Part 1: How it all started.....

So, I constantly get asked what happened, how long I've had cancer, what type of cancer, etc.
It gets exhausting trying to tell everyone individually or even when I message them it leads to more questions.
Let me say that I know it comes from a genuine place of concern for me and my family and I truly do appreciate that, I really do.

To start, I need to go back 3 years to Dec 15, 2022 of how this whole thing started.

I was having a hard time breathing with shortness of breath and I thought I had Covid.  Took a couple of tests at home and they were negative.  I also start to develop a minor cough.
Finally, I decide the next day to take myself to the hospital (ER).  I get there and they immediately whisk me back to an ER room and put me on an IV, some diuretics, and I don't remember what else.
What I do remember is that my heart rate was at 160 (my normal resting is mid 60's) and it had been for two days.

Yes, that 162 is my BPM!

So, for the two days prior, at home, I was in A-FIB and didn't even know it......lol.
With that, I had to be admitted to the hospital and was there for 4 days.
However, in my infinite wisdom, I decide to go to the ER, find out what was wrong, get admitted and THEN tell my wife where I was and what was going on.....lol.
Needless to say, she was not happy.

So after a CT scan and lots of doctors looking at things they were able to figure out I had a fluid buildup around my heart and that is what they treated.
I get out of the hospital the week before Christmas and start to feel better.
I'm now on some heart medication to make sure my heart is pumping blood properly.

At that point, I needed a recommendation to a cardiologist, so I had to go through my PCP for a referral.
The soonest I could get an appointment was April 25, 2023.
So I continue to do what my doctor tells me to do and start to make healthier choices.  Not entirely, mind you....but it was a start of what led me to where I am today.

I go in the day of my appointment (my birthday) and my doctor isn't there.  No, she is out on maternity leave!  She left the day before my appointment....lol.
Nobody told me, they knew months in advance.
Well, they can't really do anything except review the hospital notes and my PCP notes.  Then schedule me for a follow up visit in 6 months, which is now going to be November 6, 2023.

November 5th, 2023 I get a call and they tell me that my doctor's office (she has one in Tacoma and one in Lakewood) is being remodeled and rather than move me to the other location, they decide to do a video visit.
Like, I'm not sure how that is supposed to help....but ok.
But I also tell her that I have this persistent cough even though my heart seems to be doing fine.  It was fine enough that she took me off of one of the blood pressure medications and I've been off ever since.

She says, let's get you into the office just to check some things but the soonest will be Feb 12, 2024 (3 months later).

Now Feb rolls around and I go to see my cardiologist.  She says, it isn't your heart, everything looks good.  Continue to see your PCP and then see me again in August 2024.

Now during this time, I am making regular visits to my PCP, who informs me that after 31 years as my PCP he is retiring....of course I am bummed, but I get it.  Dr. B has seen me in my 20's and my 60's.  Only doctor I've ever had my adult life.
The new guy taking over his practice is a real piece of work (though I can think of another 4 letter word that describes him better)....lol.
Anyway, during this time I am still having this cough.  So, I go with this new whack job's recommendations.
Oh it is allergies, here are some pills.
Oh it is asthma, here is an inhaler.
Oh it is some kind of infection, here are some anti-biotics.
Doesn't work...none of it.

He "refers" me to a pulmonary doctor and I wait.
...and wait.
...and wait.
Nobody gets a hold of me and now it has been a couple of months.  So, I go in for my visit in April 2024 for my regular annual checkup and there is no record of this moron referring me to someone.

So, back to my August 2024 appointment with my cardiologist I go and ask her for a referral.
She refers me to a doctor, but I can't get him to see him until February 2025.

It was at that point in Sep 2024, that I made a serious effort to focus on my health, lose weight and get back to what I was before all of this started.
Nobody can figure this out, I am getting tired of this persistent cough....so dropping weight seemed like it would help.

Forward a year later (Sep 2025) and I have lost 90lbs.  I got dialed in and cut back on beer, cut out processed foods, sodium, fatty foods, etc.
Totally easy once I get into a groove (and still am...despite my recent medical setback).

February 12, 2025 finally rolls around and I get a call that my new pulmonary doctor needs to reschedule me because they don't have all of my medical records.
Guess why?  
The new PCP idiot had not sent them over despite me personally hand delivering the form to send over my records.
So now I'm pissed.
Probably not the smartest thing to do, but it was at that point I went into my PCP and demanded that they give me all of my records, I didn't even want them in the building or know that I was associated with this new idiot.....lol.
This asshat then takes another almost 60 days to send them over.  So now it is April 2025.  I finally get a pulmonary appointment for August 2025.

At that point, I reached out to my cardiologist and asked for a new PCP referral.  She gives me one, the soonest I can see them is Sep 8, 2025.

Now I go in to see my pulmonary doctor...all medical records over.  Referral done.  Everything is set.  Go in for my appointment and guess what?  The doctor isn't in, he's away at a conference....lol.
The fill in doctor sets me up for a November 2025 follow up.  I'm like follow up to what?  haha.

Now the fun begins.......