So there I was, sleeping soundly with the vision of gumdrops running through my head when BAM! I woke up suddenly with a sharp pain on my left side. I tried to stretch it out. I tried to use the restroom. I didn't want to wake my wife, but I had no choice. I was on the floor in pain and it was 2am. She woke up to ask me what was wrong and I told her that I needed to go to the emergency room and that I would drive myself. She said absolutely not, and I told her that I did not want to wake the kids. We discussed calling 911, but I didn't want that unnecessary cost, so we called my best buddy who drove me to the emergency room. A CT scan and a shot of morphine later, the doctor told me that I had a kidney stone and that I needed to see a urologist.
When it comes to your health, you need to be your biggest advocate. The doctor's office tried to schedule me for an appointment over two weeks from my ER visit because I was a new patient. I kept calling and pushing and was able to see the doctor a few days after my visit. I visited the doc and he wanted me to have an x-ray and then a followup x-ray a week later to see if the stone had moved. Well, the kidney stone did not move and got stuck while traveling down to the bladder. The doc scheduled me for surgery to remove the stone. All of this transpired before the first date the doctor office had tried to schedule me for my initial visit.
A couple of weeks later the doc scheduled me to have an ultrasound to make sure that I was healing properly and that's when we found the mass on my left kidney. The doctor said that it was probably benign but he wanted me to have an MRI to make sure. I was scheduled for my MRI in early October, but my grandfather passed away in early October and I had to push my MRI back near the end of October. Two hours after my MRI the doctor called and told me that the spot was not benign and that he was scheduling me to visit a specialist. After receiving that news, my world suddenly stopped. I did not know how to respond or how to process this news.
I visited the specialist doctor a couple of days later to discuss options and we scheduled surgery to remove the mass. I am 15 days out of surgery and in those 15 days I spent two nights in the hospital, received word that the 1.7cm mass was cancerous and that we got it all the cancer out, and finally off all the pain meds. I have a 6 month CT Scan and X-ray followup, and that's where we stand today.
What have I learned? I have learned that God is good, no matter what. If it were not for the kidney stones, we would have never found the mass. I have learned that I need to slow down and enjoy my family and friends. I have learned that I am a cancer survivor and that I am not a victim but instead a victor in Christ. I have learned that the enemy does not fight fair and that pain meds really screw up my emotions. I have learned that it is about faith and not feelings, but the feelings are real and that we need to work though them.
Cancer means that people start to treat you a little differently and that cancer means fear. Cancer stopped me dead in my tracks for two days, but my faith never faltered. I laid it all down at Christ's feet. Cancer means fight and to never give in to your thoughts. Cancer means loves but most importantly cancer means warrior. Do not give in and do not give up.
Regards,
Jimmy
