I never thought I'd ask for help from my friends and family as I've always been a hardworking, pull myself up by my bootstraps kind of guy.   Unfortunately, this time I'm putting pride aside and asking for help.  I'm thankful for the health insurance I have but the max out-of-pocket is $5,000 per year and when you don't have it it feels like a lot more than that. I will need to pay this max amount this year and next making the total $10,000. I'm making a goal of $8,000 as I can take a loan against my 401K. Here is my story and the plan so far for Renal Cancer Obliteration: On Oct. 17, 2018 I woke with intense pain in lower back on the left side. I normally have a high pain tolerance but I couldn't take it this time. I decided to go to the hospital, thinking it must be a kidney stone even though I've never had one before. At the ER, a CT scan without contrast showed no kidney stone but a lesion on the left kidney that made the Dr. want another scan done with contrast. This scan confirmed a lesion measuring 4.2 x 4.0 cm (16.8 cm total). This lesion was bleeding and created a sub-capsular hematoma (blood sac) around the left kidney.  The hemotoma is what caused the pain and brought me to the hospital.  I also had pneumonia in the right lung for a little icing on the cake.  After the radiologist reviewed and discussed with the urologist it was shared with me that I likely have a fatty tumor but there is a very unlikely chance that it could be renal cell carcinoma.  They decided to admit me so I could have an MRI the next morning to see if there is fat on the lesion or if it's a solid mass.  During the night I spent at North Florida Regional Hospital the pain management was dilaudid every 2 hrs and percocet every 4 hrs. The pain was barely eased off with these powerful narcotics.  On top of that, this hospital does not provide single rooms. I had 2 roommates. One went off to surgery and then was moved somewhere else.  My second roommate came in around 3 am and had multiple doctors come in every 30 mins.  I had very little rest. The next morning I had my MRI. When I returned to my half room my roommate had about 8 people in the room for hours. I couldn't even use the bathroom in our because there were so many people. I decided to go down the hall and use the hall bathroom.  When I returned there was doctor at the door to the room looking for me. He asked if I wanted to go inside or speak in the hall regarding the MRI results? I said it's more private in the hall since there are so many people in the room. He told me the results revealed the was no fat on the kidney and the area of concern was solid mass. He said you have cancer. He went on to explain the best way to address renal cancer to remove the entire kidney especially since the hemotoma was there and the pain level was so bad. The problem was we were not able to go straight to surgery due to the pneumonia. I cannot not go to surgery until my lungs are healthy. Luckily I was able to be released with meds that day and had follow up appointments with the urologist set for the next week.  When I met with the urologist we decided to allow the lungs to get healthy, allow the hemotoma to reabsorb them do the surgery. The benefit here is that we may goes need to remove the top quarter or third of the kidney rather than the whole thing. Since I have a few weeks to wait, I am seeking a 2nd option at University of Florida as they are well known for all kinds of cancer treatments.  I will see them on Friday Nov. 2, 2018 and I will asking to complete the surgery asap. The stage of the cancer will be determined once the cancer is removed and sent for biopsy.  Best case: the cancer is limited to the kidney and they just cut it out. No chemotherapy needed.  Worst case: it made it out of the kidney or is from somewhere else. This will change things quite a bit and the plan will be more in depth.  On a personal level: No one knows how they will react or when or where they will hear the news they have cancer.  I got to hear my news in a hospital hallway next to the elevator and a trashcan on the 5th floor of the hospital.  When I heard the news I didn't even flinch, I went straight into problem solving and how do I/we fix this. The only time I have cried so far is when I looked into my 10 year old daughter's face and had the conversation. I tried to stay strong and just explain that it's ok and I'm not going anywhere but man, that was tough. I truly consider myself extremely lucky to have had pneumonia that caused me to cough so violently that I made the lesion bleed. That made the pain intense and caused me to go to the hospital and find it. That is luck! We may not have found it otherwise until it was much worse.  I have an amazing support system from my family, friends and work! This is a bump in the road and I know it will be fine! If you can help me with the medical bills I will be forever grateful! If you cannot help; please just send your positive thoughts, prayers, and energy my way because they give me so much strength.