Chapter 1
The Shock!
In August, 2022, I went to a hospital emergency room due to blood clots in my urine. It was discovered that there was a growth in my bladder.
Obviously trying to keep me from unnecessary worry, the emergency room doctor told me bladder growths are usually easily taken care of with out-patient surgery, and he referred me to a urologist.
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When the urologist examined my bladder a few days later, he explained that the growth I had was not like most bladder tumors he saw. This is the first time I heard the growth referred to as a "tumor", which was jarring to hear.
He said he wouldn't know what we were dealing with until the tumor was removed and sent to a pathologist. I hoped it not being like most tumors meant it was not much of a problem. I just wanted it to be removed and for me to go on with my life as usual.
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Out-patient surgery to remove the tumor was scheduled for September 12, 2022.
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The day of the surgery, as I was preparing to go to the hospital, Joan Boney, a minister of Jesus Christ in the offices of apostle and prophet, was given an open vision.
In this vision she saw something like a lumpy mass, having 3 softball-size lumps, on the wall in the corner. There was a loud "swooshing" sound, then the lumps fell in on one another and disappeared. Suddenly, it was gone. She felt this had to do with my situation.
Open Vision
(Joan, who was 84 at the time and unable to live alone due to injuries she suffered from a fall about 3 years before, lives at my house.)
She called me to her room and told me of the open vision. I wrongly assumed that this was showing that the tumor would not be found when the surgery was done.
But during surgery to remove the tumor, it was still in my bladder and was more extensive than anticipated. Removal of the tumor took quite a bit longer to complete than expected.
After the surgery, the urologist told me we would discuss the pathologist's findings the following week at his office.
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On September 19, 2022, as I drove into the urologist's parking lot to learn the pathologist's findings, a very terrifying fear came over me, unlike any fear I ever recall having had before.
I cried out to God, begging for help.
The Holy Spirit immediately reminded me of Romans 8:28 … And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to HIS purpose.
As I focused on this scripture, I was greatly calmed and comforted.
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When I met with the urologist, he told me I had cancer and that the cancer was "high grade, muscle invasive". He referred me to a surgeon in Denver who is a specialist in this type of bladder cancer. He said something about this doctor doing remarkable things with reconstructive surgery, but I had no idea why he was telling this to me.
I felt pretty numb and could not grasp much of what he said. No tears, just numbness, as I desperately tried to focus on what he was saying, with little success.
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As I drove home from meeting with the urologist, I had thoughts such as:
"Cancer? How could this be?"
"I don't feel like I have cancer ... however that would feel."
And I just kept clinging to what I had heard from the Holy Spirit in the parking lot before meeting with the urologist ...
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to HIS purpose. Romans 8:28
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An appointment was made to see the surgeon in Denver on October 3, 2022. Denver is about 50 miles from where I live in Colorado Springs. Joan rode in the car with me to Denver and waited in the lobby while I went into the doctor's office.
The surgeon spoke about the cancer that I had and that I would need chemotherapy and then surgery to remove my bladder.
Since the tumor had already been removed, I asked, "What would happen if I do nothing?"
The surgeon replied that I would be dead in one year ... two years at the very most ... unless I had treatment. And, she said, the death I would face from the cancer I had was terrible, something no one would want to go through.
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At 66 years of age, and never having had a major health problem, I was stunned by how serious this was.
She said that treatment needed to start right away and would include chemotherapy administered 4 times, two weeks apart, then wait a month, then have my bladder surgically removed at the end of December, 2022, or first part of January, 2023.
She went on to describe 3 surgical reconstructive options available to me to allow my body to eliminate urine without my natural bladder.
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None of this seemed real. I heard her talking and even tried to take notes, but I couldn't comprehend what she was explaining.
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She said we would meet again after the chemotherapy was completed and make decisions about the surgery.
(The chemotherapy could be done in Colorado Springs where I live, making it much easier than driving to Denver.)
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I didn't feel I could talk about what the doctor had said while driving back to Colorado Springs, so I simply told Joan I needed to wait until we got home to tell her what was discussed.
Joan was very understanding.
We drove home in silence ... and in shock!
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