My message today is: Do not be despondent or angry when bad things befall you - good can come out of it. One thing can set other things in motion. Here is a timeline that covers a two-year journey for my patient which exemplifies that theory.
March '20 - Patient was hospitalized two nights with kidney stone (right ureter) which required surgical removal - successful. A CT scan showed the large stone lodged in the left kidney for years now needed to be removed. A date for that operation would be set after the pandemic restrictions were lifted.
August '20 - Patient was admitted to hospital for four nights because of breathing issues. Tests indicated that may have been a UTI was primarily responsible - a chest x-ray showed no reason for breathing difficulties.
October '20 - Kidney operation set for November and pre-op tests scheduled including CT scan.
November '20 - Pre-op CT scan for kidney operation showed a growth in a lung that had grown measurably from CT scan in March. (Without the kidney problems, this would not have been found - in many medical issues, time is of the essence for success)
November '20 - Surgical removal of stone from left kidney successful.
November '20 - Lung specialist and thoracic surgeon advise removal of growth from lung by robotic surgery is indicated. This is classified as a stage 1 lung cancer.
December '20 - Removal of cancerous growth successful and exploration of surrounding tissue proved negative.
April '21 - Surgery for complete right shoulder replacement scheduled for June
May '21 - Pre-op CT scan for shoulder operation.
June '21 - Complete reverse shoulder replacement successful
June '21 - Follow-up CT scan for lung surgeon. (6 month)
July '21 - A new cancerous growth found in latest scans. It sits on a lymph node in center of chest. They call this a stage 3 cancer. It is more aggressive and requires directed radiation treatments (30) five days a week for six weeks and chemo-therapy infusions (6) once a week for six weeks concurrently.
August '21 - Chemo and radiation begun
October '21 - Immunotherapy infusions begun, every other week (26 total) for one year.
January '22 - Follow-up CT scan (3 month) - cancer appears stable
April '22 - Follow-up CT scan (6 month) - cancer is in remission
PTL
Did I mention that there were prayers involved all along the way? I should have.
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