Our Cancer Journey

Author: Brad

On October 28, 2012, a Sunday morning, I woke up with a slight pain/pressure in my lower left abdomen.  I attended my regular morning meetings, serving as our ward's Bishop.  I went throughout the day, thinking it was some kind of gas, or upset stomach.

I went to work the next day, Monday, October 29th, but by the afternoon the pain had increased, and I came home early from work.  I stayed home from work on Tuesday, October 30th (and the rest of the week), and we made an appointment with a Primary Care Physician (my regular doctor, Dr. Amy Anderson, wasn't available, and so the appointment was with Dr. Brenda Durnin).

On Wednesday, October 31st I saw Dr. Durnin.  She didn't have immediate answers, but ordered bloodwork to be done that day (the next day we got results - reportedly nothing abnormal), and an ultrasound for Friday, November 2nd.

On Friday, November 2nd I had an ultrasound there at the Rockwood clinic in Spokane Valley.  This was rather painful, and once the technician finished she had me stick around.  She contacted Dr. Durnin, and she invited me to speak with Dr. Durnin by phone at that time.  Dr. Durnin said that I had an enlarged spleen, and a possible "mass" on/in it, and she ordered a CT scan right away.

Mindy and I waited for about 30 minutes or so.  We Googled, "mass on spleen," but just had no idea what might be going on.  On that same November 2nd day, I had the CT scan.

In the evening of Saturday, November 3rd, my good friends Duane and Sam gave me a Priesthood blessing.  I felt blessed to have the opportunity to have the power of the Priesthood bless and comfort me, and I felt blessed to have such awesome friends.

On Monday, November 5th I again stayed home from work (and the rest of the week also), and on this day Dr. Durnin called indicating that there was indeed a mass in my spleen, and she referred us to Dr. Gregory LaValle, M.D.  We had an appointment with Dr. LaValle that same day. Dr. LaValle had not read the CT scan yet but said he would that afternoon/evening and call us back with results.  He ordered a PET scan, a colonoscopy (I have a paternal aunt that passed away from colon cancer), and referred us to Jay Wittenkeller, M.D., oncologist.

That afternoon we phoned our good friend and member of our ward, Warren Benincosa, who works for Cancer Care Northwest.  He made an appointment for us for the next day with one of their surgeons, Dr. Ryan Holbrook.  On Tuesday, November 6th, we met with Dr. Holbrook.  He showed us the CT scan, and said that there was a tumor in my spleen that was about the size of a softball.  He also saw another tumor on my small intestine.  He invited us to seek out a second opinion, but suggested surgery right away.  He mentioned the possibility of it being cancer, but did not say definitively, and that he could not say definitively without surgery or a biopsy.  We scheduled surgery for Friday November 16th.  Dr. Holbrook also prescribed some pain medication.

Around Nov. 6th or 7th I felt a VERY strong impression that I needed to attend the temple. I was not working at that point, and was doing nothing but pretty much sitting around trying to not hurt.  We scheduled and attended a session on Thursday, November 8th. We were worried as to if I would be able to stand up and sit down, and get around, etc. As I sat in the chair and the session started, I quickly realized that my pain had decreased. I deliberately moved from side to side in my chair, and leaned forward and back…somewhat in disbelief. I stood up and sat down as needed. I realized that my pain was minimal to gone. 

Through the entire session and our stay in the Celestial Room, I felt no pain. It was incredible to me. I began to ask myself questions… “Why?” “What does this mean?” “Does this mean the mass/tumor is gone?” “If I had enough faith, could it be?” “Does this mean the pain was all in my head, and maybe it’s not as bad as I think?” And, “How long will this pain-free comfort last?” I made a conscious decision to not get wrapped up in these questions…I did not feel that much good would come from giving energy to these questions. My take-home message from this experience: I felt a prompting to be in the temple and I followed that. I experienced comfort through the Comforter as strongly as I have ever felt it in my life. The Holy Ghost is real. And, the temple is the place to feel the Comforter. I have a deeper testimony of, and a greater desire to attend the temple because of this experience. It was wonderful.

Also on Thursday, November 8th I was not reacting well to the pain medication I was taking (Tramadol - felt light headed and pressure in my head).  On Friday, November 9th I had my first PET scan.

The week of November 12th I worked from home for a couple days, but took sick leave also that week.  On Tuesday, November 13th Dr. Holbrook said there weren't particular surprises from the PET scan.  On November 13th or 14th I began taking Hydrocodone, and began sleeping fairly well again (as time went by and this fast-growing tumor increased in size, it was more and more painful to lay down, and sleeping became increasingly difficult. Our friends, Chris and Paula, lent to us a recliner chair that I slept in most nights - it was very helpful).

On Thursday, November 15th I began drinking what is called, "Golytely" (I recall a nurse commenting that "go lightly" is NOT a fitting name for this laxative....and she was correct). You drink a glass of this stuff every 30 minutes or so until the container is empty (I swear there was like a ½ gallon of the stuff). You mix in some “flavor” (I chose “orange”) in this stuff and they say drinking it cold is best. Well, the flavor of it wasn’t horrible, but I found that the consistency of it made me want to hurl (it was a bit thick…like kind of “greasy”). It was a nasty drink…but….very effective. I apologize for being graphic...but I was truly cleaned out and ready for surgery on Friday!

In the evening of November 15th, my father and my father-in-law gave me another Priesthood blessing, in preparation for my surgery.  What an amazing blessing to have a father and a father-in-law that can do this for me.

Friday, November 16th we arrived at Deaconess Hospital around 8:30am (eventually both my parents, and Mindy's parents arrived at the hospital - it was awesome to feel their support there).  Eventually Dr. Holbrook showed us the results of the PET scan.  There was a third tumor behind the spleen, possibly attached to the adrenal gland.  I was prepped for surgery in my luxurious gown, etc., and around 12:30pm I was wheeled back to surgery (I remember that a friend, Jannice, was waiting for her husband in a waiting room as I was wheeled by and said, "Nice dress, Bishop!" I laughed out loud, and it was an awesome "tension breaker" that morning - something I won't forget).

They wheeled me into a sterile room and started the anesthesia process.  I remember that the epidural they inserted was somewhat uncomfortable, but that didn't last long - before I knew it "lights were out."  At about 1:30pm a nurse called Mindy to let her know that the anesthesia was done and they were starting surgery.

At about 3:00pm a nurse called Mindy to report that my spleen was out and that Dr. Holbrook was working on my small intestine.  At about 3:30pm the nurse called Mindy to report that Dr. Holbrook was “putting Brad back together,” and it would probably be one more hour.  At about 4:30pm Dr. Holbrook came to talk to Mindy and our parents.  He felt the surgery went really well, and told them that I was in recovery.  The tumor in the spleen was “nasty" from his report, and it tailed into the stomach and the pancreas so minor parts of each of those were taken out.  About 18 inches of the small intestine were removed with the tumor there.  A portion of an adrenal gland was removed with the third tumor.  Dr. Holbrook indicated that it was indeed cancer - lymphoma.  There are different types of lymphoma.