This morning, I want to share with you a personal journey that is about to end for me ....
It all started on a Sunday morning in September of 2014. My church family was graciously celebrating my 25 years of ministry with the church. We had many visitors that morning, friends and family from such places as Virginia and Erie. I was thrilled and touched to see all of them ... that is with one exception. This visitor did not come from out of town. In fact, he came from inside my left kidney.
It was about 15 minutes into the service that I began to feel a pain in my left flank that I had never felt before. A kidney stone was making its presence felt. That began a several day pain-filled event (that I would not ever want to repeat!). That kidney stone attack kick started my journey. Four months later I found myself in the office of a urologist as he sat staring at the screen of his laptop, reviewing the results of an ultrasound which I had just undergone. Three times he sighed and uttered the word "curious" which proved to be prophetic of the journey, which would prove curious indeed as you will see.
This journey has involved multiple ultrasounds (more than the average woman of childbearing age I would guess), several CAT scans, nuclear medicine renal scans (a.k.a. "bladder busters"), four surgical procedures (three involved the insertion of an ureteteral stent - and if you have never had the joy of having one pray that you never will!), two trips to the local ER, and the wonderful care of my primary care physician, two urologists, a boatload of nurses, techs, etc., and gratitude for my church for providing health insurance!
The last "mile" of this journey began on March 8th when I underwent surgery (#3) in which the surgeon used a balloon to dilate my ureter (he said afterwards he could not believe how narrow my ureter (tube from kidney to bladder) was - curious, eh?). He then used a laser to kill off the resident storm troopers (a.k.a. scar tissue) and then left behind that wonderful 😕 device known as a stent. After a few painful days, I was up and about and back in the office.
On March 28th, I began to notice a growing pain in my flank. By noon on the 29th, the pain had grown so much that I thought I was experiencing another unwelcome visit from Mr. Stone. Off to the ER we went. A CAT scan did not reveal any stone, but did show "severe hydronephrosis" (swelling of the kidney). I was sent home smiling (due to the pain medicine I was given) and by nightfall, the pain had greatly diminished. The next day my urologist called to discuss what happened. He was perplexed as to the cause of the sharp pain (curious, eh?). He then scheduled me for a follow up ultrasound which I had on April 20th. It revealed that the swelling of my kidney had lessened some, but still not back to normal. So he scheduled me for a nuke med renal scan which I underwent on May 3rd.
The following Wednesday (May 9th), I was in Cleveland for a pastor's conference. Just after breakfast and before the morning session, my urologist called. He had just read the results of my scan of the week before and did not like what he was seeing. He told me he wanted to schedule me for surgery to insert a stent in my left kidney and he wanted to do it "this week!" I told him I would be home that evening and available either Thursday or Friday. So .... the next day at noon I reported to the surgical center.
After the surgery he told my wife he was amazed to see scar tissue in my ureter from the March 8th surgery (and even showed it to a couple of his associates in the practice and they, too, were surprised) - curious, eh? On May 23rd I endured another "bladder buster" test. On Tuesday of this week, my urologist called me. The conversation went something like this:
Dr. G - "John, do you have time to talk?"
Me - "Certainly" (I mean, I was anxious to hear his read on the results of the renal scan).
Dr. G - "I hate to be the bearer of bad news ... especially to a nice person like you, but your kidney is no longer functioning."
Me - "Uh ... could you repeat please?"
Dr. G - "Your kidney is no longer working."
Me - after some silence .... "Oh ... How did that happen?
Dr. G - "I have been scratching my head to try to figure out how your kidney function went down hill so fast. I have consulted with some of my colleagues and they have no explanation either. It may be somehow connected with the severe pain episode you had that landed you in the ER back in March. But I just don't know!" (curious, eh?)
Me - "What does this mean long term? Does the kidney need to be removed?"
Dr. G - "No, the kidney can stay, unless an infection sets in or you have too much pain. And your right kidney is working just fine, so you should be OK going forward. I am so sorry this happened to you."
Bottom line, I was stunned. I had been bracing myself for more surgery. This was not even on my radar! As I write this post, I am scheduled to have the stent removed next Thursday (I am NOT looking forward to getting it out ... but I AM looking forward to having it out!).
So this long journey appears now to be coming to an end (just not the end I had envisioned). But then again, as curious has it has been, baffling these well educated and extremely bright medical professionals ... I won't be holding my breath. I may never know exactly what happened to cause my kidney to fail, but I do know this: Although this has not been a pleasant journey for me (and sometimes my wife as I am not always the best patient!), it is a journey that God allowed. One of the speakers at the Cleveland pastor's conference I attended spoke on suffering and how God uses it for good in our lives and ministries (2 Corinthians chapters 4 and 12). Upon hearing these messages, I prayed and asked God to use this suffering involving my kidney situation to be a platform upon which I could bring him glory. I specifically asked God to help me be a testimony for Christ as I interacted with my urologist. Shortly after praying that prayer, I got the call from him to schedule my surgery for the next day (May 10th)! My situation may be "curious" to my doctors but not to God. He has a plan and he is working that plan. That comforts my troubled heart and gives me hope for the future!
My apologies for the length of this post. But in sharing my journey, I want to encourage others who are either now or in the future on a similar journey. Remember this ... behind the frown of providence is the smiling face of God. All that he does for us is for our good and his glory (Romans 8:28-29).
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
PS - With only one working kidney, I share something with my grandson Nolan who had a kidney removed when he was only three weeks old. So he and I are now "solo" kidney buddies!
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