© 2019 Bill Murphy
A few months ago, I turned 78 and Carol turned 73. If we were driving automobiles this age, they’d surely be in a shop a lot! Carol and I both have been ‘in the shop’ numerous times lately.
4 years ago, Carol discovered a ‘bump’ on her neck. She had it examined by a local clinic. “Oh, that’s cancer,” they said, “We recently had a patient die of the same thing.” NOT exactly encouraging words! So a dear friend put her in touch with a, shall we say, more ‘knowledgable’ doctor. It was simply an easily treated thyroid issue. Problem solved – and another problem discovered!
God was in control from the start.
During her examinations by this new doctor, a very, very tiny ‘spot’ was discovered on her left lung. Her new doctor made note of this, and began watching it closely.
Fast forward to earlier this year. The tiny spot had slowly begun to grow. It was still very, very small – but yet slowing enlarging. “It’s time now to take action,” her doctor said.
Carol was put in touch with an oncologist in St. Louis. He was shocked that anyone had discovered this tiny spot so early. “If…” he began, ‘if this is malignant, we never have patients present themselves at such an early stage!”
That very day she was seen by a respiratory surgeon. He too was dumbfounded by her early diagnosis. A few days later, Carol was in surgery. A biopsy was done. It was malignant. The spot along with 1/4 of that lung was removed. They got it all! No radiation treatments necessary. No chemo. Praise God!
My turn.
A few weeks ago I had my annual ‘wellness checkup’ by my doctor. I passed with flying colors, well, for a man my age. Then the doctor asked if I had any ‘issues’ or changes in my well being. I mentioned some very slight ‘discomfort’ in my lower abdomen. There was no pain, no real soreness, just a nagging ‘something’s not right’ feeling. He set me up for a CAT scan.
The scan revealed that I had several ‘cysts’ on my kidneys. But it was unclear as to how serious they were. I had an ultra sound done for a better look-see. But that didn’t show anything more. Next, I had an MRI.
Within 3 hours, the doctor called me in for a consultation. Oops! In addition to the cysts, I had a suspicious dark ‘solid’ spot on my left kidney. My local doctor explained that there are no qualified urologist in our immediate area, and suggested that we go to St. Louis to see a specialists. Now it was my turn to be in the shop!
Tuesday of this week Carol and I traveled to St. Louis, were I saw a specialists. After studying my previous test results done here, and examining me there… he had very encouraging news, and a suggest path to take with this issue.
Let me say that both Carol and I really like this doctor. His ‘bed side manner’ is extremely comforting. He speaks with knowledge. And he reeks with and experience. We trust him.
He explained that the ‘cysts’ issue is a non-issue. This is common, and my cysts are not ‘aggressive’ in nature. As of the dark ‘spot,’ it also may, or may not be, a big issue. He explained that a spot of the current size that I have does not scream ‘get me outta here – now!’ He told us that age matters – it maters in the fact that these things are very slow growing in patients in my age bracket. Basically he was saying that I could easily out-live this problem!
The bottom line is… we will watch this thing inside me. In 3 months, I’ll have another scan, and we’ll see how it is doing.
On the plus side, I do have TWO kidneys… and the other is A-Ok. A V-6 will still run on 5 cylinders – maybe a little slower and less smoothly – but it will get you to the grocery store and back.
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Pen In Hand 