Help Jon Ann With Her Medical Needs

My story with kidney cancer begins April 4, 2023. I realize my story is very lengthy, but I shared every conceivable detail in the hope that I may help someone else. I started with frank red blood in my urine times 3 days. Went to the emergency room April 5, 2023, where they performed a CT scan of the abdomen and it was normal, except for a small cyst on my kidney. I was discharged from the emergency room and told to schedule an appointment with my urologist the following day. The bleeding stopped. I was scheduled for a cystoscopy on May 3, 2023. The cystoscopy was normal no abnormalities seen in my bladder. From that time on maybe one to two times a month I would have pink colored urine.

About the end of August 2023, I started having severe constipation and at that time started seeing a digestive disease doctor. They tried everything to help with the constipation, but nothing helped. In the meantime, I started having severe pressure on urination but no signs and symptoms of a UTI.

On October 18, 2023, I had a barium enema which was negative for any abnormalities. My digestive disease doctor told me it may be scar tissue or adhesions that was causing the pain in my lower abdomen from previous surgeries.

On October 23, 2023, I was seen by my family doctor who did a thorough exam and came up with the same diagnosis as the digestive disease doctor.

On October 24, 2023, I scheduled an appointment to see my gynecologist to be evaluated. He noted no abnormalities no masses or anything that he could palpate.

On October 26, 2023, I scheduled an appointment to see my urologist and was seen by the PA who ordered a urine for cytology every 2 weeks times 3. It was the previous Friday October 20th that I gave a urine sample which turned out to be the color brown.

On October 27, 2023, the pain became so severe that I went to the emergency room to be evaluated. A cat scan was performed of the abdomen, and it was discovered that my right ureter was blocked, and urine was backing up into my right kidney.

Several months prior to all of this I had been planning to go on a mission’s trip to Costa Rica and was leaving on Wednesday November 1, 2023. On Saturday morning October 28, 2023, I called the urologist on call to speak with him about the results of the findings from the cat scan. I also told him that I was planning on going on a mission’s trip and he advised against traveling outside of the United States due to my circumstances with the results of the cat scan. At the time that we talked he had no access to a computer and said that he would call me back. He called me back an hour later and told me that I needed to be scheduled for surgery and that he would be sending a message to the office for someone to call me on Monday so that I could be scheduled for surgery that week.

The surgery was scheduled for November 2, 2023. At that time a stent was placed up through my ureter into my kidney to relieve the pressure that was caused by the urine backing up into my kidney. A brush biopsy of the material in the ureter was sent for testing.

On November 13, 2023, had an appointment with the urologist via video and he confirmed that the biopsy came back positive for cancer in my right ureter. He ordered an MRI of the pelvis and abdomen plus a cat scan of the chest. The cat scan of the chest was performed Saturday November 18, 2023, and was normal.

I started feeling sick in the stomach for no known reason. On December 5, 2023, I started having severe abdominal pain with abdominal distension. I called 911 and went to the emergency room. They did a cat scan and discovered that I had fluid in my abdomen. They inserted an NG tube and over the course of a few hours it drained almost 1000 cc's of bile colored drainage. They did an endoscopy and it showed that I had inflammation in my stomach. They took a sample for a biopsy which came back normal. Put me on a clear liquid diet the following day and discharged me on Thursday December 7, 2023. The following week I had a conversation with my digestive disease doctor at which time he told me I should have been evaluated for an obstruction.

December 11, 2023, I had an office appointment with my urologist at which time he told me I had cancer in my right kidney, and it needed to be removed. The next day I spoke with the surgical consultant, and I was scheduled for surgery January 12, 2024.

December 12, 2023, I started with severe abdominal pain and abdominal distension again and went back to the emergency room. The cat scan was performed with the same findings as before. A Physicians Assistant from digestive disease came in and told me I needed to have another endoscopy but this time they had to look further down to see if there was an obstruction. An endoscopy was performed, and they discovered that there was an obstruction, a bowel obstruction. They inserted the NG tube again and obtained 1000 cc's of bile content. During my stay they performed a small bowl series with barium and the barium flowed through my small bowel showing no obstruction. So, they removed the NG tube started me on clear liquids and started to progress my diet gradually to see how I would do. It was 3 days into the diet change that my abdomen became distended again and the NG tube had to be inserted again. In talking with the doctors during this stay at the hospital I was told that they may need to transfer me to Hershey Medical Center because they weren't sure what was going on with me. It got to the point where I became very dissatisfied with my treatment and spoke with the Patient Advocate. Then they had a meeting after they inserted the NG for the 4th time. They finally decided that whatever was going on with me they could not treat and so I was transferred to Hershey Medical Center. I was at Penn State St. Josephs for a total of 2 weeks.

