I recall sitting in a class regarding Elementary Analysis (set theory and the like) during my senior year in high school. This particular afternoon was devoted to infinities. Yes, infinities plural. We learned that day that there were different kinds of infinities. The simplest was the countable infinity – a set that had members, each of which, could be assigned an ordinal number. The set of all integers is such a set, and that kind of countable infinity is called an Alef-null set (aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet). It looks like this:
There are other infinities that are not countable – for example, all the real numbers. They belong to the Aleph-1 class of infinities. There are infinities of higher order, but I think that my eyes and brain glazed over near the end of the class.
In Medicine, as in many human endeavors, we count things, and we rarely turn to expressions that convey the notion of uncountable. Still, it does happen now and then. Where we normally expect exact answers like 140 mg/dl or 8,000 cells/uL, we occasionally get a lab report that says TNTC. TNTC means too numerous to count. It is most often used to characterize the number of crystals or white blood cells in a single microscopic high-powered field (hpf) of centrifugated urine. TNTC basically means, “there is some serious shit going on here.”
Today, I had my abdominal CT scan after what appeared to be an episode of diverticulitis. Afterward, my gastroenterologist and long-time colleague shared the report with me. The report essentially said that my colon showed signs of resolving, uncomplicated diverticulitis. What a relief! I had found the uncertain prospect of needing a surgical procedure more than a little unsettling.
The CT report also said that my descending colon (left side of the abdomen) showed innumerable diverticuli (sacs in the wall of the colon). I recounted it to Susan.
Susan: “How many is innumerable?”
Me: “I’m not sure but it is probably more than five. I think that’s as high as radiologists can count on one hand.”
Yay! Good news!! Two friends from high school just died, and another is in hospice – health can be so fragile and unpredictable. Tom and I feel very blessed that all is well for us (for now). So glad all is well for you, too.
We should count each day of good health a blessing, for sure. I am glad that all of us are still among the living. Susan & I send you a hug.