Finding faith in the middle of the story

his story does not know its ending. But it has a beginning. And a middle, which is where we find ourselves.

My husband Terry needed back surgery in Spokane seven years ago. Our nurse daughter in Alaska wanted his scans looked at by her orthopedic surgeon friend — as confirmation for the procedure. We sent them north. The man noticed what no one else had mentioned — a large cyst on one kidney, and recommended follow up.

After the back surgery, during the kidney follow up — besides the benign cyst — the urologist saw something small deep in the other kidney and began to watch it. Over time as it grew to a particular size he removed the kidney. The test came back Stage 2 cancer — but as the doctor knew, kidney cancer does not spread before a certain size. Neither is it biopsied as that can seed it.

Needing no further treatment Terry was just fine in a short time — albeit now with only one kidney.

He continued to get regular scans. Four years later something new appeared on the outer surface of the kidney. Again, it was wait and watch.

While Terry was getting his most recent scan late last November I suddenly got it in my mind to call his Spokane urologist's office. The doctor was leaving — his future whereabouts not publicly released yet — and the group office closing at year's end.

Who is going to look at this scan?” I asked. Terry had already transferred his medical records to his family physician. The nurse needed to access a different system, but promised she'd have the doctor see it and get back within a week.

We got a call that day. He'd looked at it — the imaging showed the growth had made a sizable jump. His office appointments were full, but he created room for Terry. “It's got to come off,” he said.

The next hurdle was the surgery schedule. As he had agreed to extend with the group through January to complete his remaining surgeries he again was completely booked. “I'll make room,” he told us. “This is our golden window of opportunity — before it grows any larger.”

We were given a surgery date in Spokane — only to learn days later Washington state had tightened hospital restrictions due to a surge in the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Many scheduled surgeries were being cancelled. Terry's doctor pleaded the urgency of his case, and won. We'll show up Tuesday, January 25.

The surgeon expects to remove the growth and leave Terry's remaining kidney intact. But he won't really know until the surgery has commenced.

Faith is defined in the Bible as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” That's not easy in a hands-on, where's-the-proof kind of world. But this story — still being written — has all the elements of a hand not our own turning the pages.