"Sing to the Lord! Praise his name!
Announce every day how he delivers!
Tell the nations about his splendor!
Tell all the nations about his amazing deeds!
For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise...."
(Psalm 96:2-4a, New English Translation/NET Bible)
I am writing this post for the purpose of thanking the One who has rescued me from the depths, and also to thank all those who interceded for me before his mighty throne. He has heard our prayers and answered clearly and mightily. Basically, it will be an account of how God delivered me from a cancerous tumor that was growing on my left kidney and the various ways that he heard the prayers of many as my wife and I walked through this difficult path in our life.
[IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN READING THE WHOLE STORY,
YOU CAN SKIP DOWN TO "THE BOTTOM LINE..."]
So then, let me start this story from the beginning: Back in March I began having kidney problems (kidney infection/stone signaled by gross hematuria). This led me to a urologist who ordered a scan and the scan found a tumor on my left kidney. The urologist believed that the tumor had nothing to do with the symptoms that led to the scan and that finding the tumor was fortuitous. I believe the word "providential" is more accurate, that is: we found this tumor because God wanted us to find it.
My initial urologist referred me to his colleague who was trained to use a robot to do kidney surgery laparoscopically. When I met with him, he looked at the scan and told me that he would try to save the kidney, but that--because of where the tumor was--he would probably have to take the whole kidney.
Fastforward to Friday, July 19, the day of my surgery. The surgery came and went; and when I woke up in my hospital room several hours later, I was very happy to see my family. But I had no memory of the surgery, and from that moment on I never had anything but occasional light pain from the incisions and cutting that had been done on my body. I was told that the surgery went very well. Our prayers had been answered! But I would not find out (or at least take in) all of the details until I talked to the doctor myself.
On Saturday, I was beginning to feel strong enough to eat something more than ice chips (or "rice chips" as I kept calling them when first coming out from under anesthesia). I tried a couple of bites of yogurt and applesauce and banana. I also began a routine of walking down the hospital hall in order to get my bowels working. The first tastes of food seemed to settle fine so I was emboldened to try something more. I ordered some more yogurt and a bowl of chicken noodle soup. That's when the trouble started.
As the chicken noodle soup went down, everything seemed great. It tasted wonderful and I felt my energy returning even as I was eating it. For those few fleeting minutes, I was feeling fantastic. Then the acid reflux started to come...and come....and come....and come....
Over the next 18 hours the acid reflux intensified. The nurses and I tried everything we could think of--one "remedy" after another--to get rid of it, but nothing (not even the prescription acid blocker) gave more than a moment's relief. Other than those, brief moments, it was just hour after hour of the most intense burning in my throat--and a constant painful belching. At some point, I realized that the reason I was having all of this acid reflux was because everything I was eating was staying right in my stomach and going no farther, because my bowels were not working ("paralyzed" my doctor would tell me later). All through the night I was walking and doing all kinds of movements to try and get my bowels moving. By morning, I was completely exhausted and sleep deprived.
Throughout the night I cried out to God, wondering why he would not answer. The cries of the psalmists came to my mind, such as: "Why, O Lord, are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning!?" (Psalm 22:1) I knew he was there, but I could not understand why he was letting me suffer. To the best of my recollection, it was the most miserable day of my life.
It was about that time that my wife notified some prayer warriors about the acid reflux. Not long after that, the cure for my acid reflux came (another long story), the acid reflux vanished and it never came back!
With the acid reflux gone, I did my best to sleep (from 11:30am to about 8pm on a Sunday). I was awakened about every 30 minutes, but at least I was able to lay down and sleep. When I finally woke up, I was feeling much better, but my bowels were still not moving--at all. Again my wife notified some prayer warriors about the problem. And again the answer was soon to come.
My wife ordered a grilled cheese. But I ordered nothing. I didn't even want to think about food at that point. I was just going to wait until the next day to try eating. But when the food came, my wife tore off a small part of her sandwich and offered it to me. It did smell good. And I thought that the least I could do was take a couple of nibbles. As soon as the bread touched my tongue--even as I was biting down on it, the most amazing thing happened. My bowels instantaneously reacted to it and I felt a distinct bubbling sensation in two different places. In the hours that followed, I continually felt my bowels moving. And shortly after I went to sleep, I had to wake back up to have a bowel movement. (Sorry if mention of that seems out of place, but in reality, that was one of the most important moments of my whole hospital stay!)
The next morning I was beginning to feel great, and it was only a matter of time before I would be discharged from the hospital that day. The thought of getting home to get a good night's sleep in my own bed had never seemed so sweet.
