-For those who may or may not know, On Tuesday, August 27, I had a biopsy to determine if what was detected via chest x-ray and two cat scans- which was enlargement of multiple lymph nodes-was the worst-case scenario; this being having lymphoma-a slow type of cancer. It was also the same night KISS was playing in Syracuse and-for those who don’t know-yes, I did make it to the concert and had a great time 🙂 When I got out of the biopsy, I had the scar as well as a large swelling around it. The swelling is almost gone now. I was also concerned that, since two tubes were down my throat at the same time (one was the breathing tube and the other with a camera so the doctor could look at both the inside and outside of my lungs), that there was a possibility of damage to my vocal cords. I’m happy to report that I have the high and mid ranges back (I never lost (fully or partially) my low range). Staying power isn’t what it was but I can recover some of that (maybe more) with vocal exercise-which I’m back to doing (and was doing for over a decade now). The good news is that I don’t have cancer, but…

-The doctor did tell me that I do have something-and that is called Sarcoidosis. Now, I’m by no means an expert of this but I will try to explain a few things from my research. Please feel free to correct/add to the info if you’d like… Of course, the first search I had to hit a site where they were talking about what happens if it’s chronic and, if really bad, one can have a life expectancy of maybe ten years tops. Great huh? I don’t even know if that’s really accurate but that didn’t set the tone very well obviously. I kept on pushing on though…

-Sarcoidosis is, well, taken from WebMD.com…

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs in the body, but mostly the lungs and lymph glands. In people with sarcoidosis, abnormal masses or nodules (called granulomas) consisting of inflamed tissues form in certain organs of the body.

-It would seem that mine is located, at this time, in the lungs and lymph nodes. A friend of mine also had it in the kidneys and they were only working around 40%. Other places can be the eyes, skin, joints and basically every organ you have. With the lungs, the granulomas, if they become fully formed, can cause scarring-which is when the damage really gets bad there. There are also other multiple symptoms-some common for all and some linked to where it’s located. Obviously, I have some of them and they are the following…

-The first symptom I have is fatigue. This is an autoimmune disease. That means my immune system is trying to fight this and it’s not working-yet keeps trying anyway. As a result, I tend to get tired and worn out faster. So it’s not all just aging (HA!) 🙂 Some of those pics of me sleeping on the JOHNNY Z set and a few others…perhaps it was tied into this (although there were also other things that were probably involved-heat wave, lack of sleep and more). This is currently my number one challenge with all this cause I’m getting hit by so many things at this time that I’m really getting worn down at times…

-The second symptom I have is shortness of breath (at times)-which ties in with the lungs. It’s much better than how I was last year-especially during various fight scenes so this isn’t too bad, but it did get to me once while outside on the set of “Babysitter Massacre: Heavy Metal” earlier this year. It sucks but I just have to pace myself better and am working on it. I also have to again say it’s WAY better than it was last year.

-A third symptom is a persistent dry cough. Like the shortness of breath, it’s nowhere near as bad as it was last year. Hell, at times, I had a few people say all the coughing last year sounded like I had walking pneumonia (!). While I still have this almost daily, it happens about one time per day-on average-and ends real quick. Last year I was even having trouble sleeping due to all the coughing. It doesn’t do that anymore so that’s one less reason out of the mix…

-A fourth symptom is brain fog. Specifically-being harder to focus and have mental clarity. Usually comes along with the fatigue-and sometimes may just be a product of said fatigue. When they both hit, I really can’t do too much but chill and/or try to catch up on sleep. While I can power out of it at times, it gets a little harder to do as I get older…

-A fifth interesting symptom that I was told about (and confirmed by my friend who has it) is that it can amplify feelings of anxiety (which I really don’t have so not really bad) and depression (THAT’s the bad one). So for those who read my 2018 YEAR IN REVIEW…was parts of that being amplified by this? I’ll never really know…

-I really haven’t experienced any others as of yet per se and hopefully won’t. A few friends have messaged me telling me of their experiences with Sarcoidosis. I was told that there are many cases where it went into remission after awhile-maybe a year or more-and stayed that way. Having said that, there’s no cure for this and no type of on-going treatment. If it gets bad what is usually given is a type of steroid (just what I needed…to get bigger right? 🙂 ) but that’s a temporary thing. I have an appointment with a pulmonary specialist in the coming months so time will tell. Hopefully, I’ll be one of the lucky ones where it decreases, not increases…

-One other interesting thing is that there’s no known cause for Sarcoidosis. They don’t really know how it happens. It was first detected when I had my chest x-ray but if I didn’t have that…I’ll never know how I got it or, even more importantly, how long I’ve had it. I know I was having shortness of breath problems during a fight scene on a beach for a movie (that will basically, IMO, never see the light of day due to the unreal amount of BS surrounding it) back in 2015. Was Sarcoidosis a factor in that or was it just me not being in P90X shape anymore (which totally sucks and needs to be worked on…)? I’ll never know that either…

-FYI…if you don’t see me posting as much and/or not responding as much, I’ve become the caretaker for my parents this year so that takes priority over all else. Thank you for your understanding…