Please tell me no....

Since so many have asked for an update on Mark, I've jumped ahead of a post I never completed to fill you in.  I'll also include some background info that will help explain things better.

In November 2007, Mark woke up one morning with extreme pain in his stomach.  I took Leigh Ashley to school and by the time I got back, he could hardly stand up from being doubled over in pain.  I took him to the nearest hospital (River Oaks) to get checked out.  Mark doesn't "do" doctors, so I knew his pain was bad when he agreed to go.  After a CT scan was done, the ER doctor told us that his pancreas was inflamed.  He said that it wasn't a big deal and they would admit him to control the pain and put him on IV fluids only until his levels were normal.  He wasn't sure what was causing it, but assured us that he would be fine in at least 5 days.  As he was leaving the exam room, he said "oh, you also have a cyst on your kidney but it's no big deal!".  The ER doctor added "In fact, I have had one on mine for years!  Just as standard procedure, they will do an ultrasound just to confirm it.".  

They admitted Mark to a room and told us to be patient because it will take several days without food to heal his pancreas.  They took him to have the ultrasound that next morning while I was gone to take Leigh Ashley to school.  Right after I got to the hospital, this doctor that I've never seen before walked in the room.  I noticed that he had "Urology" on his coat underneath his name.  I could barely understand his English and it didn't take long for me to figure out that I didn't care for his bedside manner.  He told us that he reviewed the ultrasound on his kidney and needed to talk to us about the results.  I said "you mean the cyst on his kidney?".  He answered "No, the tumor.".  At this point, I was feeling like I actually floating above the room watching this doctor talk to complete strangers about a serious medical condition.  I spoke up and said, "you don't mean like cancer".  This stranger replies in a very matter of fact tone.... "yes, cancer".  Mark and I both looked at him as he stood there and never changed his expression.  I can't imagine ever standing in front of someone I've never laid eyes on and blurt out that they have cancer.  He told us that the tumor needed to be removed, but he would have to wait several weeks until his pancreas was back to normal.  The plan was to remove the portion of his left kidney where the tumor was growing.  The good news was that he would not require radiation or chemotherapy.  Good thing I was ready for him to make an exit, because he was there a total of 5 minutes!  It was evident that Mark was just another case to him, so I knew he was not going to be the one to operate on him.  

After "Dr. Compassion" shut the door, Mark and I looked at each other in complete disbelief of what we had just been told.   Twenty-four hours after we were told that it was "just a cyst", the two of us were sitting there trying to accept the fact that cancer had invaded our lives.  Although I understood the reason for them not being able to remove the tumor while his pancreas was inflamed and still hospitalized, I still wanted it GONE as soon as possible!  They tested his enzyme levels to see how his pancreas was progressing and the levels were NORMAL!  So after they had told us to expect 5 days for his enzyme levels to come down (which meant that his pancreas was back to normal), his healed after only 24 hours!  It baffled the doctors & nurses, but it was clear to us what was going on.  God knew that he had to give Mark something that hurt bad enough to make him go to the hospital so that this "silent cancer" would be found!  In that moment of facing the reality that he had cancer, I praised God that he provided a way for it to be found.

After many doctor's visits and tests, the tumor was removed at the end of January.  The recovery from the surgery was tough.  He had a huge incision and he was in a lot of pain.  Mark did great and we were so thankful that the tumor was removed and he was cancer free.

So for what's going on right now????  Mark started complaining about his lower back Oct. 15 and it was worse a week later.  Last Thursday, I was telling my mother about it.  She suggested that I call his doctor due to his history.  I called his family doctor and he sent him to River Oaks for a CT scan.  The only way I got him to agree to go was because I had given him some heavy duty pain meds, so he really didn't care what we did!  I was dragging after getting home at 4am from the Miley Cyrus concert in Memphis....More on that in another post.  Friday morning at 9:00 the nurse called me and said that he has three bulging discs in his back causing the pain AND a cyst on his right kidney.  She told me to take him back to the hospital for an ultrasound to get a better look.  Mark wanted me to go in the room with him, so I was able to watch.  She measured it and said that it appeared to be "just a cyst", but she wasn't certain.  Then she checked the left kidney and found two cysts on it.  After finishing up close to noon, I knew we were in trouble if we expected to get results that afternoon.  I paged his doctor to see if he could find out anything and he called me just as I was pulling up at Prep for the game.  He said that he called and got a limited phone report and it does appear to be a cyst on his right kidney. When I asked him about the left, he said they didn't mention the left because he only asked about the kidney the CT scan reported.  I told him how I knew for a fact that I saw something, so he said he would look at the entire report on Monday.  

We've got good news and bad.... good news is that they believe it's a cyst.  Bad news is that's what they told us the last time.  I called Mark's urologist and the reports have been sent over for him to look at.  He's going to be out of the office, so he can't see him until next Wednesday.  His nurse called today and said that he looked at the reports, but wants us to bring the actual disc of the CT scan to the appointment.  Not sure what that might mean. 

Thank you so much for the phone calls, texts, emails and messages.  It really means a lot!  If it were up to Mark, no one would know.  Being a communicator is NOT a strong point for him, so I attempt to take up the slack.  Please pray that these will be harmless tumors and that the cancer has not returned.  I believe in the power of prayer, so the more prayers going up... the better!  

By the way... I hope this makes sense and please forgive me if it doesn't.  It's late and I'm pooped from the past few days.