Background

    Around the second week of April, we started noticing that Cornell's balance was off. He mis-guessed and sat on the floor instead of a chair. By the third week of April, he really had a hard time walking straight unless he could run his hand along a wall or hang on to another person. We heard lots of personal accounts of a struggle with vertigo and how it eventually resolved. In May, Cornell went to Physicians immediate Care where they checked his vitals took blood and gave him helpful hints and exercises to help with vertigo. Meanwhile, I got a cane for him. Cornell was able to use it to go about doing his work, still someone accused him of being drunk. 

    By the end of May, Cornell was having an increasingly difficult time walking and doing his work. The world was swimming. Going up and down the stairs took concentration and time. 

    In June, I bought a walker and Cornell was glad to have it. We went back to Physician's Immediate Care. This time the test for vertigo left the provider (Adam Packer) puzzled. Cornell did a couple coughs (which he did occasionally). He had a coughing spell a few days before that left his ribs sore. Adam did an x-ray of his lungs. There was a shadow that needed further investigation. Cornell had a CT scan done on June 7th. He was told that there is cancer in his lungs. There is a larger mass in his right lung and several others in both lungs. The Cancer had spread. We got an appointment with an oncologist for the following Wednesday. We also contacted The Huntsman Institute and got an appointment for Monday. While we waited for the appointments to roll around, Cornell continued to get worse. For days, he couldn’t keep food down and his head ached. We went to the ER. There he received some pain relief, hydration, and more tests. Finally, someone was looking into why Cornell was losing his balance. The CT scan on his head was followed by an MRI. the ER Dr. Told us that Cornell had more tumors in his brain, one bigger one where his spine begins. 

    He was admitted to the hospital, but because it was full, he spent the night in the ER on a gurney type bed, but he was out of pain. The next day a biopsy of the largest tumor in his lung was done. Because he was on a steroid for the swelling in his brain, he was to start insulin shots. Steroids mess with blood sugar. His hands were not steady enough, so I would check his blood sugar and give the shots. He stayed one more night. We got him settled in the guest room on the main floor once he was home. 

    And then we waited for the biopsy results. The oncologist, Dr. Anderson, had met with Cornell at the hospital. We felt confident with this Doctor but decided to keep our Huntsman appointment anyway, It was at Huntsman that Cornell learned the result of the biopsy. . . his cancer is melanoma.