Tuesday December 26, 2023, I was transferred to Hershey Medical Center and arrived there around 11:30 PM. Wednesday December 27, 2023, I met with the Oncology Surgical team and it was explained to me that I needed to have an exploratory laparoscopy.

On Thursday December 28, 2023, around 9:30 I went for surgery, at that time they discovered that I had a small bowel obstruction which was caused by my omentum, a fatty tissue that covers our gastrointestinal tract. They had to cut about a foot of my small bowel and reconnect it to my stomach (bowel resection). They took a biopsy of the omentum and it came back positive for cancer. But the marker did not show where it was coming from.

January 1, 2024, NG tube removed. Started on clear liquids that evening and diet progressed gradually until I was on a low residue diet. During my hospital stay I had numerous IV sticks because I was a hard stick, and it was difficult for the lab to get the lab work. My potassium and magnesium were way below normal so 5 days in a row I had numerous bags of potassium and magnesium. Because I wasn't eating prior to them taking the NG tube out I had to start on PPE which is nutritional supplementation through the vein. I was running out of IV sites, and they always had to call the IV team to place an IV but there was no more need for me to get another IV, but they felt like I needed one just in case there was an emergency. Several times I had showed my left arm to the nurses, because the veins were raised and distended, and I kept asking when this is going to resolve. They were telling me to put hot packs on it but that wasn't helping. So that evening the IV team came to put an IV in my arm and I asked her to check my arm. Well to her amazement she said that this needed to be addressed and so she contacted the doctor immediately and they ordered a Doppler study of both arms because I did have a problem with my other arm also but not as bad.

I was to be discharged on Friday January 5, 2024. The same day the Doppler was performed. They discovered that I had two blood clots in my left arm. The Dr. came to give me 2 options. To start on Lovenox a self-injectable blood thinner which would cost $500/month or stay in the hospital another 3 days to start on Lovenox and at discharge take the injection for 12 days with coumadin until they get the desired level for the Coumadin. I had to do option 2 due to the extreme cost of the Lovenox. I could not be discharged I had to be started on a blood thinner prior to leaving to create the bridge to determine how many milligrams of Coumadin I needed to take after being discharged. I cried. They finally got to the point where I could be discharged Tuesday January 9, 2024. I had been a patient in the hospital a month and a day. I was in the hospital over Christmas and New Year's.

The surgery that was scheduled to remove my right kidney January 12, 2024, has been cancelled. I was told that I will need to start chemotherapy before the kidney can be removed.

Besides the chemotherapy I am being led to try alternate therapies also. Many have taken both routes with success. Besides some medical expenses alternative therapies are not covered by insurance and can be very expensive.

The Lord has blessed me with the gift of faith, hope, and trust in him and his ability to heal me. He does what his Word says. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I believe the Word of God is true medicine to my body and soul. I know we all have an appointed time to depart to be with Jesus, but I also believe that he still heals and performs miracles today. I believe that the Lord is providing natural therapies for my good and for my healing.

I truly am trusting in the Lord for my healing and trusting in the scriptures that he continues to impress upon me such as, Psalms 118:17 and many others. The Lord continues to lead me every step of the way. I believe that the Lord wants me to have quality of life.

For my family and friends who have been faithfully praying for me from the beginning of my journey I'm so grateful for you. I love you! I cherish each person's prayers, encouragement and support going forward.

I have served and help care for people and now I need your help. I look forward to helping and giving back to the community through my experience and all that I've learned from it. Please prayerfully consider donating. If you are unable to help, would you consider sharing my link with others? Thank you and God bless you.

Love,

Jon Ann

James 1:27, I Timothy 5:3, Is. 41:10, Ps. 91:4, Ps. 34