As the quarantine continued, I had to make an unexpected trip to the doctor because I had not been feeling well.  I’ve had an abnormal pain around my left ovary since October of 2019, that wouldn’t go away.  I went for my normal check up in January of 2020, and everything appeared to be normal.

On April 6, 2020, Choctaw and I were doing our morning run when an “unbearable” pain started in my left ovary area that brought me to my knees on the running trail.  When I went down to the ground, Choctaw immediately ran back toward me trying to comfort me because I was in a tremendous amount of pain.  It took me several minutes to be able to stand back up and continue my run.  When I say “continue my run,” it was more like hobble home because the pain was so bad.  Choctaw never left my side and the look of her face told me all I needed to know.  If Choctaw had not been with me, I honestly don’t know how long it would have taken me to get home.  When Choctaw and I got home, I called my doctor’s office and told the nurse what had happened.  She made an appointment for me for the following Monday to have a pelvic ultrasound.

On April 12, 2020, I arrived at my doctor’s office and was immediately stopped at the front entrance by a nurse.  The nurse asked me a lot of questions and took my temperature before I could enter.  I had to wear a mask and had to distance myself from other patients.  Shortly after arriving, I was escorted back to a room where a pelvic ultrasound was done.  I was doing good until the specialist placed the pelvic instrument in the area of my left ovary.  The pain was so bad I came off the table.  She asked me to hold on so that she could get a good picture.  She would not say what she located and wanted the doctor’s nurse to talk to me. Shortly after the ultrasound, the doctor’s nurse called me back to a room to go over the results. The nurse told me I had a very large mass over my left ovary. The nurse told me she did not know if the mass was cancerous but she did state the mass around my ovary looked contained so that was a plus.  Meaning, the mass was not “forking” off in different directions.  Since my doctor was not available while I was at her office, I decided to go home and wait for the doctor to call me. I do not remember the drive home and I did not want to call my wife on the phone.  I wanted to tell her in person. When I got home, my wife was waiting for me when I walked in the door.  She told me she knew something was wrong because I had not called her. I filled her in on what was going on and told her what the nurse had stated about the mass not “forking” off.  My wife knew what that term meant because she had breast cancer in 2009.

I did not hear from my doctor until the following day.  She had looked at my chart and was very optimistic about the mass being contained and not “forking” off like the nurse had previously stated.  My doctor and I talked about an OBGYN Oncologist performing the surgery.  My first thought was “why” an Oncologist because my doctor was a surgeon.  My doctor explained to me that she is not a cancer doctor and should the mass be cancer, she would want an Oncologist performing my surgery so the cancer can be dealt with right then.  Over the next week or so, my wife and I did a lot of research on OBGYN Oncologist in our area.  We finally decided on one and made an appointment to meet the doctor.

On April 27, 2020, I meet with the OBGYN Oncologist.  After our visit, my surgery was scheduled for June 11, 2020, at 9am. I left there feeling a little more optimistic.

Now that I had some down time until my surgery, my wife and I decided to take Titan and Choctaw on an RV trip to Hot Springs.  A place we go to often to get away and relax.  We had been quarantined so it was time to get away from the house.  And as always, Titan and Choctaw had a blast.

On June 11, 2020, I had surgery to remove the mass around my left ovary.  When I woke up in recovery, the first question I asked the nurse was “do I have cancer?”  She smiled and said “NO” you don’t have cancer.  She went on to tell me that the mass was a very large tumor that was really stubborn.  The OBGYN Oncologist had allotted an hour and a half to perform the surgery.  Apparently, it took the Oncologist almost three hours to remove the tumor because it was wrapped around various areas. I was very grateful to the Oncologist and the entire team that performed my surgery.  Many many prayers had been answered!!!

The day after my surgery, I took a photograph of my poor belly button.  The Oncologist performed the surgery arthroscopy so that it was less invasive and less down time.  My belly button looked like a war zone and it felt like a war zone too.  My stomach was still bloated from the air that the surgery team blew into me in order to take out the mass. From what I was told in recovery, it would take a while for the air to come out of my stomach.  Despite all this, I was very happy I was only dealing with a war zone belly button and bloated stomach.

Next up, I finally get to meet FIONA, the little hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo!!!