Second Corinthians chapter one, verse nine is the passage I've chosen for my journey through prostate cancer. Although Paul was speaking specifically about the persecution he and other Christians endured for the Gospel, the emphasis is on the purpose. Persecution or trials of any form solely exist to make us rely on GOD alone, and not ourselves. They happen in order for us to exhaust ourselves of any self effort in order to realize that our total dependence should be on the One Who created, sustains, and has sovereign authority over everything, including our individual lives. One of the Lord's greatest pleasures is when we surrender all to Him so that He receives all the glory He deserves from us, especially those of us who claim Him as Lord. We must avoid using religious cliches and "christianese" to flatter God and make us appear spiritual to man. Yes, it is true – God is good all the time... But, is He good only when things are going good for me??? God is good because it is Who He is, whether our world is good or not. One of the hardest truths to swallow is the fact that prosperity and adversity come from the same Source.

To be clearer, God will sometimes break us in order to use us. A vessel broken by the hands of the Potter will often provide better service to Him because of a clearer understanding and greater reverence for the Maker. Broken or not, we must fully confess and admit to ourselves the words of the Lord Jesus: "...apart from Me you can do nothing."

Visit the blog archive and read from earliest to latest to get the details in chronological order.


7.03.2007

Part Three: The Biopsy

Another week later and I'm back in Dr. Mason's office for the biopsy. I'm a bit nervous because I know what he's gonna do. Once I arrive in the room, I'm instructed by the nurse to strip waist down, lay on the table in a somewhat fetal position and cover myself with the sheet provided. Oh boy! I'm thinking, "I wonder if this will hurt - and how much?"

So, I lay there counting the seconds, or minutes, wondering when the doctor will come barging through the door, ready to inflict pain on me! He knocks and comes in and asks, "How ya doin'?" "I'm doing ok," I responded, with a lie. His nurse stands on the front side of me over a tray containing a few gadgets, 6 small glass containers and a long, long, long syringe! My eyes get pretty huge now! I ask the nurse about the 6 small containers. She told me that they are for the samples that the doctor will extract from my prostate. I pointed my finger at them and started counting. I said, "Six samples!?" She responded, "You should be glad - it's usually 12."

Ok, now the fun part. I'll try not to be too vivid here, but I want to describe the experience so brothers can know. If you don't want to know THEN STOP READING NOW!!! For the rest of you, take a deep breath and let's proceed.

The doctor sits in his chair and pulls over a small monitor which is used to view ultrasound images. He then sticks the camera (a long tubular device!) up you-know-where and stops right at the base of my lower intestine - right where my prostate is. This doesn't hurt - just uncomfortable! But, there's a slender, hollow tube connected to the ultrasound device. This is for the syringe (which is about a foot long - the needle part alone)!!! He gives me a local anesthetic shot right in the prostate!!! My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Mainly out of the shock because it wasn't excruciating, but it did sting. After the shot they asked me how I felt. I was fine, but then seconds later I felt a little light-headed. It didn't last long, though. Then comes the real fun part!!! Dr. Mason has a syringe/gun-like device that he inserts through the tube which extracts the sample. Now, I have to admit: Dr. Mason is a really nice guy through all of this. He describes to me every movement he has to make so that I'm not caught off guard. In his words, "Ok, you're going to feel a sting - then a pinch." He says this each time which is most helpful. My eyes squint with each sting, but the pinch is not too bad. By the way, I'm counting with each sting and pinch. When he finishes number 6, I'm about to sigh when he inserts the thing again!!! I tell him, "I thought you only needed 6!" He replied, "Nah, I need more than that. I just need 8 and I'm done." Well, that's not too bad. It's just 2 more.

Once he's finished, he and the nurse put everything away. The nurse has me sit up slowly and stands directly in front of me. She looks right in my eyes and asks, "How are you feeling?" Since I'm kind of crazy, I respond by saying, "I'm fine" and pretend to be passing out and then jerk my head back and say with a smile, "Just kidding!" She then looks at me and says, "No, I'm serious. We had a patient before who had the same thing done and as we were walking out to let him get dressed, he was laying flat on the floor. Are you sure you're ok?" Then I got serious and begin to analyze myself. "Yeah, I...I'm ok," I responded with concern. She walked out and I carefully got up and "cleaned myself" a bit and then got dressed. I was a little lightheaded as I was walking out with my wife, but I was fine. Dr. Mason told me to return for the next week to get the results.

It was a little uncomfortable riding home. I was obviously sore from the biopsy that lasted a few days. I was also alerted that any blood in the urine or semen was normal and would last a while. Now all I had to do was wait until next week for the verdict...
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