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12/05/14
My name is Cassandra (live-in girlfriend of four and a half years). Christopher has been on a long road to get healthy and I am sharing his journey.
Christopher is 21 years old. He is a full time employee as well as a full time student at ASU.
About a year ago, Christopher had some stomach issues (pains and aches, etc.). He and I had decided to go to Urgent Care because of this occasional pain. The Urgent Care doctor had told him to hydrate and eat better. Christopher religiously ate more vegetables and drank more water, but to no avail. His busy schedule kept the pain out of thought.
About 3 months ago, he began to experience a more severe stomach pain. Pains that he explained felt like "someone is trying to rip through my insides to get out." This pain was mainly nightly and he began losing sleep. He also lost his appetite and ate scarcely, afraid to awaken the pain.
About 2 months ago, sleepless nights began and the night pains were leaking into the days.  He had seen a GI doctor, who had ordered a CT scan. When Christopher went to make the CT appointment, he was told it was not covered by insurance unless requested by his primary doctor. Christopher was forced to make an appointment with his primary doctor to stop the pain. However, whilst waiting for the appointment date the pain grew more ominous.
About a month ago, Christopher had been to the Emergency room and two primary care appointments with no prognosis just guesses and over the counter drugs. Unfortunately he was given nothing for the pain, but continued to work and continued his studies.
About a week ago, it was a bad pain night for Christopher. He was screaming and neither of us could get any sleep. Around 4 am he decided enough was enough and asked me if I could drive him to the Emergency room again.The admitting nurse asked her usual questions and Christopher answered between gags of bile. This ER doctor immediately ordered a CT scan. The CT scan shows a 13cm tumor suspended in his pelvic region.  He was admitted to the hospital four hours later.
This past week, Christopher was transfered from one hospital to another due to insurance issues, and had surgery this Thursday to remove the tumor. In PreOp, his family and I were told an MRI had shown that the tumor was actually the size of a volleyball. In PostOp, we were told that it is a rare type of Lymphoma and although completely removed, he would still need six months of Chemo Therapy.
Currently, Christopher is asleep in his hospital bed, waking up every few hours yelling in pain from his incision or worrying about the house payment and hospital bills. This is his journey and although he had asked me not to, I felt the need to share it.  Pathology report is out on Monday.