“WHAT’S WRONG?” my mom asked very concerned because it was unusual for my dad to be hurt.
“There’s a sharp pain right here” he answered pointing towards the lower right part of his body.
At first he thought it was just another one of those terrible stomachaches, but after a couple of hours the pain had not yet relieved. The pain was more serious than we thought, and it had been long enough to finally say it was time to go to the emergency room.
A nurse came to assist my dad. She began touching different areas on and around the source of pain. She came to his right kidney and he said it hurt a little. As a nurse she immediately kept note of that, but at the end it turned out to be his appendix. My dad had appendicitis, which is a serious medical condition in which the appendix becomes inflamed and painful. After hearing about this I did a little background research and found out that if the appendix had ruptured it could possibly get as severe as leading to death. Whew, thank goodness he found out fast!
It had been a couple of days after his appendix was successfully removed and it was time for a check up. The doctor said that he looked good and healthy and should have a speedy recovery. However, the nurse who checked him in the emergency room still questioned the little pain he had in his kidney area and had him go get it checked out. So they scheduled him for an x-ray on his right kidney.
The results came in and another appointment was made to review the results. Both my mom and dad went and they had no idea what to expect. It was time to go in to the patient’s room and hear the news. My parents could feel themselves becoming more and more nervous by the second. The doctor took out the x-rays and gently said, “Mr. Au you have a tumor in your right kidney”.
“I..I..I have KIDNEY CANCER?” stuttered my dad with his jaw slightly dropped.
“Well no, just a tumor, it has not turned into cancer yet. The tumor seems to only be in its first stage and has not yet left its rock shape. You will need to have surgery for your whole kidney to be removed because the tumor is located right in the center of the kidney. Unfortunately we cannot do the surgery right away because you are still recovering from your recent operation. We will have to wait till you are about 80% into your recovery. But for now, we can only hope that the tumor will stay in this solid form until the day of the surgery,” replied the doctor optimistically.
On that day my dad’s world turned upside down knowing that his life was on the line. He has a wife and three daughters to support and he could only wonder how he is going to be able to support them with possibly only one functioning kidney?
During those couple of weeks of waiting before he would be allowed to remove his kidney everyone had a hopeful heart. We prayed for him day and night, praying that God would take care of his health and bless him with his life. Even though my dad and family were put in this tough situation we always remembered to thank God everyday. If it weren’t for the miracle He had sent down we would’ve never known my dad had a tumor.
It was the day of the big surgery and we all calmed our hearts down, praying earnestly for his health after the loss of a kidney. Fortunately, the tumor had still not left its solid form, but it was still in the middle of the kidney. The surgeon was very hesitant about having to remove an entire kidney because with only one functioning kidney, life is not easy. With one kidney he will be limited to his daily routines. He can only do office work, and work only limited hours due to the need of lots of rest. His system will become weaker and if he is ever sick the type of medications he is allowed to take is very limited because his body will not be able to handle the very strong ones.
BUT, right before his four-hour surgery, by the grace of God, He had sent down another miracle. The tumor had somehow shifted to the side of the kidney. With relief in the surgeon’s heart, he only had to cut off a small portion of the kidney to remove the tumor, and my dad would be able to function with his two rightful kidneys. All our prayers had been answered, and my family and everyone who had prayed and concerned for my dad were overjoyed with tears of happiness.
My dad was blessed with these wondrous miracles to show people the amazing grace and unconditional love of God. It has now been about four years since the surgery and he is a healthy father, husband, employee, and faithful servant of God.
