As I left off in the last blog, I described the day of my first IV infusion of Keytruda. After surgery for my right thumb malignant melanoma with sentinel node dissection, I would need a full year of these infusions to reduce the risk of recurrence. After the first infusion, I developed flu-like symptoms including fatigue, brain fog, muscle aches, and bone aches. My right arm continued to remain very tight and painful, and my thumb was continuing to heal. Over the next few weeks, I would have time to rest and to recover physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I would have time to reflect on my life prior to my diagnosis of cancer and to redirect my life with more balance. When I reflected on my life schedule prior to my diagnosis, it was absolutely mind boggling to me. I thought it was just a normal routine for a surgeon, but I was caught up in the busyness of life and neglecting my wellness.

Personal Life

Prior to the Covid pandemic, my days consisted of early to rise at 5 am for a workout, get dressed, eat breakfast, and out the door as early as 6:15 am when I had 7 am operating room starts. I typically would have a 45 minute – 1 hour commute home, and often would review imaging studies and finish notes in the evening. I was on call frequently on Monday nights and every few weekends, some busier than others. Wednesdays were always a long day in the operating room and then a rush across town to make supper at church around 5:30 – 5:45 pm followed by choir practice.

Other weeknights, Kellee and I often met at Nashville Predator hockey games, something we enjoyed together, but there were a lot of games, and it made for long clinic days the next day. We also attended every single Tennessee Titan home NFL game. After attending Brook Hollow Baptist Church, we would hustle down to Nissan Stadium on Titans home game days. On Sunday nights, Kels and I started hosting a young adult ministry in our homes, called “The Back Porch.”  We hosted these young adults for a fantastic meal, courtesy of Kels, and then we would worship together both in song and with a video series and discussion moderated by me. We remain very close to most of this group, many of whom have graduated from college, started families, and are doing great in their careers. In addition, I had a lot of hobbies (horseback riding, fishing, target shooting). I helped my Dad and Mom run a working farm, with several horses and lots of donkeys.  I spent most Friday afternoons working at the farm mucking stalls and grooming/caring for the horses. I have been riding horses for over 50 years, and it has always been a passion (so I have enclosed several farm pictures!) So, everyday life was crazy busy, not counting all the time Kels and I spent with our extended families on both sides. We both have big families and would gather frequently for birthdays and holidays. And that was just our personal life!

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Life as a Surgeon

Professionally, I had a passion for performing sinus surgery in the office, and over a 10-year period, along my practice partner and close friend of 33 years, Dr. Scott Fortune, helped to develop techniques and anesthesia protocols to allow us to perform many procedures in the office that would have typically been performed in the OR in the past. I began working with a company called Entellus, which was later bought out by Stryker. Our office became a designated Center for Excellence by Entellus and later by Stryker. Along with Dr. Fortune, I became a Physician Trainer for Entellus and later Stryker. We both began to lecture and teach all around the country. Both Dr. Fortune and I hosted physicians on Fridays to watch us operate in the office and learn our protocols. This grew into a situation that was at least 3 Fridays a month. Often, we would entertain the physicians and company representatives on Thursday nights before the cases on Friday, taking an evening away from spending time with Kellee. I was nominated to be on the election ballot to be on a Board of Director At Large for of the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery. I gave several national presentations at the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery. I had served as Chief of Surgery at Summit Medical Center for 5 years and was later asked to be on the Board of Trustees, where I served for 6 years, 3 of which were serving as Chairman. I also served as a Clinical Instructor for Trevecca Nazarene University PA program, hosting students for 6-week rotations with me. I continued to serve on the Deacons Committee at church, with 2 stints as Chairman (the last one being during the Covid pandemic). Finally, I served for over 2 decades as President of Allergy & ENT Associates of Middle Tennessee, our company that had 40-50 employees. I somehow found time to do consulting work, including peer review work and expert witness work for malpractice cases.

So, the busyness of life had slowly crept into my life, taking away sincere and daily lengthy meaningful time in prayer and in the Word. One would think that having multiple hand surgeries for trigger fingers in 5 years would alert me that I was going too hard and needed to slow down. But it took losing a part of my finger to slow me down! Brook Hollow Baptist Church Pastor Tom Gholson was preaching a series of sermons from James and read the following scripture. James 4:13-16 says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ “  

My medical diagnosis forced me to take a deep breath, slow down, listen for those providential moments I have described previously, and redirect how I spend my time. Life is just a mist! What are we doing? Are we focusing on heavenly things? Despite the medical treatment and the inability to work…I began to experience a lot of joy in my life…