Upside Down Under: A euphoric feeling...

It isn’t often that journalists write about themselves, but in this case, it seems timely and necessary to describe something I’ve dealt with the past 6 1/2 years.

On Friday morning the urology staff at Mayo Clinic declared me cancer free, and I’ve been switched to an annual checkup after three-month, then four-month and finally six-month visits.

After getting that news, I wasn’t sure my mind or body could be that relaxed. I didn’t want to go dancing in the streets, but the relief was incredible.

The diagnosis of small cell renal carcinoma came on March 12, 2018. The surgery happened at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester on May 30, 2019. Since that time, we’ve made those frequent trips to Mayo Clinic to make sure we got the best care possible.

I’ve been spared, but a lot of people don’t have the same fate. We recently lost my cousin Janeen from cancer at 52 years old. I think about that often and why was her fate so different. There are countless others who have either been affected by cancer or know someone who has been.

It’s critical that we continue to support the American Cancer Society and the doctors at Mayo Clinic who continue to come up with cutting-edge treatments to either stop certain types of cancer or allow people to live longer lives with a decent quality of life.

For myself, it was an oral drug called cabozantinib. It was a very powerful and very expensive drug that made me sick numerous times and had other side effects, but it did shrink the tumor on my kidney enough for the doctors to be confident in doing surgery.

My doctor, Bradley Leibovich, was the head of urology at Mayo Clinic at the time. Not only was he a top-rated urologist, but he had also done academic research into all kinds of renal disease.

And one of the things his team told me when we first arrived in Rochester was perhaps as stunning as the diagnosis itself. They told us that based on the CT images we were looking at they estimated the tumor had been there seven to 10 years.

No pain, no pinching, no bulge in the lower back, no blood in the urine; there was absolutely no indication there was a malignant tumor attached to my left kidney.

In Dr. Leibovich’s research, he discovered that certain beta blocker drugs can be responsible for renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer). That made me assume that a blood pressure drug called lisinopril may have been responsible because an Air Force doctor prescribed that drug to me in February 2007, which would have put the timeline at 11 years since the prescription to the tumor discovery.

Dr. Leibovich and I were on the right track, but it wasn’t lisinopril at all that caused the cancer.

After going through test after test after test at the VA, that organization has determined the cancer was a result of being exposed to burn pits in Qatar while I was there in 2007 with the North Dakota National Guard.

That, too, was kind of shocking because at the time, it didn’t appear that the toxic smoke was obvious. It seemed like dust blowing around in the desert because there wasn’t a smell to it, only a haze.

But that was the result as the VA determined it and my doctor was on board because he knew from the beginning there was some kind of trigger that caused the tumor to develop.

The tests are over, the cancer is gone, but it needs to be a reminder that many types of cancer are often found too late. Mine was found during an x-ray for another matter. And because it was caught early and wasn’t aggressive, the urology team at Mayo Clinic had time to formulate a strategy.

That said, it’s important to make sure we pay attention to our bodies and what they are telling us. Often times people will disregard odd pain or unusual sores on the body. After all, we’re 10 feet tall and bulletproof, right?

See a doctor if something isn’t right. It may be nothing, but it should be checked out because if cancer is caught early, a lot can be done to stop it.

And for those who are dealing with cancer, don’t give up hope. Research is ongoing and I believe cumulative. And if you’re not sure, check into Mayo Clinic, they may have the answers.