The doctor wanted to schedule surgery for July but I had other ideas. I wanted to try a formula called Protocel. It was made to lower the energy of the cancer cell and dissipate it. It was expensive but I believed in it. Besides I wanted to go to the Spokane ASI (mission/ministry emphasis) seminar in August with my family. I put off the surgery for three months to try my plan. I ended up pushing the surgery forward for five months. By then I was getting tired of the diarrhea that the treatment caused and decided to quit and tell the doctor I was ready for surgery. To my surprise he put me off and sent me to see an oncologist in Spokane.
Confused, I agreed, but I was glad I did. The doctor was really nice and knowledgeable and offered lots of hope for my cancer. Happy, I asked if we could wait until after Christmas to do the surgery and if we could do it where I lived. My doctor was agreeable, so I went home anticipating all the Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities.
On December 3, before I could even enjoy the first scheduled Christmas party, I started feeling some severe pain in my abdomen. Because it was not going away and increasing in severity, I asked Emily to call my doctor. He was on his lunch break. I suggested we better head to the ER and groaned all the way to the hospital. The first hospital was full so we went on to the next. Good ol' Walla Walla General Hospital. They took me right away. By then I was almost passed out from the pain. My head was drooped to the side and I was hardly breathing.
Gary showed up and he and Emily faithfully stayed by my side for hours. After a CT scan it was found that one tumor had grown really fast and had wrapped itself around a ureter. I was rushed into surgery and came back out with a stint. At least the pain was semi-bareable after that. The doctor in Spokane scheduled an emergency surgery for me in Spokane. Gary, Emily, and I drove up anticipating a week long stay.
The surgery was not a routine as I had hoped. They had to chop off the damaged ureter and attach it to the one on the other side with a different stint. They also had to reconstruct the bladder where it had contact with the larger tumor. They were not even able to get all of the tumor so a quarter of it is still attached to the wall of my abdomen. It became very obvious this was not the slow-growing noninvasive cancer that we all thought it was. This one was aggressive.
A friend sent this stuffed animal with a warming bag to comfort me.
Seven days seemed like an awful long time for me to stay in the hospital, especially just before Christmas. As soon as I got to my room I asked the nurse if it would be all right if we put up Christmas lights. I got the OK and Emily went out the next day to find some decorations.
Nurses, assistant nurses, and doctors came and went. Of course I had my favorites, but even through my pain I always tried to be happy, polite, and considerate to them all. My very first nurse was the best. When I visited with her I told her what I thought a good nurse was and verified that she was that kind. It deeply touched her. The next day, knowing we wanted to decorate, she brought in a bag of Christmas decorations saying she happened to meet Santa on the way to work. Emily worked hard putting up the garland, lights, and ornaments. The Christmas spirit was in my room, but God was there too. Many nurses ended their shift saying I was their best patient and I had such a sweet family. I was humbled that I could be a Sermon in Shoes in a hospital bed just by my attitude.
However, as time wore on and I got more tired, matching the joy of my decorated room got harder. I cried to God to help me continue the happy attitude I didn’t feel anymore and He gave me the strength. Towards the end of my stay I noticed the housekeeper slip in early that morning and place a card on my table. She wanted to be the first one to see me that morning and tell me what joy the decorations brought and that everyone on the hospital floor loved me. Wow! I was so surprised. God used me in those challenging days to touch a lot of lives, even to the housekeeper whom I never saw except in the early morning.
On the morning we were to leave, we packed up the decorations and put a note on it for my favorite nurse. We thanked her for the blessing and asked her to pass on the joy. She sent me a note later that she did share the decorations and how blessed she was to meet us. The Sermon in Shoes lesson I learned is that even in our helplessness we can radiate God’s love to others around us. It is in our weakness that He gives strength.
We went home still not knowing what kind of cancer I had. It would be a week and a half before we found out.
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