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I AIN'T KIDNEYING AROUND: A CANCER STORY

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Originally published on December 14, 2017 on The Elephant Journal: I ain’t Kidneying Around: A Cancer Story. Meet Kiki. She’s my left kidney. On September 11th, 2017, Kiki made her exit from my body. I sent her on an all-expenses-paid lifetime vacation to anywhere but inside me. It wasn’t her fault, but she had to go. She functioned perfectly. She was a super trooper, doing her filtering job with nary a complaint. I appreciate all she did and I told her so. “Thank you, Kiki. You’ve been an exemplary kidney. I love you.” Kiki’s problem was she had a little beast stuck on her. It was called “non-invasive papillary urothelial carcinoma.” That’s short for  cancer. If cancer hasn’t touched you or someone you know and love, you are not breathing. If you  have  lived challenge-free in your life, I applaud you for being from another planet. We all have stuff, we all face mountains, right? No one gets off scott-free in the getting-the-sh*t-kicked-out-of-you department. I hav