MY ONLY SON HAS CANCER OF THE COLON

My son is a nurse. I didn’t want him to be one, but I wanted nursing to be his pre-med. For some reason, he didn’t make it to the college of medicine. The salary for nurses is meager, so he instead worked as a call center agent. For 10 years, he enjoyed his work, but after the Pandemic, the demand for nurses became acute worldwide, and salaries rose to an acceptable level; he decided to answer his calling. He is an ER nurse (Medical Department) at Mandaluyong City Medical Center (MCMC).

Four weeks ago, or so, he had blood in his stool. As a nurse, he has easy access to medical care. He was diagnosed with Salmonella infection. He received treatment, and although he had IV lines on his arms, he continued working. The bleeding stopped, but the pain didn’t. His ER head nurse was getting worried, so she virtually dragged him to the medical specialist at the OPD. On the same day he was admitted for severe abdominal pain, a colonoscopy was done.

“Nader,” the doctor said, “has a tumor that is blocking 90% of his colon.” Skyfall is no longer a 007 movie; it is for real, and it was raining on my head.

“Is it possible, it’s not malignant?” I mumbled.

He gave me that look that says, “Are you joking?”

I didn’t know how to break the news to my wife and our other children, but I did. I am an MD, and although it is different when you are directly involved, I’m still used to it.

My son has a mysterious colon cancer. A series of tests and 2 CT scans were performed. His tumor marker test result is below 1, when the high normal range is 4. Although 30% of malignancies have normal values of tumor markers, 70% have high tumor markers that are also used to measure your response to treatment. Of the many signs of Colon cancer, my son didn’t have any except the pain. Doctors kept coming back asking Nader if he had this or that, which he didn’t. Even the surgeon wondered why he couldn’t palpate any tumor mass despite the finding of 90% blockage on colonoscopy, and why Nader had no bowel movement problem at all.

A day before surgery, another CT scan with contrast was done, and yes, the biopsy of the tissue from the colonoscopy also came.

My son has “Well Differentiated Adenocarcinoma.”

I had a glimmer of hope the moment I read “Well differentiated…”

I had 2 hours of sleep. It’s late in the afternoon, and although I still have hours to kill before I drive to the hospital, I had to go. When I checked our group chat, everyone was crying. The result of the CT scan with contrast wasn’t good.

Believe it or not, driving alone is my moment of solitude. I worked in Saudi Arabia’s mountainous region for 32 years, and truly, driving in the mountains gives you peace and the aloneness that gives your mind limitless space to wander.

In a moment of crisis, driving in the mountains is no different from the bustling traffic of the Metro.

“God,” I said. “I am an old man. Please take me instead of my son. If I am among the chosen ones, my mission is complete. The blessed ones will find the message in the more than 700 blogs and seven (7) books I have written.”

I said, “Chosen ones, I summon you to rescue my son from this cancer malady.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROMB_McCT9s

Friends and relatives assumed the CT scan result, which mentioned the fibrosis and nodules in the lung and two small cysts in the liver, as metastases, so the sorrow that broke them into tears.

At 7 PM on Saturday, October 25, my son was wheeled into the OR for hemicolectomy. I expected him to be in the OR and recovery room for no less than 12 hours, not to mention the ICU, which was also prepared to receive my son if he needed it. To my surprise, my son was back in his room shortly after midnight.

The surgery was very successful. Another CT scan, this time for the lungs only, with contrast, was performed to confirm that the previous CT scan's findings were likely a post-infection nodule. (I, too, have that tiny nodule that disqualified me from working in Qatar despite having been issued a working visa)

Whatever the result of the specimen’s histo-pathology, the future is bright. The type of cancer my son has is the lazy one. It is less invasive, growing very slowly. You can have it for years without knowing.

I need to say “thank you, Mr. Salmonella.”

With a successful surgery, my son may not need follow-up chemotherapy. It will all depend on what the Oncologist recommends. 

https://beyond666-acson005.blogspot.com/2013/01/golden-boy-strange-story-of-my-son.html