LITSAFALDA
Prayer Angel, Moderator
I told Durruck and Ambrianna I would get a post put over here before now with a general request, but instead I am copying and pasting his post from the rift/sola forums. This couple is such a Godly couple and inspires many of us with their truly God loving hearts and faith in Him.
Blessings and Hugs, "Angel"
Durruck's post:
In late September, I hurt my shoulder. I was hurt badly enough that my doctor (who indirectly works for my employer as well) relieved me of duty. Through a series of events that I can only describe as God reaching in and making things happen exactly when He wanted them to happen, we've kept moving when we should have hit a wall.
I had "outpatient" surgery earlier this week, and ended up with a bonus 3-day stay because I had a terrible infection in my shoulder and chest. Again God's hand reaching in, because I should have been really, really really sick, and I was still up walking around, driving, going to appointments for another medical condition (will explain below), attending meetings at church to select our new lead pastor, etc. I should be been hospitalized days before, but somehow He kept me moving. The infection has been cleaned out, I'm on antibiotics to make sure it doesn't sneak back in, and I'm already better than I've been in a month. I know that God's in control here. On this chest injury, I still have a LONG way to go until I'm back to normal and able to work, but the last 3 days laying in a hospital bed were a big step in getting there.
So what's the other medical condition? During the testing to figure out exactly what was wrong with my shoulder, my doc (same one that works for my employer) had a gut instinct to send me for a certain test that wouldn't be typically included in a shoulder injury workup. As expected, the test was inconclusive about the shoulder injury.
But it revealed a large mass on my thyroid. It was in such a location and growing in such a way that it would not have been found through any other typical test. It was already over 9 cm^3, and any thyroid mass over 1.0 cm^3 needs further investigation. While I was undergoing treatment for my shoulder (before they figured out that it was a nasty infection), I was going through all the tests and prep work for the mass, including a needle biopsy.
So that brings us up to Friday afternoon. While I'm in the hospital with the nasty infection and shoulder surgery, I get a phone call from my endocrinologist. The results of my biopsy came back. It was inconclusive, in that they were not able to identify the specific mass. There are 3 things that it could be, based on the results. 2 of them are cancer.
2 out of 3.
66%
I'm a firefighter that can't fight fires for a long time because of my busted shoulder, and now I'm looking down the ugly end of more likely than not...facing cancer.
I'll be honest guys, this has been a tough few days for Ambriana and I. Up until 5 weeks ago, I've been generally healthy, in good shape, etc. And the last 5 weeks I've been in so much pain and so sick that I couldn't even sit in front of the computer for 10 minutes at a time. We're still facing a huge uphill battle.
But we know that God will make this all work out. It's tough to remember that at times, and it feels like I'm chanting it more for my own reassurance than telling others what I know to be true. But we do know it's true.
This is going to be another long week - followups with my shoulder surgeon; prep tests for my thyroid surgery.
Blessings and Hugs, "Angel"
Durruck's post:
In late September, I hurt my shoulder. I was hurt badly enough that my doctor (who indirectly works for my employer as well) relieved me of duty. Through a series of events that I can only describe as God reaching in and making things happen exactly when He wanted them to happen, we've kept moving when we should have hit a wall.
I had "outpatient" surgery earlier this week, and ended up with a bonus 3-day stay because I had a terrible infection in my shoulder and chest. Again God's hand reaching in, because I should have been really, really really sick, and I was still up walking around, driving, going to appointments for another medical condition (will explain below), attending meetings at church to select our new lead pastor, etc. I should be been hospitalized days before, but somehow He kept me moving. The infection has been cleaned out, I'm on antibiotics to make sure it doesn't sneak back in, and I'm already better than I've been in a month. I know that God's in control here. On this chest injury, I still have a LONG way to go until I'm back to normal and able to work, but the last 3 days laying in a hospital bed were a big step in getting there.
So what's the other medical condition? During the testing to figure out exactly what was wrong with my shoulder, my doc (same one that works for my employer) had a gut instinct to send me for a certain test that wouldn't be typically included in a shoulder injury workup. As expected, the test was inconclusive about the shoulder injury.
But it revealed a large mass on my thyroid. It was in such a location and growing in such a way that it would not have been found through any other typical test. It was already over 9 cm^3, and any thyroid mass over 1.0 cm^3 needs further investigation. While I was undergoing treatment for my shoulder (before they figured out that it was a nasty infection), I was going through all the tests and prep work for the mass, including a needle biopsy.
So that brings us up to Friday afternoon. While I'm in the hospital with the nasty infection and shoulder surgery, I get a phone call from my endocrinologist. The results of my biopsy came back. It was inconclusive, in that they were not able to identify the specific mass. There are 3 things that it could be, based on the results. 2 of them are cancer.
2 out of 3.
66%
I'm a firefighter that can't fight fires for a long time because of my busted shoulder, and now I'm looking down the ugly end of more likely than not...facing cancer.
I'll be honest guys, this has been a tough few days for Ambriana and I. Up until 5 weeks ago, I've been generally healthy, in good shape, etc. And the last 5 weeks I've been in so much pain and so sick that I couldn't even sit in front of the computer for 10 minutes at a time. We're still facing a huge uphill battle.
But we know that God will make this all work out. It's tough to remember that at times, and it feels like I'm chanting it more for my own reassurance than telling others what I know to be true. But we do know it's true.
This is going to be another long week - followups with my shoulder surgeon; prep tests for my thyroid surgery.
