibly miraculous news. The mass was just fatty tissue and not malignant. It was just a lipoma after all. But the bad news was that along with removal of the lipoma came a good portion of my stomach including the muscle which regulated food flow to the large intestine. The muscle was apparently located inconveniently below the lipoma. My digestive function, which I suppose I took for granted, was a bit of a mess. I would basically have to learn how to eat and you know what all over again.
I was out of action for over six weeks and during that time I had plenty of time to think. This brush with death convinced me that I had no more time to waste and I needed to pursue my life goals. I mentioned I prayed a great deal during this time, particularly during the tense pre-operation timeframe, when my emotions bounced around according to the test results. I even reminded God that I was a regular churchgoer (even though He was probably aware of it) and estimated that my mass attendance was certainly in the high 90s, which I hoped would be taken into consideration. I also promised him that I would do something to help people as many people as I could. Give me a few more decades in the trenches and the world would be better off. When you’re desperate, you tend to promise the world.
While convalescing I read extensively and came across an excellent book by Daniel Pink called Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us.
He discussed baby boomers in the book, those people born between 1947 in 1964. He also discusses how potent a trigger the big 6-0 is.
He discusses the various reactions of people once they hit 60. First there is shock at reaching 60 which they think is old. Then there is the relief that anyone who is healthy enough to make it to six decades is probably healthy enough to hang on a fair bit longer. According to United Nations data a 60-year-old American man can expect to live another 20+ years.
But this relief quickly dissipates when they realize how fast time races by and wondering when am I going to do something that matters? When am I going to live my best life? When am I going to make a difference in the world? The author estimates that these conversations are now occurring at a rate that is unprecedented in human civilization. Boomers are in fact the largest demographic cohort in Western countries as well as in places like Japan Australia and New Zealand. According to the US Census Bureau United States alone has 78 million boom baby boomers which means that on the average each year more than 4 million Americans reach this soul-searching life pondering birthday
The next statement made my blood freeze “When the cold front of demographics meets the warm front of unrealized streams, the result will be a thunderstorm of purpose the likes of which the world has never seen.
I knew them with my purpose was which was to nurture and guide and lead and provide information and motivation and collect information for my fellow baby boomers. That is why I created 60 is the new 40 and I hope that it helps you.