My Journey

Sep-Dec Update

I have not done an update in a while. I don’t know how many people want to keep hearing this, so if you don’t, let me know.
I know there are lots of things that fill our lives and you may not need mine.

So here is the latest. Right now (Praise God!) I am cancer free. The treatment I was on only had a 10% chance it would work.
But I have a good friend in high places. So as far as the cancer is concerned I am on a course to maintain and observe I stay
cancer free.

My latest problem, tho not new is I had a problem with pain I was unsure of of it and it got progressively worse. ( You know
that little voice inside you says this is not normal.) well I listened and drove to the the hospital ER on Saturday(9-28), by the
time I got there the pain was much worse. After a few CT Scans and blood test they found I had infected kidney on my left side.
I have had kidney stones there before but that episode was more or less painless. They admitted me and scheduled surgical procedure the next morning on Sunday(9-29). They needed to put in a stint in the tube from my kidney to bladder, did a
procedure to check for blockage using x-ray. And I guess according to my discharge did a Ureteroscopy, for stones. They sent
me home on Monday with antibiotics for the kidneys and some pain killers. So all was well with just three day in the hospital.

The stint can not stay in the tube for too long so on Wednesday(10-23) They removed the stint. But that was not the end
(if there is one), on Friday(10-25) I had to go back to the ER with pain in my kidneys. They thought that I would be ok for a
while if I took pain killers and they would do some further test. The tests that took a few weeks showed my kidney on my
left side was only working at fifty percent.

I had another problem to deal with. I had skin cancer on left side of my head, I had to have Mohs surgery to remove it,
so I had that done on Tuesday(10-29). It is now healed up ok.

On Saturday(11-23) I woke up in pain again. I took some pain killers to help, but on Monday I called and talked to a nurse and
she told me if the meds were working I would be ok till the Doctor could call. The doctor called me and after some chat we
decided I needed to have a stint in again, but this time they would put in a tube to dilate the tube, then put in a stint.
(Tho it will have to come back out in some weeks). The surgical procedure was set for Friday(12-6). Well I have had the
procedure and home. Still some pain but manageable.

I have been on this journey a while and the one thing I have learned is you never know what is next. BUT God has been good
to me He has given me more time than was first thought. At the lowest times He has let me know He is here, and He still loves me.
I live every day for whatever comes my way, and find joy in whatever I can get done. (I am a guy after all, and that’s how I find joy.) But now I am learning that I can find joy other ways, I find it joyful to be of some help to others, and just enjoy the simple pleasures God gives all of us.

5-31-19
I have not done an update in a while.
I hope all of you are doing well.

Things have changed for the better for the most part. I am feeling much better, I am able to do some work outside, that’s a blessing to me. I also finished my evaluation for VA disability. I am now one hundred percent disabled with them. This is such a blessing as it covers all of my care. They believe my cancer was caused by my exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, and some other factors.

The urologist said that I appear to be a stone factory. That is not a problem for me, as they are small and pass with out any pain. When I had the Ureteroscopy and Lithotripsy they put in a stint from my bladder to my kidneys, and I got it removed after a few weeks. The shock was it was more than a foot long. But other than some bladder problems I am doing well.

As for the medical oncologist, we have decided to stop the immune therapy, as the cancer appears to have shrunk small enough to not be a current problem. They will keep track of it with CT Scans about every ninety days to keep tabs on it. The immune therapy is still for my kind of cancer is a guess as to how long to do it. Should it come back we will start the immune therapy again. This back and forth will be with me for the rest of my life.

As I have gone through this journey the last five years I have felt God presence in all the steps that I have taken on the journey. As my cancer is terminal, and it is in remission, I see every day as a blessing to me. I do what I can do, and don’t fret about what I can no longer do. God has blessed me with good friends and family, they have been a blessing to me and keep me going.

For past updates see
My Journey 2
My Journey 1 The oldest