One Morning In 2009

On the morning of September 23rd 2009, I got up like every other morning, and started about my daily routine. Like most, one of those things in my daily routine is to use the toilet. Although I felt fine, on this morning I noticed quite a bit of blood in the toilet after my morning bowel movement. I was a little concerned, but I felt fine, and simply thought the blood was something to keep an eye on.

I got showered and dressed for work, then drove to work (about 35 miles in heavy traffic) where I arrived for an 8AM meeting. Prior to the meeting I had to use the restroom again, and again I passed blood. Although, this time the blood was a lot more pronounced. Because I felt great, I thought to myself, “well, this is something to keep an eye on, and if it doesn’t improve I would need to see my doctor”. I went to the 8AM meeting, but about 10 minutes into the meeting I had to dismiss myself to use the toilet again (third time this morning).

This time when I used the toilet all that I passed was blood. Now I was concerned, and quickly let everyone in the office know, without explanation, that I had to dismiss myself from work for the day. I packed up my laptop, and headed south. On the drive home I called my doctor’s office to see about an appointment. They had an appointment available at 11AM, and I told them I would be there.

It was a bit early so I decided to go home first where I planned to use the toilet again and change into something more comfortable. When I got home, I headed straight to the restroom to use the toilet.  When I used the toilet this time I was getting light headed, and started sweating profusely.  When done, I told myself to lay down for a couple of minutes, and when woke up it was ten minutes to 11. I was going to miss my doctors appointment. I quickly called the doctor’s office, and told them I was coming in, but that I was going to be late, they said OK, get here when you can.

I drove to the doctors office, and got there about 11:10AM. I checked in and was told to have a seat and that they would call me when ready. At about 11:20AM they called me into an examination room. I told the nurse what was happening, and she took my blood pressure, and asked me about my medications. I told her that I was sorry, but that I would have to excuse myself to use the toilet. She pointed and said the restroom was across the hall (about 15 feet from the room I was in).

I headed toward the restroom (with urgency), got into the restroom, shut the door, and quickly pulled down my pants. I made it onto the toilet, but was not able to save my undershorts...they took a direct hit.  As before I was sweating profusely, and was passing blood. This time I blacked out; I am not sure, but when I came to it felt like I had been in the restroom for 20 minutes or more. I was wondering why nobody had checked on me. I cleaned myself up, threw my underwear into the trash, and went back into the exam room.  The nurse and doctor where not around, so I waited until the doctor came into the exam room (about 10 minutes).

I told the doctor what was going on, that I was passing blood and that I had blacked out in the restroom and he immediately told me that I needed to go to the hospital emergency room. I asked him what he knew about Auburn General, and he said he had not heard anything negative about the hospital. I asked him if he was in my shoes would he go to Valley Medical in Renton or to Auburn General. He was non committal, but did say he had not heard anything bad about Auburn.  He asked me if I needed an ambulance, and I told him that if I could walk down the stairs without passing out that I thought I could drive, which I did.

I arrived at Auburn General, and the triage nurse knew by looking at me that I needed to be brought directly into the examination room. They were concerned about my color, and the fact that I had blacked out earlier. They also questions why I had driven myself to the hospital. Probably not the right decision on my part, but I luckily made it without incident. They wasted no time getting me into the Emergency Room to be seen.

The Emergency Room Visit

In the emergency room, they checked me over thoroughly and determined that I had lost about 4 units of blood, or about 1/3 of my blood volume. Probably why I had blacked out. After several hours in the emergency room, it was determined that the best course of action was to prepare me for a colonoscopy the next morning. At this point I had stopped passing blood, and was resting comfortably.

While in the ER I sent a text message to Tammy indicating that I was in the hospital.  She was working, and does not have her phone with her while working so it took her a little while to get the message. She let Hayley (who was closer to the hospital) know that I was in the hospital, and Hayley showed up to find out what was up. Hayley chastised me for not getting ahold of mom. Tammy showed up shortly thereafter. Note: Although I did not let them know it at the time, they were both a real comfort (thanks guys). Jacob showed up a few minutes later (after he got our of school). I believe Jordan was also with him.

Wednesday afternoon they moved me from the ER to a hospital room.

A Sign of Things to Come?

When I got into my hospital room, I was the only person in the room, and it seemed like I was the only patient in this area of the hospital. Tammy and I sat there for a couple of minutes, and then a man walked into my room. He seemed to be looking for someone else, and then indicated that he was a pastor from one of the local churches (I regret it, but I don’t recall which church). He asked if I was religious and whether I believed in Christ. I told him yes, and that we attended Grace Community Church. He indicated that he knew our church well, and knew Pastor Ben. He also indicated that Grace Community Church was a strategically important church in the South King and Pierce County area.

