“Dx” Day: August 23, 2004

My journey with this beast began three years ago today. It was a Monday morning. I had just returned from a two-week holiday in Oliver where I enjoyed great golf and some fun winery tours with Pam and good friends from Highlands Church. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy to investigate the cause of some periodic blood in my stool. The colonoscopy was done in the “Day Surgery” suite at Lion’s Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. I was processed, prepped, sedated, and scoped in a little over two hours. I only remember waking up in the recovery room afterwards. By that time Dr. Haniuk, the GI doctor who’d done the colonoscopy, had already gotten in touch with Dr. Chang, the on-call emergency surgeon for the day, and the clinic had called Pam who was now at my bedside.

Dr. Haniuk explained that they had discovered a “mass”, about the size of an egg, in the lower reaches of my sigmoid colon. I was a high risk for a bowel obstruction so Dr. Haniuk recommended that I have an emergency colon resection that day since I was already “cleaned out”. Dr. Chang concurred and explained the risks, including the possibility of a colostomy bag and the possibility that there might be nerve damage which could cause impotency. These were two great doctors who were able to collaborate and get things rolling right away.

It was a long day of waiting and wondering. The surgery was completed that same evening. Pretty good response time! On waking up in the recovery room the first person I saw was Leslie, a recovery room nurse from my congregation. Pam joined me shortly afterwards. The good news is that Dr.Chang was able to do a clean resection with a rejoining of the colon to the rectum. He really saved my butt! This thanks to a new “high-tech” stapling device they had to join the severed ends. Fortunately the other risk was avoided as well!!

I spent the next couple of days in the “close observation” suite of the surgical recovery ward. I was on an “epidural” (pain medication delivered to spine) so the pain management was fairly good. Dr. Chang was concerned about the “join” in my colon and I wasn’t to eat for 7-10 days. I stayed in the hospital awaiting biopsy results, undergoing further scans and tests, and slowly recovering. After a couple of days I was visited be Dr. Klimo, the oncologist. He talked to me about some possible chemo options and asked me to see him after I was discharged. Dr. Klimo is another great doctor and I continue to see him. While still in the hospital I was surgically outfitted with a “port-a-cath”, a port inserted in my chest and connected to the “vena cava” for ease of chemo infusions.

I had regular visitors during my whole stay in the hospital. The congregational response was awesome, tons of cards and lots of support for Pam and I and the family. I even had a visit from some of the Henry’s from Port Simpson!

These are just some of the things I remember on this the 3rd Anniversary. Since then it’s been quite a journey!!

Still trekking… Rob; in Vancouver

“I wake each morning with the thrill of expectation and the joy of being alive.And I'm thankful for this day.” Angela L. Wozniak