Adversity and Providence
How adversity brought resilience, prayers, hope and a family reunion.
Hello, and welcome to Reflections. I'm Sanuj, a physician. I write insightful posts about health, wealth, family and other interesting topics. If you're new here, you can learn more about Reflections in the about page. If you would like to read more, hit the subscribe button below to catch my posts and join a growing list of readers around the globe.
I would like to start with a sincere apology to all readers of Reflections. I had gotten into the flow of steadily publishing one post per week. Substack would send encouraging emails to keep up my streak. The journey of writing remained fulfilling as fellow writers and readers began engaging with my posts through comments and restacks which, by the way, brought meaning to those posts. I was honoured to have paid subscribers too. It was a relatively stress free time when adversity struck without warning.
The Beginning
Things began to go downhill around the middle of August. My wife, son and I were relocating to a new place. My dad, who lived in a different state, retired from work a few years back. He rang me up in the wee hours of the morning and told me that he had passed blood in urine. It was a single, isolated episode which cleared immediately. He had no pain, no fever and was otherwise well. The episode passed and we brushed it off as a possible stone passing in his urine that might have caused a minor internal injury. One week later, he had the same complaint but this time the bleeding was persistent.
My mom took him to the nearest hospital. Investigations were underway. I was hoping that it was an impacted ureteric calculus (ureteric stone) that caused the bloody urine, but the odd thing was that he still had no abdominal pain which is characteristic of ureteric stones. A CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis revealed our worst nightmare. Sitting on his left kidney was a tumor, almost the size of a small fist, likely to be of neoplastic (cancerous) etiology.
My wife and son had already moved to our new abode a few days earlier. I stayed back as I had some pending work left. My sister joined me to help with my relocation and we were driving across states when we heard the news. The big C had been something that I faced at work, but now it was in the family - it was personal. With us being miles away from our parents, we broke down, tears rolling down our faces, as we drove across the highway.
When looking at kidney tumors in a senior citizen, the most common among them are renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) followed by benign tumors. Considering my dad's age, I was quite certain that we were dealing with RCC. His medical imaging suggested a Stage III cancer (assuming RCC) with no distant spread.
My dad is in his mid sixties, active, has well controlled hypertension and no addictions. He was what one could call ‘relatively healthy.’ The diagnosis of cancer came as a shock to us. My mom, shaken by the sudden turn of events, gathered courage and brought him by flight to where I was. I had arranged an appointment at one of the best urology centres in India. Together, with my parents, sister, wife and son, we had a tearful family reunion.
My dad had to undergo a procedure wherein they removed all the clots in his bladder. He became asymptomatic again. Imaging was repeated and the tumor was still confirmed to be localized to the left kidney. He underwent surgery to remove his left kidney along with the tumor after confirming that his right kidney was functioning well.
Fighting Anxiety through Prayer
As a doctor, I have seen and worked among patients with cancer. However, the diagnosis of cancer in a family member can feel unexpectedly personal and disorienting. When it's someone you love so dearly, the medical knowledge can become both a source of comfort and anxiety. You understand the science, the prognosis, and the treatment options. But that can make you more acutely aware of potential complications. You might feel torn between your roles as a caregiver and a physician, struggling to separate the emotions tied to your family from the objectivity of your profession.
We believed in prayer and we sat down as a family to pray. Our extended family, church, friends, neighbours, and many others joined us in prayer. We asked God for a favorable result of the biopsy and for complete healing.
Cancer is a disease that can throw one's life off course. It affects not just the patient but also their loved ones. In low and middle income countries (and also in developed countries) finances play a huge role in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Despite these issues, cancer cases are on the rise globally.
Providence
It took about 10 days for the biopsy report to arrive. Meanwhile, my parents got to spend quality time with my toddler as we prayed and waited anxiously for the biopsy result.
And it came at last. Biopsy is the final confirmation of any disease including cancer. A pathologist diagnoses the disease process in the affected organ under a microscope. It is the final truth behind every disease. My dad's tumor was confirmed to be renal cell carcinoma. But it was a Stage I cancer in contrast to a Stage III cancer that was seen on medical imaging.
Stage I meant that no further treatment would be required at present other than periodic observation and evaluation. We believe that this was an answer to our prayers - an act of providence. Most symptoms and signs of renal cell carcinoma occur after involvement of structures adjacent to the kidney or after distant spread. As a result, many patients are diagnosed at a later stage of the disease. Had my dad not had the symptom of blood in urine (hematuria), we would not have known regarding the underlying the tumor nor would we have gotten him evaluated for cancer.
A Request
I'm still tied up with my dad's evaluation and follow up. His diagnosis reaffirmed the truth that cancer could happen to anyone. I am also in the process of pursuing an academic course. For the next few months, I shall continue to publish new posts but it may not be weekly as earlier. I will get back to publishing weekly, once I have everything sorted out.
In the meantime, I would like to request for prayers for my dad and our family.
Have you had an experience of divine providence in the midst of adversity that you would like share? Let me know in the comments below.
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Thank you for sharing, sending support and positive thoughts your way 🙏🤗❤️
Hey Sanuj, so sorry to hear the difficult news you and your family had to face. I really enjoyed your exploration of prayer - very humbling from a man of medicine. I hope your father keeps well!