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Some bad news...

Well, this kinda sucks.

About two weeks ago I felt some pain in my lower abdomen and groin so I went to the doctor. He scheduled some tests which I got done the next Friday.

Last Tuesday, the results came in and he said I might have a TUMOR in that area. (WHAT??!)
He said I would have to delay/cancel my exchange depending on how serious it was. He ordered more tests to help find this out.

It's the worst possible timing, about two weeks before my planned departure and I find out the most random and terrible news! Plus, I got it the DAY AFTER I went to my Rotary Club to give a speech about how excited and proud I was to be going to Thailand and how eager I was to go. :(
I contacted my Rotary district about this and they're going to try to help me as much as they can so that I can still go to Thailand. That's good news...

I went to a specialist last Friday and he ordered some more in depth tests. Some blood work, a surgery that he'll be performing, and a CT scan. This will go a couple weeks past my original departure date so that means I have to delay my trip for sure :(

The surgery is essentially removing what they think is the tumor to determine if it actually is a tumor. If it is a tumor, they'll determine whether it is benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). I've thought of the scenarios that each could provide and I've come up with 3 scenarios that would put me at leaving for Thailand within weeks.

Best case scenario: It's not a tumor, it's something much more manageable/easier to work with
Number 2 scenario:It is a tumor but it's benign
Number 3 scenario:It is a tumor and cancerous - but contained

Any of those scenarios presents me with the opportunity to leave for Thailand very soon. Hopefully it's not a different scenario...that would suck and I would have no idea my potential for still going to Thailand.

At this point, I really hope it's the best case scenario and that I'll be posting from Thailand very soon. :)

For now, I'll keep this updated. I'm going in for surgery next Wednesday and that will be the first step into determining my situation.

Posted by Jared Stryker at 1:15 PM Labels: bad, exchange, predeparture, problem, Thailand, tumor Michael Bertling said...

I wish you all the best and hope everything turns out for the better... and you still get to go to Thailand...

July 24, 2008 at 4:52 PM 
I´m so sorry.
I hope everything works out alright for you.
I can´t believe this...
What an awful way for it to happen, too... This is really horrible, it´s not fair at all.
I hope you start feeling better soon! ):

July 25, 2008 at 6:53 PM Kristina's family said...

We wish you all the best and hope everything turns out for the better and you still get to go to Thailand. However it is better that you did fined out now before you left for Thailand, and to deal with it surround with your family, friends, doctors and the language that you understand. We wish you fast recovery and to read your blog with updates from Thailand!
Kristina's Mom & Dad

July 27, 2008 at 3:46 PM