Born here, but not destined to die here.
Mount Sinai Hospital: My birthplace, my first job at 16, a doctor at 33, and most recently, a patient. Only this time I was discharged without one of my kidneys. That wasn’t the plan.
Months ago an MRI was offered for 5 years of back pain. I sat on the referral; my training suggested such testing was overkill. But something inside me spoke louder. So 2 weeks ago, I got it done: My spine was fine, but it found an incidental mass on my right kidney.
Within days and after my insurance approved more advanced full-body imaging, I was scheduled for a robot-assisted partial nephrectomy with renowned urologist and surgeon Dr. Michael Palese. Walking into the operating room with my friend Sabrina sending me off, I felt grateful for having lived a full life ten times over and having built a worldwide community of friends. Yet, I reminded myself “don’t worry, it’s just part of your kidney.”
It was not just part of my kidney.
Due to the mass’s unexpected size Dr. Palese and his team (as well as a second urologist he pulled in for a second opinion) decided mid-surgery to call my wife Mel and inform her they were going to take out the entire organ. When waking and receiving the news, I felt an inexplicable loss, as if I had a breakup when I thought we’d just had a fight. Still waiting on the report, we don’t know what this was, what caused it, or if it’ll be chalked up to the randomness of the universe. There’s still so much we won’t know about own bodies.
I was discharged within 15 hours of this minimally invasive and yet major surgery to mourn and reflect. As much as I feel a physical pain, a harder part of my recovery is shifting towards gratitude that we caught this early. Although I’m unlucky that these masses are rare at my age, the hardest part has been the perpetual awareness of the inequities where so many others aren’t as fortunate. From insurance approvals to specialist availability and surgical decisions, every step underscored a potential fragility and unpredictability. Yet through it all, I’ve witnessed moments of profound resilience.
8 Days Later:
“I don’t know what possessed you to get that MRI 3 weeks ago, but you just saved your own life.” — Dr. Michael Palese, my surgeon
Saved. Saved myself from the report indicating a Stage pT1a 3.5cm TFE3-rearranged renal cell carcinoma, aka kidney cancer that was caught and taken out at its earliest stage.
Although TFE3 suggests a rare type linked to aggressive potential, the immediate action of taking out my whole kidney (which is like burning the forest around a potentially devastating fire to contain it once and for all before it spreads) within days of the MRIs and in the mass’s earliest stages (pT1a), means we got all of it out in time to maximize an excellent prognosis and an otherwise normal and healthy life. Some could argue I can live on as if I never had a kidney removed at all (here’s to hoping and not jinxing anything). The report also confirmed zero spread into any surrounding blood vessels, fat, lymph nodes, or tissue.
But given its rarity, we still won’t know what caused it, what lifestyle habits it’s linked to (no kidney cancer in my family), and whether it’ll return. Still so much we still don’t know about our own bodies. All this within a whirlwind 3 weeks.
This means continued surveillance with regular MRIs, and more reason to commit to regular full nights of sleep and healthier habits. I can also now more fully trust my intuition and how something(s) are always watching over me. And live now while you can; I’m grateful I already did so many times over and already was slowing down before even this. Now it’s time to recover fully, let my cup fill, and then get back to work on making this world a better place with more intention. I’ve been saved from the brink for a reason, so let’s invest in that purpose, whatever it may be. Something, or someone out there wants me around for a little longer. I now have to find out why.
And my 5 years of back pain is gone.
Gratitude extends to Dr. Michael A. Palese of Mount Sinai Urology, Lenox Hill Radiology, Prenuvo, Liz Eswein, Dr. Dan Cavallo of CityMD, Sabrina Poon, Mel Jeng, Sharon Li, Amelia Shillingford, Linus Sun, Mihaela Kracun, Paul Woo and so many others for being the village that saved my life within a span of 3 weeks
A renewed lease on life carries purpose. As a doctor at the doorstep of life and death, I see the challenges patients face. And now as a patient at the very same doorstep of my own mortality, may I use my privilege and training to commit further and advocate for a difference in any way I can, right now.
I also don’t flake. This is me 7 days after surgery:
A few hours after receiving my pathology report for the mass, I was then determined to follow through on my longtime planned trip to The Dolomites. I never flake.
Now how does one prepare for a trip to a place as talked about and expansive as The Dolomites? It can feel overwhelming to even begin preparing as you’ve seen so many photos of it and yet so little written about a straightforward approach; the area is so vast you can go hiking, walk around Cortina d’Ampezzo, eat your way through towns and forests on a rental car, camp out on the peaks, or all of the above and still feel you didn’t quite appreciate the majesty of the place. It’s such a large region and is unique as well for being the site of numerous fronts of World War I between Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies. Therefore one may notice confluence of German and Italian influences that remain embedded within the local culture here today.
