Cancer, Really?

I thought that I was healthy and fit. I had trained 3 hours a day 5 days a week to prepare for an Ironman Triathlon. I noticed that I started sleeping a lot and not feeling well. On the weekends, I would spend a lot of time in bed asleep instead of running or swimming. On Monday, I would get up for work and take the train to commute to the office at Attensity. Everything seemed fine all week until I noticed a lump in my abdomen.

I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Lisa Stubbs at Grandview Family Medicine. After examining me, she recommended a CT scan. I went to Utah Valley Hospital. I had to fast for 12 hours and drink a chalky tasting drink, barium sulfate: A white insoluble radiopaque powder that is used to make certain body parts more visible in x-ray images. Chug, chug, chug.

I received a call from my doctor after she had talked to the radiologist. She said told me that the scan revealed a large tumor mass in the retroperitoneal space in my back and that I needed to be admitted to the hospital immediately. 

I was in shock, cancer? Really? I was escorted to the oncology ward on the 7th floor. The orderlies arranged a bed and wrote a small message on the white board, "7th heaven". My wife arrived and we started to talk. I felt fine and I didn't really understand why I needed to stay in the hospital overnight. I was anxious to return to work the next day, after all. A Nurse practitioner came in gave me some paperwork to fill out. She went over the CT scan with us and asked how I was feeling. It was informative and helpful. I asked if there was anything they could do for me if I signed into the hospital. She told me no but it would speed up the time it took to talk to a surgeon. I don't like hospitals. There are risks, such as staph infection or other bugs that others much more sick than I might be struggling. I declined to sign the paperwork and left the room behind. It felt good to get home to sleep in my own bed.