Welcome to Part 1 of my personal story — my bladder cancer faith journey, and how a phone call just before 7am on January 4th, 2017 changed my life forever.

Before I get into it, I want to tell you something I couldn't have said that morning: I thank God every single day for my cancer journey. Because without it, I'm not sure I would have the close, deep relationship with Jesus that I have today. As hard and as terrifying as it was, cancer gave me the greatest gift of my life.

Because there are so many moving parts — and so many miracles — I'm going to share this story with you in sections. And the best place to start is always the beginning. The diagnosis.

EPISODE NOTES

A WARNING I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN MORE SERIOUSLY

My story actually begins in May 2016 — not January 2017.

Lorrie and I were flying into Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday when, after landing, I noticed blood in my urine. Not a little. A significant and alarming amount. Naturally, that scared me. However, after looking it up, I found an explanation that felt comfortable: dehydration from flying can sometimes cause bleeding. So I accepted that and moved on.

Over the following days, the blood came and went. Meanwhile, the hot Las Vegas weather and too little water gave me more reason to believe the dehydration theory. By the time we got home at the end of the week, it had stopped — so I stopped worrying.

In July, however, it came back. Same situation, shorter duration — and again, it went away on its own. Summer was going great, so I decided to get it checked after the season ended. Then November arrived with more bleeding, and I finally made the appointment.

My doctor suspected kidney stones. The little spikes on them, he thought, could be causing the occasional bleeding. As a result, he ordered a CT scan to check their size and figure out our next steps. Given the holidays, we scheduled it for just after the new year — January 3rd, 2017.

WHERE MY BLADDER CANCER FAITH JOURNEY TRULY BEGAN

On January 3rd, at 6 pm, I walked into the radiology clinic for my CT scan. The radiologist wouldn't tell me anything — results would go to my doctor — but I could tell from his expression that he had seen something.

Sure enough, the next morning, just before 7 am, my phone rang. It was my doctor. And as I've since learned — when your doctor calls before working hours, that is never a good sign.

There was good news and there was bad news. The good news: no kidney stones. The bad news: a tumor the size of an orange inside my bladder, appearing cancerous and needing to come out immediately.

And just like that, my bladder cancer faith journey had officially begun.

DON'T WAIT - PLEASE HEAR THIS

Looking back, I want to say something directly to you: DON'T WAIT.

From May 2016 to January 2017, eight months passed between the first warning sign and my diagnosis. In that time, a tumor grew to the size of an orange inside my bladder. Furthermore, story after story on this podcast confirms the same truth — cancer grows, sometimes quickly, and waiting changes everything.

If something doesn't feel right, trust yourself. Push your doctor. Get it checked now. You know your body better than anyone. Who knows what my situation would have looked like with an earlier scan — maybe a plum instead of an orange, maybe something far easier to treat. I'll never know. But I do know this: earlier is always better.

Please don't wait.

DR. LIN AND THE APPOINTMENT THAT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE

Based on my diagnosis, my doctor referred me to a urologist right away. However, the one Lorrie and I most wanted to see was Dr. Lin at the University of Washington Medical Center — a world-renowned surgeon who had already treated Lorrie's father for prostate cancer with outstanding results.

When I called his office, the first available appointment was mid-May — more than five months away. That wasn't going to work.

So Lorrie went to work like a bulldog. She called everyone who might be able to help, personally drove my records and CT scans to Dr. Lin's office, and did everything she could think of to get me in earlier. Despite all of that effort, nothing was opening up. Meanwhile, we visited another local urologist — and within minutes, we both walked out knowing he wasn't the right doctor.

The decision in front of us was hard: move forward with a surgeon we didn't trust, or wait and hope something changed with Dr. Lin. We chose to pray about it — hard. Because as this bladder cancer faith journey was already showing me, God had a plan far bigger than anything Lorrie or I could engineer on our own.

PRAYERS AT WORK - GOD MOMENT NUMBER ONE

Lorrie's parents attended Lakeside Christian Church in Kirkland, Washington. When her dad shared what we were going through, their prayer team immediately began praying for me — both for my health and for a way to get in to see Dr. Lin before May.

Around the same time, Lorrie and I decided to take a short getaway to Leavenworth — a charming little German-style mountain town about two hours from home. With no clear answers yet and decisions still unmade, getting away to pray and think felt like exactly the right thing to do.

Then the phone calls started.

While we were in Leavenworth, I got a call from a woman on the prayer team letting me know they were all praying for me. She also mentioned she knew a doctor at another hospital who had a connection to UW Medicine in Bellevue — and asked if it would be all right to reach out on my behalf. I said yes without hesitation, and she promised to keep praying.

God moment number one.

On Tuesday, January 17th — driving home from Leavenworth with a surgery already scheduled for the following Monday with a doctor we didn't want — my phone rang again. Unknown number. Something told me to answer.

It was a urologist from UW Medicine in Bellevue. He had received my information through the prayer team connection and could see me in two days. Two days. As Lorrie and I drove home, I just kept saying "WOW." There was no question in my mind — God was in this.

And this bladder cancer faith journey — as hard as it had been — was just beginning to show me how big God truly is.

TO BE CONTINUED

That's where Part 1 ends. But I promise you — you haven't heard anything yet. God has so many more miracles ahead in this story, and I can't wait to share them with you in Part 2.

In this next episode, I share:

• The warning signs I ignored for eight months — and why DON'T WAIT matters
• The moment I heard the words "tumor" and "cancerous" for the first time
• Why Lorrie and I fought so hard to see Dr. Lin at UW Medical Center
• The prayer team at Lakeside Christian Church and what they set in motion
• God Moment Number One — the phone call that changed everything

Whether you are in the middle of your own diagnosis, supporting someone you love, or searching for hope in a very hard moment — I am so glad you are here. No matter what you are facing on your journey with cancer or in life, remember: you are NEVER ALONE. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always with you and ready to help. All you have to do is ask, give it all to Jesus, and let him go to work.

May God bless you — and thank you for listening.

If you would like to share your story with others, please visit our Share Your Story page, fill out the short form, and we will be in touch.