The first line chemo treatment

Family on Sunflower Cancer day during cycle 1

I not only made it through the intensive surgery and recovery in ICU, but was told that my diagnosis changed from terminal kidney cancer to highly treatable testicular cancer. We considered this a miracle and God’s hand of provision for us. Never before had someone been so elated about the option of having chemo. Kidney cancer is not responsive to chemo so would not have been an option but 90% of testicular cancer is resolved after the first phase of chemo called BEP (stands for the three drugs used – Bleomycin, Etoposide, and Cisplatin). My chemo was a 9 week treatment of 1 intensive 5 day week followed by 2 “lighter” weeks of one day each and then back to the 5 day week. During this time I had Neutroponic fever which is when your white blood cells are so depleted that they can’t fight any of the “regular” germs that lurk around us daily. I was admitted to hospital for a week of isolation and heavy antibiotics. That too passed and after the 10 weeks of chemo and a post-operative complication of an infected cyst which could have killed me, I was scanned and declared clear of cancer. Praise the Lord! I had other problems to contend with like DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) which meant I had to take rat poison called Warfarin to thin my blood. But that was a small price to pay for the joy of being clear of cancer. I was on the road to recovery and spent Christmas with my whole family – something that seemed like a distant reality when it all started in Jul.

Neena with me in the isolation ward

The Lord opened many doors to testify of his goodness to me at work, church and further afield. My testimony for the Eastside community church family camp was especially meaningful as the theme of the camp was “The most loving place in town”. We had experienced that significant love from the church with prayers, visits, meals and care for Sam and the kids. Link to the audio broadcast is available at:  http://www.eastside.org.za/?page=johnbasson

How it all started

I had struggled with back pain for about 5 months from Mar 2011. Between wrong posture when sitting at work, the geometry of my boss’ bike which I borrowed to train for the Sani2C (my frame had cracked), physio sessions, pain pills, anti-inflammatory medication, blood tests, urine tests and a back x-ray, we were still none the wiser. I completed the Sani2C, a three day mountain biking stage race in May with my brother-in-law, Ockert having to haul me up some of the hills. I even did the Knysna classic MTB race in June although I had downgraded to the “woesy” 50km due to the intense pain.

When I returned from our Natures valley holiday, with Sam’s family, chaos broke loose… On 19 Jul 2011 I was diagnosed with an aggressive malignant tumour – kidney cancer! What a shock. I had a week to wrap up life, work and say my good byes. The team of specialists were miraculously assembled within a few days and they could operate on 23 Jul. People from around the world stood next to us, held our hands and prayed, fasted and called on God to intercede for us. The 7.5hr surgery, to remove my right kidney that had been consumed with cancer and significant additional cancer that had grown into my back muscle (hence the back pain – because we have 2 kidneys the other one was taking up all the slack so it never posed a problem), around the aorta and inferior venae cava, was declared successful. Praise the Lord! Dr Lance Coetzee removed a renal mass the size of a small rugby ball – what lengths one would go to, to shave off a few more kgs…

Sam and I in ICU – pipes in more places than you would like to know

The wound all stapled together with the drain pipe

Introduction: David and his Goliath – Fighting Testicular Cancer

The battle is not mine – it is the Lord’s!

It has been a year now of a daily battle against Testicular Cancer. Like a Goliath standing before me taunting me that all that lies ahead of me is death. But the Lord my God has faithfully carried me through all the dark valleys and has provided sufficient grace and mercy to make it through every day. Yes we trust in God to help me overcome this Goliath that is still consuming my life. The first thoughts that came to me when I was diagnosed were – “May God be glorified through this”. That is my purpose in life – that God be glorified through all I do and somehow his glory shines brighter as we pass through the refining fires of life. The other thought was that I might never see my children grow old and achieve their many milestones of growing up. I might not grow old next to my dear wife and hold her hand on the beach as we watch the grandchildren play in the waves. It broke my heart and was the source for many tears…. Yes we trust in God but some days the realities of life were so hard to deal with.