He then asked if he could pray for Tammy and I, which we welcomed and he did. He then wished us God’s speed and left the room. I told Tammy, “there goes a nice guy”.

I spent the rest of the evening drinking what seemed like 5 gallons of cleansing liquid, with a 7-up chaser (to add some flavor). This was to get me ready for the colonoscopy that was scheduled for the next morning. After about 11PM I was finished using the restroom, and I slept like a baby that night - again no pain, no discomfort at all.

The Next Day

The next morning they wheeled me downstairs for a colonoscopy. The doctor and three nurses were all business. They quickly had me counting backwards, and I was out. When I woke up, I was in a new room. Tammy came in and we then waited for some time. Tammy made a few phone calls and went into the hall to talk.

About that time three doctors came into my room, and asked where Tammy was. One of the doctors was the doctor that performed the colonoscopy. Hmm..I thought, this can’t be good. One of the doctors said he would go get her, and went into the hall to find her. He came back with Tammy, Hayley and Jacob.  When he came back the doctors introduced themselves. One of the doctors was a surgeon, one was the hospital doctor, and one was the internal medicine doctor.

It’s Cancer

The surgeon started by saying that they reviewed the pictures taken during the colonoscopy and that they were sure that I had colon cancer. He then pulled out a picture, and showed it to Tammy and Hayley. Jacob and I were further away. Tammy asked, “are you sure”? The surgeon replied, “I am 100% sure”. Hayley said, “what do you mean you are 100% sure”. He said, “I’ve seen a lot of cases, and this is 100% absolutely cancer”. He then proceeded to say that he was 100% sure that the growth was cancer, but that he was not sure whether the cancer had gotten into the lining of the colon, but that he was 90% sure that it had progressed into the lining of the colon wall.

I asked, what happens now. He the surgeon said, “we operate. I can go in, remove a section of your colon, and reattach it so that you heal up. While we are in there, I will remove the lymph nodes that are in the area, and we will biopsy these for cancer”. I asked, “when”, he said, “in the morning as soon as the biopsy comes back we will operate”.

I asked, “what is the recovery like”, he said, “you will remain in the hospital for a couple of weeks, and then go home to complete the healing process. You heal up, and live to be an old man”.

I said, “sounds like a plan”.

Calm Settles in

The rest of the morning is a bit hard to recall, but what I do recall is that I had an unusual calm when the surgeon and two doctors left the room. It all seemed very real, very matter of fact, but also something that could be fixed.  I had put it into God’s hands, which created this calm. God seemed very real. Oddly, I kept questioning in my mind why I was so calm with the news, and also kept thinking how odd it was that I was completely without fear.

Tammy and the kids were not nearly as calm. Tammy went into overdrive calling family and friends, mobilizing people to pray. Before the end of the day I had lots of visitors. My mom and dad had driven in from Salem where they were on vacation. Alicia and Ray drove in from Spokane, and my brother Bill drove in to see me from Ocean Shores.  Then the local family and friends, Hayley and Jacob, John and Annette, Marilyn and Bruce, Jim and Anne, Ron Lewitt, EJ and Johnna, and many others. In all, it seemed like 40 people came to visit.

Family and friends head home for some rest

Thursday was a busy day, and I had lots of support form all over the place. As the evening drew to a close, most of the people went home to get some rest. I laid in bed and watched a little news. I was thinking there has to be about 3500 people praying for me tonight, with Grace Community Church, Ben and Mary’s church in Oregon, Copalis Beach church, and even a prayer line on television (thank you Matt).

Then my brother Bill showed up. He had been working all day, and drove to Auburn from Ocean Shores after work. I really appreciated his visit, and his show of support. My kids also stopped in for a visit after dinner. We all talked for a while, and they all wished me their love, and headed for home (Bill had a long drive) and it was getting late. After Bill and the kids left, I finally shut off the television, and recounted the events of the day. Then the phone rang, it was my cousin Deanna from Montana calling. We talked for some time, and she told me she was praying for me. She then told me that her Husband Dan had a vision that I was going to be fine, and that there was nothing to worry about. After our call, I went back to a calm reflection on the events of the day.

Getting Naked with God 

After settling in for the night, television off, I really started to turn my focus to God, and to what God had in mind for me with this disease (Cancer). It is hard to explain what I mean about getting naked with God, but you know how you have this committee in your head; well, the only way I can describe what I mean is that the head of the committee in my head spoke in a very personal way to God, without conditions, without obstacles and without the rest of the committee in my head as a distraction to my dialogue with God. This was a straight-up honest talk with God, without any hidden agenda, without pretense, in effect, a prayer.

