As I have been asked many times, how did I find out I had cancer … Back on a Wednesday night, Nov. 8, 2017, I was coaching Logan’s 14U Thunder baseball team. I was actually feeling pretty darn good that night. I was throwing the ball a little harder, I was running around a bit more. I remember making a near shoe string catch in the outfield. I later joked that I would feel that tomorrow. Well, tomorrow came, it was Devon’s birthday. We had a great morning. Devon opened up some birthday gifts before school. I worked from home a bit. I then had to be to work by 11am for a going away lunch party for our HR person. It was during that lunch, my back started to hurt. I figured it was due to that catch the night before. The pain increased during the lunch. After the lunch, I went to my office to get some work done and I started to sweat from the pain. I decided to go home and lay down on my bed. I was thinking it was sore back from the catch, but the pain was worse than that. I changed in to shorts and laid down on the bed. Knowing the pain was pretty darn bad, I called my doctor to see if they could get me in. Fat chance of that, but at least I tried. So then I asked them where was the closest urgent care. They told me Vista and that it opened at 2pm. It being 1:35pm, I thought to myself, I could leave now and I would arrive just after they opened. But I decided to lay in bed a bit more. But as I did, I moved into a position that resulted in what I refer to as a lightning bolt of pain, it shot down my left leg and into my left foot. Now I am a bit freaked out. It hurt so bad … I laid there for a minute and then struggled to get on a t-shirt, find my flip flops and it was time to go to Urgent Care. Mo drove me. By the time we got there, the pain was unbelievable. I could not stand, I could not sit, I could not do anything to alleviate the pain. They got me in pretty quick, got me on some pain meds and ran some tests … urine, blood and CT Scan. They found nothing. They then started talking about my going home. I was not comfortable with this as they did not find out what the issue was and even though I was on pain meds (IV), I was still feeling the pain. They stated that they thought it might be a kidney stone that had passed OR it could be shingles without the rash yet OR something muscular. They gave me a prescription for pain meds and sent me home. Got home, took some advil, took a pain med and laid down for some rest. Mo took the boys to the movies for Devon’s birthday, I was totally find with this as Devon was excited for his birthday and all I was gonna do was lay down. I even thought about going to the movies, but decided to just lay down on the couch and get some sleep. I woke up a bit later, made some dinner and then got more sleep. But then at about 11pm, I woke in severe pain. It was not time yet to take another pain pill, but the pain was BAD … so I went ahead and took the pill. Things did not improve. By 1:30am, I went upstairs to tell Mo it was time to go to the ER. Boys did not have school the next day, so Mo told Logan we were going to the hospital and we left a note on the floor in Devon’s room so when he woke, it would tell him where we were. Got to the emergency room at Scripps Encinitas just after 2am. Pain was worse than ever. I had to wait in the waiting room for 45 minutes … I was in CRAZY PAIN. Again, could not sit, could not stand, could not lean, could not do anything to help alleviate the pain. Then we finally got called back. Again, urine & blood tests. But instead of a CT Scan, this time they did a Contrast CT Scan. The pain was insane, I remember at one point, while Mo was holding my hand, I just started to cry. The pain was so intense, I just wimpered “I need the pain to stop.” Eventually, they doped me up pretty good, so the pain became no longer an issue. Then a moment in time I will never forget. It was somewhere between 4 and 5am, the ER doctor came in and said something to the effect, “There is no easy way to tell you this, but I believe I found cancer.” WOW!!! Cancer?!?!?! Never did cancer ever enter the picture of what I thought was wrong. They informed me we were gong to go get an MRI right away and that I already had a hospital room waiting for me. I later learned from the MRI, I had 2 small lesions in my left lung and about 6-8 small lesions in my spine. Actually, one of the lesions was larger than the rest. It was this lesion that started to infringe on my spinal cord, thus causing the pain that sent me to the ER.
I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. After the MRI, they had hoped to get me a biopsy on that same day (Friday), but we were not able to get it done. So then they tried to get it done on Saturday, but again, did not happen. So Monday morning they got me in for the biopsy. They were confident that it was lung cancer, but the biopsy would confirm. And it was a lesion in my spine that they biopsied. They were right, it is lung cancer. Now their #1 concern was that lesion that was causing the pain. They kept me in the hospital for the rest of the day on Monday, mainly for pain management. I was on Dilaudid through IV. I won’t lie, this drug is VERY AWESOME! Tuesday came, I was discharged at about 3:00pm and by 4:00pm I was seeing a radiologist in Vista for that one larger lesion. As the radiologist told me, if this lesion were to touch my spinal cord, we would be looking at paralysis. Thus the urgency / importance of going to a radiologist immediately after leaving the hospital. 10 sessions of radiation over the next 2 weeks. Next step, finding an Oncologist.
Recapping dates …
Nov. 10 – I learned I have cancer (or that dr. believes he found cancer).
Nov. 13 – I get biopsy to confirm that I have lung cancer
Nov. 14 – I “officially” learn / confirm that I have Stage 4 Lung Cancer.
Nov. 14 – I leave hospital and get my first of 10 radiation treatments.
Photos – my getting a biopsy and the scan showing the lesion that is coming way too close to my spinal cord.
