- D
It was a normal Friday morning 05/08. Woke up and went to work. Just like we all do. Eager to finish the week and get to the weekend. Thankful that traffic was unusually light for no good particular reason.
An hour into my shift I am crippled by a ridiculous amount pain. Co workers insist that I go to the ER which I finally oblige. After nearly an hour of doubling over with pain and being stuck behind a 105 year old lady in a wheel chair that broke every bone in her body I get checked out by an RN who has seen it all. They ask the pain scale question and my mind is shouting 10 but I mutter a 7. 7 as if this some how still shows I am a man and can "take" this sort of pain.
An hour later I am being administered high levels of pain medicine intravenously and being told that everything is pointing towards kidney stones. My symptoms, my age, my sex etc. Jokingly one of my ER nurses mention that Kidney stones are Gods way of showing Men what women go through while giving birth. I grimaced in pain but managed a smirk. I go in for routine CT scan to check on things.
An hour later I am being told they see something on one of my Kidneys and that they need to do another CT scan this time with contrast. They poke me again and add another IV with a touch of good old Iodine so the can trace the blood flow from my arm into my heart and down to the kidney. I gulp down a massive cup of glass of water. I am talking a Big Gulp size portion of water.
An hour after that I am being told they don't know what the mass is but it's not good. They hand me over some Kidney cancer paperwork and say they have set up an appointment with an Urologist for Monday and that I am being discharged. Wham , bam thank you ma'am.
So to make a dreadfully long story a little shorter here is the juicy bits. I am 34 years old and I have Kidney Cancer. I have surgery set for this Friday 05/22. Exactly 2 weeks to the day from my initial ER visit. They are cutting the kidney out. They will be using a small camera and tools instead of just sawing me open. This should cut down on healing / down time. Won't have much more info until the get in there and start rooting around for stuff.
To those of you who are forcing me to make this page I thank you. Really I do. It is nice to know that all of you guys are thinking about me and want to do whatever you can to help. I don't know what more to say. Not sure how much out of pocket I am going to be when this is all said and done but with surgery costs and missed time at work it will add up fast. $5 - $10 a time actually adds up faster than you might think. Give what you feel comfortable with. Even if you can’t personally give, please pass it around to a friend or coworker. I can't for the life of me get this to all my friends and coworkers so I really do appreciate getting the word out.
If you are a complete stranger and took the time out of your busy life to read this and you feel like giving I truly appreciate your generosity. I hope to pay it forward myself some day.
With great appreciation.
Sincerely,
Sean Butler
An hour into my shift I am crippled by a ridiculous amount pain. Co workers insist that I go to the ER which I finally oblige. After nearly an hour of doubling over with pain and being stuck behind a 105 year old lady in a wheel chair that broke every bone in her body I get checked out by an RN who has seen it all. They ask the pain scale question and my mind is shouting 10 but I mutter a 7. 7 as if this some how still shows I am a man and can "take" this sort of pain.
An hour later I am being administered high levels of pain medicine intravenously and being told that everything is pointing towards kidney stones. My symptoms, my age, my sex etc. Jokingly one of my ER nurses mention that Kidney stones are Gods way of showing Men what women go through while giving birth. I grimaced in pain but managed a smirk. I go in for routine CT scan to check on things.
An hour later I am being told they see something on one of my Kidneys and that they need to do another CT scan this time with contrast. They poke me again and add another IV with a touch of good old Iodine so the can trace the blood flow from my arm into my heart and down to the kidney. I gulp down a massive cup of glass of water. I am talking a Big Gulp size portion of water.
An hour after that I am being told they don't know what the mass is but it's not good. They hand me over some Kidney cancer paperwork and say they have set up an appointment with an Urologist for Monday and that I am being discharged. Wham , bam thank you ma'am.
So to make a dreadfully long story a little shorter here is the juicy bits. I am 34 years old and I have Kidney Cancer. I have surgery set for this Friday 05/22. Exactly 2 weeks to the day from my initial ER visit. They are cutting the kidney out. They will be using a small camera and tools instead of just sawing me open. This should cut down on healing / down time. Won't have much more info until the get in there and start rooting around for stuff.
To those of you who are forcing me to make this page I thank you. Really I do. It is nice to know that all of you guys are thinking about me and want to do whatever you can to help. I don't know what more to say. Not sure how much out of pocket I am going to be when this is all said and done but with surgery costs and missed time at work it will add up fast. $5 - $10 a time actually adds up faster than you might think. Give what you feel comfortable with. Even if you can’t personally give, please pass it around to a friend or coworker. I can't for the life of me get this to all my friends and coworkers so I really do appreciate getting the word out.
If you are a complete stranger and took the time out of your busy life to read this and you feel like giving I truly appreciate your generosity. I hope to pay it forward myself some day.
With great appreciation.
Sincerely,
Sean Butler