Recounting Kyle’s Journey with Cancer Pt.1

It all started sometime back in July or August. Kyle had been dealing with increasing pain in his hip, leg, and back. It would come and go at that point, noticeable enough to be in a lot of discomfort when it would come on, but then it would pass and we went on with life. He started seeing our chiropractor more regularly around this time thinking the pain was likely from sitting/standing at his desk for work all day.

It was the beginning of September when it became much more intense, and interfered more with life. I remember being on a short camping trip with our family and waking up in the night to find Kyle sitting up in the dark, falling in and out of sleep, in pain. He couldn’t lay down the pain was too great, sitting was the only way for him to get some relief. As soon as he would lay down again, the pain would flare up.

It would then pass just as suddenly as it came on, and would be days between episodes. He also started to see a physiotherapist regularly who thought Kyle was likely experiencing issues with his TFL muscle in his thigh near his IT band, causing the pain in his hip. He did stretches, all the homework exercises, tried different pain medications, muscle relaxants, homeopathies.

A few weeks later, as the pain continued to worsen, he started seeing an osteopath, massage therapist, and a new physiotherapist who all worked together on his case. At some point along the way he could only lay down to sleep on his stomach, with pillows propped up so he could lay in a specific position. By November he was in pain more often than not. Massage seemed to offer some relief, so there were nights he was in too much pain to sleep that I would stay up for hours massaging his hip trying to offer some relief so he could fall asleep.

He began experiencing pain to his groin area that became so severe he went to our local emergency dept. They did an ultrasound of the area, and gave him antibiotics for what they thought was an infection. The pain only continued to get worse. The over the counter pain medication, muscle relaxants, and sore muscle creams were not having any effect anymore and he sought out help from our family doctor.

By the beginning of December Kyle couldn’t get relief from the pain enough to lay down on his stomach anymore, and would sleep for short stretches sitting up on the couch. Most of the night he would pace the house in pain, stand in a hot shower to try to get some relief, sit and sleep for a bit, and then repeat.

Those first two weeks of December he was in and out of the emergency department multiple times in the middle of the night from the pain becoming unbearable. I would have to beg him to go; he was made to feel like they judged him for being there, and continually dismissed his complaints. His left hip and upper thigh began to show signs of swelling around this time, that everyone chalked up to inflammation from the problem with his TFL muscle.

On December 12th, we returned home from small group late in the evening and began getting ready for bed. Kyle came out from the bathroom in his boxers and I gasped at the sight of his left leg. His leg, especially his calf was suddenly extremely swollen and I told him he had to go straight to the emergency room as he likely had a DVT. I again had to pretty well force him out the door.

Thankfully when he arrived at the hospital this time they took his symptoms seriously and began digging further into what was happening inside his body. I remember being unable to sleep that night, feeling a deep need to be in constant prayer. I felt a deep concern for his wellbeing- just this sense that something was very wrong. I completely thought it was the DVT and the potential negative outcomes that can happen as a result that was making me feel that way. In the morning, I reached out to our family and friends with a prayer written out from a book of liturgical prayers.

Only God knew at the time just how much we needed those prayers.