During one of his visits, the doctor told me about how the surgery had gone. He said it was the most difficult tumor removal that he had ever done. And he said that he was "amazed" (his word) that he was able to do it. He had a limit of 30 minutes to remove the tumor before the arteries to my kidney had to be unclamped--or my kidney could die. He said he was able to remove the tumor in 29 minutes. Then he told me that just the week before they had obtained a machine by which they could see everything that was going on in real time through ultrasound. Before this, he had to figure everything out through triangulation using three different cameras. Do you think that made the difference of a minute or two--perhaps more? No doubt in my mind. Once again God provided just what was needed in answer to our prayers.
Next he told me that he had had to cut so deeply into my kidney that he was very concerned that there would be bleeding, when he unclamped my artery. But when he did, there was absolutely no leakage. My response to all of this was to say: "Well, lots of people have been praying for me." To which he said, "Well, it worked."
This man is obviously a man of great skill and competency. And I am indeed thankful to have been under the care of such an excellent surgeon and his very capable team. But in this moment, I am convinced that God enabled him to do something that was even beyond his natural abilities--that amazed even him! I was prepared to live with only one kidney. I had told my wife: "Other people donate their kidneys to save someone's life; if one of my kidneys has to be taken to save mine, I really can't complain." But God was very gracious to me and allowed me to keep my kidney.
And I should add that during my recovery, I was also blessed with a wonderful nursing staff and a loving wife who stayed there with me during the whole thing.
Finally, I got the pathology report Friday (July 26). The news: the tumor was indeed cancerous. But the report showed that the entire margin of the dissection was negative (that is, cancer free). The doctor said that he was sure that he was able to get all of the cancer and that there would be no need for further treatments. (Though we will monitor the area carefully as an extra precaution.) In the doctor's own words: "It's all very good news!" I have much to be thankful for! The Lord has delivered me from a deadly enemy!
UPDATE: On my one year check up, my doctor told me that my kidney had healed so completely that it was difficult to tell that he had performed surgery on it. Amazing, considering how extensively he had to cut into it!
THE BOTTOM LINE....
God, in his great mercy, has healed me completely. The cancerous tumor has been completely removed and my left kidney is still there working for me. This is something that the doctor did not expect to happen. And to use his own words, he was "amazed" (in more ways than one) that he was able to make it happen.
During this whole time, God gave my wife and I an incredible peace about this whole thing. I knew that I was in his hands; and whatever his will was I was ready to be at peace with it. I was praying earnestly for complete healing, but I was ready to accept whatever answer he gave to me--for his will is perfect and he is full of love for all those who are in Jesus Christ. And for this, I choose to praise him!
But it was not just my body that he healed. It was my spirit, as well. The day after I was discharged from the hospital, in a private moment of personal worship, I suddenly found myself sobbing in prayer--with tears of joy. It had become clear to me that God had used this experience to answer another of my prayers. In recent months, I have been continually praying that God would draw me closer to himself and renew my love for him. As I contemplated how God had answered that prayer during the experiences of the previous days, I was overcome. And in that moment, I declared to him that if that was what it took, it was worth every bit of it.
And so, as strange as it may seem to some, the constant theme of my spirit during my hospital stay and since I have been home has been thanksgiving. And so I indeed will sing his praise and tell the world of his amazing deeds! (Psalm 96:2-4)
NOTE: One might wonder what place such a testimony has in a blog dedicated to the cumulative case for Christianity. Let me just say briefly that it is in fact at the heart of such a case. All the intellectual arguments are empty apart from a real encounter with the living God. They may satisfy the intellect, but they will not satisfy the soul. This testimony falls under the area known in apologetics as religious experience, and also closely related to the area of evidence known as miracles. (Though technically the above events that I recounted were not miracles but rather answers to prayer and signs of God's providential care for me).
UPDATE #2: My cancer came back a couple of years after I wrote this article and I am currently considered to have a rare form of kidney cancer and to have progressed to Stage IV. This does not negate my testimony above. And there have been many signs of answered prayer and God's power in my life in the past two years since I was diagnosed as Stage IV. For example, I have had two more surgeries. There were clear signs of God's care during the first dangerous surgery. And I recovered quickly and completely from both. Also, in spite of the cancer and the daily chemo treatments that I have had, I continue to feel great and have not missed any work except for a few days while recovering from my first surgery. (I missed no work after the second surgery.) And I work a very physical job as the oldest guy working online in the RV factory where I work, walking 7-11 miles every day that I work. I have much to be grateful for. And I am!
