Fern Wiersum

Welcome to our CaringBridge site. We've created it to keep friends and family updated. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement during this time when it matters most.On April 8th I began experiencing severe pain on my right side and back, which I thought was a Kidney Stone.  I went to Urgent Care to be evaluated. I was given medicine for pain management and they ordered a CT scan to locate the source of the pain.  The CT scan revealed a small stone in the left Kidney - which was not where the pain was.  It also revealed a mass in the Bladder.  I was given the choice of going home with oral pain medications or be admitted to the hospital.  I called my son Kevin who is a Physicians Assistant, and the decision was to be admitted to the hospital for further tests, and better pain management.  The morning of April 9th I had a Cytoscopy and was told there is a mass in the bladder with "funky looking cells". I was given the choice to have a biopsy and resection Sunday April 10 or have it done later in the week.  I decided to stay and have the biopsy done on Sunday morning. The report from the Urologist after the surgery was not what we wanted to hear. The mass is blocking the opening of the right Ureter into the Bladder.  There was a small pin size hole at the opening of the ureter into the bladder. The hope was that this would allow the right Kidney to drain enough to prevent further pain.  I was discharged from the hospital on April 11 with oral pain medication.  Unfortunately on April 12 the severe pain returned and I was readmitted to the hospital to undergo a Nephrostomy, which was done on April 13.  Immediately after the Nephrostomy was completed the pain subsided.  That same evening the Urologist came to tell us that the biopsy had revealed a specific cancer called Plasmacytoid Urothelial Cell Carcinoma. The Urologist and Pathologist both had never seen it before. Also known as "PUC" cancer of the bladder.  There are only 60-70 reported cases of this type of bladder cancer in the English speaking world.My daily devotional "Jesus Calling" for April 10 started with these words: "Trust Me in every detail of your life.  Nothing is random in My kingdom. Everything that happens fits into a pattern for good, to those who love Me."