Part 1
"What Am I So Skinny?"

I don't know why I wasn't eating. I just wasn't hungry. It was the month of July. In the previous month my grandfather died. I loved my grandfather and his death was hard for me to cope with. "Maybe that was it", I thought to myself. "I'm still upset about grandpa's death and just not hungry". Sadly, that wasn't the case. My family and I would go out to eat, but for some reason I didn't eat very much. I was just thirsty. I used to go over to Safeway and buy a big gallon of Gaterade to drink for the day. I would always carry a little squeeze bottle with me and drink it while I was driving. For some reason I though I was just being healthy. I was wrong.

My brothers were making fun of me at the time. They would often say "Look at Cliffy's arms! Look how skinny they are!". They were skinny. I wasn't my normal self. In July, I went to a company party. I was working at a deli called Brooklyn's. I had worked there since I started PLU, which was in the fall of 1996. Derrick, my boss, invited all of the workers over to his house in Gig Harbor. I went, sporting my shorts and T-shirt. "Look at Cliff's legs! They are so skinny! How much do you weigh Cliff?" I didn't know. Since high school I had been right around the 190 area. Everyone brought me in the house and made me get on the scale. 170. "One hundred and seventy pounds? And you're six four?" This was starting to get weird. This wasn't right. How could be 170 pounds? I was skinny enough as it was. When I got home that day I told my mom about my weight. She got worried. "Something's not right Cliff. I think you should go to the doctor." That was out of the question though. I hate going to the doctors! I hate shots. I hate the smell. "Ain't no way that I'm going to the doctors!"

I am usually a busy guy. Some people call me a "work-a-holic". At Brooklyn's I would usually open the restaurant, which opened at 5:30 in the morning. I would work at Brooklyn's until 1:30. Then I would grab a sandwich and head over to KPLU Radio. At KPLU, I would work from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. After that I would usually have to teach a lesson or two. In the evenings I would play at some gig. Then I would do the same thing the next day. I couldn't fit "going to he doctor" in that type of schedule.

"So did you go to the doctors?", my mom would ask. "No. I don't have time mom." "You need to go to the doctor. I am worried that you might have diabetes!" "I don't have diabetes mom! I told you, I DON'T HAVE TIME!" She would reply "well make time!" That was the typical conversation I would have with my mom around that time. One Sunday, however, my mom MADE time.

"What are you doing in my car mom?", I asked my mom. She replied, "I'm going to follow you the whole day until you go to the doctor." "Fine", I said. So we went and did all of my activities. I drove all over he place, teaching lessons, meeting with people, etc. She was still in my car. "Alright mom", I said, "let's get this over with."

We went over to Group Health, our family doctor. My mom told the nurse everything that was wrong with me. The nurse took me into the back room and did some tests on me. I got a blood check (I'd soon be seeing more of those), a chest X-ray, and a bunch of other tests. "Well, it looks like everything is OK. We'll find out about the X-ray's in a couple of days." I looked at my mom "I told you I am OK."

That Wednesday I was working at KPLU radio. I got a page while I was there. It was a voice mail. "I wonder who it is?", I thought to myself. I picked up the phone and checked to see whom it was from. It was a nurse from Group Health. "Mr. Colon? This is (I forget her name) from Group Health. I need you to give me a call back. It seems we have found "spots" on your X-ray. We just want to take a closer look." Spots? What does she mean by "spots"?

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