Cancer - so now what?

 I am now one of the 81, 610 people in the US that was newly diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2024.  That statistic is really the only one category I fit in.  Risk facts include smoking, high blood pressure, and obesity. (yeah, I am chunky, but I am not that chunky.  None of my doctors has said my weight was an issue)  The average age for kidney cancer is 67 with most diagnosis between ages 60 - 74.  This type of cancer is twice as common in Men.  And kidney cancer is more common in African American, American Indian, and Alaska Native  people.  So, if you look at all of the statistics of kidney cancer -- it should not be me.  I would have never gotten screened for it.  There are no flags popping up that would tell a doctor that I have kidney cancer.  Even my bloodwork showed my kidneys are working fine.  

Honestly, that scares me even more.  There really is not any reason for me to have it.  Without having pain on my side and the doctor ordering a CT scan, no one would ever know until it was too bad to do anything. Kidney cancer does not respond to chemo or radiation.  So as long as it stays to one kidney and does not go to other organs, it can be removed.  But, the urologist told me that by the time my bloodwork shows anything - it has grown and sometimes moved to surrounding organs.   

I do believe that God is taking care of me.  That CT scan saved my life.  The general surgeon that took my gallbladder out told me that it was a lot worse than it looked in the scans.  My gallbladder was twisted and filled with bile.  It could have burst and made me septic.  The post-op nurse was reading everything about my gallbladder and she told me that it really was a good thing that it came out when it did.   I never did have any pain or symptoms of gallbladder problems. Even when met with the doctor before having my gallbladder removed, he let me make the decision to remove it or not.  Like it was optional.  

My next step is surgery to remove the kidney cancer and surrounding cells.  If I was not the youngest patient at the urologist, they do have other options to give patients another 10 to 15 years.  This procedure isn't usually done when your in your 70's because this surgery is apparently painful and evasive. Since your kidneys are connected to your coronary arteries, it has to be clipped to slow blood flow.   Then your kidney has to be iced to slow blood even more.  They take out what they need to, test the cells that are left, and then put you back together again.  However, since I am only in my 40's, surgery is the best option for it not to come back or to keep growing.  I'll be in the hospital around 5 days just to regulate my high doses of pain medication. I'll be off work for the whole month of March. Praying that 4 weeks will be enough and not the 6-8 weeks that they recommend.  

I praise God that He got me to the doctor before things got worse.  I know that I have some rough times ahead of me. It will not be easy.  I will have days and moments that will be hard. But, honestly no one is ready for the word cancer.  Cancer is beyond our control.  We can't just turn our back and ignore that word.  As much as I like to hide my head in the sand - it is not an option.  Even If this is in front of me  - I choose to believe that God’s got this covered.