Survival and an Unexpected Life

By Robert Smith?

In his debut book and memoir, Robert goes through his harrowing tale of surviving a life-threatening illness while also dealing with the loss of loved ones. Robert has successfully beat cancer, and in many ways that were the least of his accomplishments. It seems difficult times and challenges come at us in immense waves, and Robert’s story is no exception. Throughout the book, he details his journey and the choices he made to leave his comfort zone and press onwards.

His book takes us on an incredible and true journey of dealing with cancer and heartbreak in his forties, where he is diagnosed on his 40th birthday. This set him off on a journey working and living in Papua New Guinea, Mali West Africa, Egypt and the Philippines, which would forever uproot and change his life. In many ways, for the better. While obstacles thrown at us in life can be stressful and overwhelming, they can also define our choices for the better. The most inspiring stories are ones that are true, and Robert’s tale is nothing short of unique and incredible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Smith?
• Release date: Sep 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463643105

Book preview

Survival And

An Unexpected Life

A true story of finding the strength to face life’s challenges

Robert H. Smith

Copyright

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying or recording or otherwise without the prior written notice of Robert Hugh Smith, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my beautiful daughter Princess Patricia who is only six years old at the time of this publication, but every day brings joy and happiness into my life. I love you so much.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Cancer and Heart Break at age 40

Chapter 2

Life after my first cancer

Chapter 3

Leaving my comfort zone and the beginning of a new life

Chapter 4

Meeting my future wife Jerli in the Philippines and helping her family

Chapter 5

Living a simple life in the Philippines

Chapter 6

Working in Egypt

Chapter 7

Getting married in the Philippines and my wife becomes a politician

Chapter 8

Disaster approaches Tacloban Philippines

Chapter 9

Life after Typhoon Yolanda and news I will be a father again

Chapter 10

My second cancer strikes suddenly

Chapter 11

Life after my second cancer and a wife's betrayal

Chapter 12

Down and out but not for long

Chapter 13

Final thoughts and lifestyle changes

Chapter 1

Cancer and Heart Break at age 40

Coming into 1994, I felt very healthy and had no sick day off work in three years. I was married, had a son who was then seven years old and a step-daughter aged nine. I was working as a shift maintenance supervisor at a food processing plant just outside of Bathurst. Bathurst is a regional city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and approximately 200 km west of Sydney.

We had just built a new home in Raglan, an outer suburb of Bathurst. The house was 160 square meters and well finished. The land size was 2000 square meters, so there was plenty of room for the children to play. The mortgage payments were high but manageable as I was earning a good wage.

A feeling came over me that something was wrong. I was feeling tired, and when I checked my weight, I had lost five kilograms, although my diet and exercise levels were the same. A pain had developed in the left side of my lower stomach, which would change from dull to sharp. Urinating became a problem. It felt like I was not fully emptying my bladder, which was uncomfortable and frustrating.

I made an appointment to see my local doctor. The doctor is one of the better General Practitioners in Bathurst. He was a good doctor, but I would describe him as clinical and not friendly. The doctor suspected kidney stones and ordered blood and urine tests. The doctor did not mark my medical tests a high priority, so we will not know the results until Monday.

This Monday was my birthday, and I had taken the day off work and planned a quiet celebration of having a few beers and a nice dinner at home with my family. I intended to call my doctor later in the day to see what the blood and urine tests indicated. Unexpectedly the doctor called me around 11 am, which appeared out of the ordinary. He mentioned a trace of blood in the urine, and there was a possibility of kidney stones. He then said, You need to have an x-ray and ultrasound. The doctor had already made a booking for 2 pm at the Bathurst Radiology Clinic.

The doctor did not give a reason for the urgency of the x-ray and ultrasound, but I felt there was a slight panic in his voice. I thought there might be a substantial amount of blood in my urine, and he wanted to confirm the reason. Still, I did not suspect there was anything too serious. If I had kidney stones, I was aware surgery may or may not be required.

This day stayed vivid in my memory, and it had nothing to do with my birthday. I attended the Bathurst Radiology Clinic at 2 pm. I intend to get the tests over and done with and go home to celebrate my 40th birthday. My thoughts, they will confirm that I have kidney stones. If I needed surgery, it would be an inconvenience. Still, I had adequate sick leave, which meant there would be no significant financial hardship.

First, I had an x-ray of the chest and abdomen and an ultrasound examination of the lower stomach. The technician requested I wait in a cubicle while they were examining the results. Approximately 15 minutes later, the Chief Radiologist at the clinic approached me and said: Robert, we need to perform a CT scan. My reply was, Hell, it is only a kidney stone. What the doctor said next would stay in my mind forever, Robert, yes, you have a kidney stone, but we have picked up a tumour on your left kidney. At that moment, I felt stunned, scared and can remember shaking. Doctor then said: We have detected the tumour early, and it is curable. This statement was slightly uplifting, but I was now in a world of fear and uncertainty.

It was my 40th birthday and turned out not to be the best day of my life. I returned home and had a good evening, and kept a brave face. My wife was only aware at the time that I had kidney stones. Fear was increasing because the word tumour meant only one thing to me, and that was cancer.

A visit was made the following day to discuss the results with my doctor. There were many questions, but my doctor was evasive. He said, You need to discuss the results with the specialist. I repeated my questions, and he replied with a different but similar answer, Talk to the specialist. I sensed this slight aggression in his voice, and I was not happy about it, but I stayed quiet. I had a kidney stone, in pain and facing the possibility of cancer. His manner and choice of words needed some improvement.

My doctor had made an appointment to see a specialist Urologist the following week. I returned to work after the doctor's consultation, but I still had this pain on and off due to the kidney stone. The next day at work, the pain in my left side was getting worse. Early that morning, I went to the work bathroom to empty my bladder. It appeared like I was passing pure blood in my urine, and it was a scary moment. I talked to my work manager and said: I may need to go to the doctor on short notice due to kidney stones. The manager replied, Are you ok? I said, Yes, I am ok. I believe at this moment; my manager could see the fear in my face.

After talking to my manager, I called my local doctor immediately. I explained my urine appeared like I was passing pure blood. The doctor said, I will try to get an early appointment with the specialist. I was contacted approximately an hour later and was informed an emergency appointment had been made for 5 pm that afternoon in the specialist rooms across the road from Orange Base Hospital. Orange is another major city in central NSW, a distance of 50 kilometers from Bathurst. We had time to pick the children up from school, and we travelled as a family to Orange.

I was not sure what to expect from this first consultation with the Urologist. This doctor was in his mid-50s and had this stern look about him, but I felt comfortable and surprisingly relaxed.  First, he looked at the CT scan and then other test results. My first question was concerning the tumour on the left kidney. I asked if he thought it was cancer. His reply: It may just be a benign cyst. I am not sure why he said this, but maybe to make me feel more at ease. I can remember the look in the specialist eyes that he thought it was more than a benign growth. His body language was sending a different message. My feelings at that moment were to prepare for the worst outcome.

Kidney Stone