Many thanks to all who prayed for me this past week as I waited for the results of a biopsy on my prostate. Thanks for the hugs, handshakes, texts, e-mails and phone calls. Your expressions of caring meant a lot to me.
I had the procedure done in Lincoln on Tuesday and got the results the following Monday afternoon. After 6 days of waiting, I got good news. There was no cancer in any of the 12 biopsied samples! We’ll keep an eye on my PSA in three months when I do my annual physical. For now, I am in the clear!
Having been there with my wife Cindy through her breast cancer surgeries, I know how a diagnosis of cancer changes you for the rest of your life. Even though she has been cancer free for three years, we’ll still worry about it’s return for the rest of her life.
So many guys who have been through similar situations with their prostate have talked to me and given me words of encouragement. And the universal truth of all biopsies seems to be that waiting for the results is the worst part. Even when the results are not good news, knowing seems to be preferable to not knowing.
I told several people last Sunday that the “What ifs?” were crushing me. And the closer I got to knowing, the more my mind and soul became scattered. The unknown unglued me. And the longer it went, the harder it was to hold it all together.
Thats where your caring came in. You held me when I was having a hard time holding on to myself. Your letting me know you were praying for me drew me out of my self-imposed isolation. It broadened and fuzzied my focus and helped me know that I was not alone in this.
When I got that phone call on Monday it was like a veil was lifted from my soul. The dark menacing clouds that’d been building up in my heart and mind gave way to sunshine. All that worrying and gearing up for another surgery just disintegrated .
My daughter asked me why I worried so much before I even knew the results. I said I needed to worry . . . just in case.
Thanks again. And please know that no matter what the results, your expressions of caring were God’s presence come to life for me this past week. Because of you, I knew that no matter what that nurse said about my lab results on Monday afternoon, God was with me, and we would get through this, together.
Grace & Peace,
Rev. Kelly
1 comment:
Way back after a torturous weekend in 1985, I hsve always told my doctors and my family's doctors that it is absolutely unacceptable to make someone wait over a weekend for "the news"!! And bless them, they have tried to accomodate my anxiety. I'm so glad your news was good. Celebrate your birthday...and "another year of livin'"!
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