Back around Christmas i discovered this little lump in the middle of my chest between the ribs and then grew increasingly concerned when i noticed that it seemed to be getting more and more tender to the touch and seemed larger every time i felt for it again. So i decided i’d go ahead and mention it to my internist during my quarterly appointment this morning.
I was trying to put on a brave face when with elaborate casualness i brought it up, but she could tell i was pretty worried. When i took my shirt off and she felt around where i indicated, it was so sore that there was no question about exactly when she put her finger on it.
Well, she said, it looks like an acute case.
Of what??? i squealed.
Discovery of the Xiphoid Process, she replied. The soreness will resolve when you stop mashing around on it.
And OK, in full disclosure, the described events occurred although my internist didn’t call it “Discovery”. I stole that concept from James Thurber. I coulda got away with it, too, since most people old enough to have read Thurber are no longer capable of remembering anything he wrote.
And while i’m doing all these pics from down in the China Basin area, here’s one that may confirm my friend Dick’s fear that talking to me about the abundance of beauty was a great mistake: