Jan Bono’s Blog

Silver Linings

"There's good news and there's bad news..." So which would you ask for first? When confronted with that scenario in the cardiologist's office, I went straight for the jugular. Give me the "bad news" first. And then I lapsed into such a deep shock at that first...

Just follow the bouncing ball…

"So tell me again—" I asked the cardiologist. "Just how big is the myxoma?" The cardiologist began speaking as he waited for the information to come up on his computer screen. "Last week, when we did the regular Echocardiogram, we had tentative measurements, but by...

“Hold my toes”

Moments before my "TEE"—Transesophogeal Echocardiogram—I took inventory of those in my curtained cubicle. Kat (short for Kathleen) was in charge of the IV sedation. Bryant had the controls on the monitor for the scope that the doctor would soon be putting down my...

The waiting game

Patience is not my strong suit. Never has been. I want what I want when I want it. Give me instant gratification! But life is rarely like that. Today I sit here, completely immobilized by the great "unknown." I feel like I'm living in a foggy world called "Limbo,"...

Heart to Heart

In all likelihood, I have a right atrial myxoma: a (hopefully) benign cardiac tumor attached to the septum separating the two upper chambers of my heart. They rarely see such a thing on the right side of the heart. Had it been located on the left, it would have...

Life on life’s terms

Some say "fear is the absence of faith." And if we accept that as true, one might also conclude that the inverse would be just as true, and faith would be the absence of fear. Yet there are others who say "Faith is not the absence of fear, but the presence of...