Whew.

Dr. Beale conferring with his very groggy patient

Once you've been told the dreaded "C" word, you're paranoid from then on. People who've undergone high-dose chemotherapy have a much greater risk of developing a secondary cancer, so when Dr. Beale said he saw no signs of cancer in Jimmy's lungs today, we were Relieved. Specimens were taken and sent off for analysis, but we feel good about it.

Jimmy's bronchoscopy this morning showed bilateral lung abnormalities (scarring) and bronchitic changes which are probably late effects from all the chemotherapy he's had. These late effects can occur years after treatment and may vary widely from person to person.

What does this mean? I'm not sure. It's hard to get definitive answers, because, I think, there aren't any. My take on it is that Jimmy has developed some mild COPD, and we'll deal with this like everything else: one step at the time.

On a lighter note:  another addition to the Saved By Dr. Beale Club.  Cathy Bright e-mailed to tell me that a few years ago, when Micky went into cardiac arrest in ICU, it was Dr. Beale who responded to the Code Blue.  Cathy said that Dr. Beale was not Micky's doctor, but they were mighty glad he was around.