I asked God, in as humble a manner possible to use me as an example, and to allow me to be strong, and not become a burden on my family, friends or doctors. I was also concerned about my ability to work, the impact on my company, and my ability to be the breadwinner for my family. I figured that God would take care of these.  I was comforted, and truly felt God’s presence for whatever was to come.

I then began to think about the next day, knowing I was scheduled for an operation in the morning. I remembered that there was a biopsy that was being analyzed. It’s hard to explain, but I got this feeling that God was listening, and that he was guiding my thought process. I got this notion that the growth taken for analysis, which the doctors were 100% sure was cancer could come back clean. I then thought, no...the doctors were positive, 100% certain. I then thought that perhaps the doctors had been fooled. But how? What if it was the way the mass formed, and what if it had formed in layers, which made it look like cancer. I had not seen the photos from the colonoscopy, so I’m not sure where this random thought came from. When the doctors showed the photos earlier in the day I had not bothered to look at them.

A Restful Night’s Sleep

I went to sleep that night believing that the doctors could have been fooled, and that the mass might not be cancer. Except for the occasional visit from a nurse to take my vitals, I slept like a baby. I even joked with the nurse, asking why she kept waking me, “was it to take a sleeping pill?” (it’s funny what you remember). One time when she came into the room, I was partially awake, and when she tried to wake me I startled her by yelling “what!”, and then I smiled and she laughed.

Friday - Surgery Day

I woke the next morning around 6AM. Tammy showed up around 7AM, and my family members began arriving around 7:30, my parents, and the kids were all there by 7:30. John and Annette were not far behind, and by 9AM there was a pretty large crowd there to visit me. The only people that had not shown up were the doctors. There were too many people visiting to be in my room. I felt fine, so I showered, put on a T-shirt and shorts and told the nurse that if they needed me I would be in the waiting room with all of the people that had come to see me. I wheeled my IV with me and went to the waiting room to visit. The place was packed, wow. Ron and Leanne, Carolyne, Ronny, Maryln and Bruce, mom and dad, EJ and Johnna, Uncle Ronny, and I am sure there were others. We sat around talking for a couple of hours.

I was scheduled to be operated on at 7:30AM, but it was now getting close to 11AM, and still no doctors. Hmm... I checked in with the nurse on a couple occasions, but no word. I finally got word from the nurse, about 11:05 that the doctors would be in my room soon, so I headed for my room. Tammy, my dad, Hayley, Bruce, and John Lewitt also joined us in the room. Alicia came in at first, and then decided she could not be there to get the news.

Evidence of God’s hands are all over it!

The surgeon and the Internal Medicine doctor came into my room. The surgeon spoke first, and said, “I can’t explain it, but you do not have cancer”. Someone said what? And he said, “he doesn’t have cancer”, and then went on to say “ the reason we are late is that I did not believe it was not cancer, so I went to the lab, and re-ran the biopsy myself”. Here is where it get’s interesting - he then said, “I cut the polyp into thin slices and tested every bit of it a little bit at a time, the way the growth formed was in layers, which is why were were fooled”.

I can’t explain it, but the words he used (about layers) were almost exactly the words that I had thought the night before. The internal medicine doctor said,  “it’s has to be a miracle” and we all agreed, it is a miracle. The two doctors teared up, as did the rest of us in the room. I shook the two doctor’s hands, and told them that I was thankful for their humanity (and the fact that they did not have a God complex, like some doctors that I have run into). The surgeon shook his head, and said, “I can’t explain it”, and then the two doctors left the room (somewhat in disbelief).

After a couple of hours more, I was discharged from the hospital, and joined my family at Red Robin where we had a burger and fries.

My Situation Today

At this point I have not had any problems, and believe I have a clean bill of health. I thank God, and do believe that His fingerprints were all over my case file, and that He had a hand in the outcome. I cannot believe that 4 doctors would tell you that they were 100% certain that you have cancer, to later be proved wrong, unless there was divine intervention.

I ask why me, why was I given a pass when others are not as lucky. I don’t have a good answer for this question, but I do know that it has changed the way I approach my life. I watch carefully for the Lord’s influence and hand in my life, and I can tell you His hand is at work all around us if we are willing to see it.

Thank You Family and Friends

I want to thank my family and friends for your kind words, prayers and I want to tell everyone - never underestimate the power of prayer. For those of you that remain skeptical I say, “if you had worn my shoes, and laid in my hospital bed you too would be certain that God’s hand was at work in my situation”. I thank the Lord for my clean bill of health, and look daily for ways to make a difference in peoples lives.