Because of my surgery 8 days earlier, Mel insisted on joining me the entire time on my flight out (I’m not allowed to carry anything more than 15lbs for 6 weeks after surgery). So I moved things around to use miles for the same JFK-VIE flight I began with on my last trip to Libya, where we could catch up with Daniela again as if it were my biannual Vienna tradition, and head onwards from Vienna to Venice.
Departure day was hectic: I woke up at 8am, recorded a session with my travel reels editor Oliwer at 8:30am, and then took a 9:30am train up to Harlem to follow through on an originally scheduled coffee date with Fatima and Doreen. At 11am I briefly excused myself to update Dr. Palese over a telehealth zoom call while both of us wondering when the pathology report would come back. At noon Fatima and Doreen said our goodbyes and I came back down to my place just in time to pick up free luggage at the local La Colombe café from someone Mel found on BuyNothing named Alexander (who happens to know my brother Linus and sister-in-law Sofia from tango). I then caught up with old friends like Eric Pan (on his own birthday!) at my apartment, then get to know a new friend named Jessica (who also happened to know Eric but had just missed him) who had wanted to meet before I left, and then even older friends like Paul Woo came by to say hi just in time to be there when I received the pathology report by 5pm.
As Mel returned home at 6pm to help me finish packing, I was still speaking again with my surgeon over the phone, had called Linus, Amelia, Sharon (my oncologist friend) about the results, and spoke with Paul again for his impeccable timing of arriving for these kinds of news, before Mel and I took a cab to the airport at 7pm to make it to our 9:45pm flight to Vienna. Not even having time to still fully digest the news, Mel and I boarded our flight luckily still with plenty of time to spare thanks to VIPOne Lounge access at JFK Terminal 1 and Austrian Airlines being delayed as we waited at the Lufthansa Lounge past security.
Between 2 months ago (the last time I flew Austrian Airlines on business class) and tonight, it looks like I have been rewarded with an upgraded herringbone version of Austrian Airlines’ business class seat:
After we took off an hour late, I initially turned down the dinner service since the surgery had made my stomach feel really tiny. Thankfully this allowed me to sleep immediately after takeoff.
But when I woke up 4 hours later on my own, I was able to still get their dinner on request:
After landing an hour late at 1pm local time in Vienna, Mel and I dropped off our luggage at left luggage services at the 1st floor of Terminal 3 (they keep that service real hidden for some reason), and took the local train S7 to meet up with Daniela. After a sobering 2 hours having lunch at HiddenKitchen by the Vienna Mall discussing how I’d feel just having found out I had — and hopefully dodged — cancer, Mel and I returned back to Vienna airport for our nearly 2 hour flight from Vienna to Venice.
I was the only one in Air Dolomiti’s business class area where the only difference is nobody sitting next to me and this complimentary meal:
Landing at 6pm at Venice Airport at VCE, Mel and I took an Uber to a cute hotel and farm 4 minutes away from the airport where we had dinner at the attached trattoria and readjusted to the jet lag one day earlier; the rest of my group of monsooners (new monsooners Samantha, Anna and Ainsley’s friend Kenny, as well as returning monsooners Rashidah and Ainsley) would arrive the next day.
The next morning after breakfast, we checked out and our hotel’s happy-go-lucky hotel and restaurant owner drove us himself the car rentals area at Venice Airport, where we reunited with the rest of the group on the 3rd floor. After a quick change in a plans when the local Italian car rental agency asked for an international driver’s permit, we quickly switched over for 2 smaller vehicles from Hertz across the hall who did not require an IDP. Thankfully Kenny on his first monsoon stepped up to be our second driver.
We then drove 2 hours over to the valley town of Cortina d’Ampezzo where the weather changed from the muggy flatlands of sea level to downpours and snap thunderstorms of the valley, to the cool, crisp spring air of the mountains.
About an hour into the drive, we stopped at Lago di Santa Croce for a small lunch and getting to know one another.
We then continued into the Dolomites. I called back my surgeon again to discuss more about the next steps with the pathology finding and discovered that we both were born at Mount Sinai and I had worked in his father’s lab (Dr. Peter Palese) back as my first job when I was 16 years old!
Something, or someone is out there wants me to stick around for a little longer.
By 2pm we reached Cortina d’Ampezzo, where we’d make our base camp for the rest of our Dolomites excursions.
As Mel had to start her remote work to sync with the mornings back home, the rest of us walked around Cortina d’Ampezzo, purchased some snacks and groceries at the co-operative mall, and went for a drive in the vicinity to get the lay of the land and going as far as Seggoiovia Cinque Torri.
We then stumbled upon Baita Resch, a family owned restaurant with this view:
Not a bad place to have your first group dinner on the first day of an adventure:
The next morning, the early risers (Ainsley, Kenny, and me) had some coffee in town before returning to wait for Rashidah’s early morning arrival on the Cortina Express bus from Venice Airport.
Once everyone was up, we began our long road trip around the Dolomites.
We first drive the 30 minutes west to board the €24 and 5 minutes Seggiovia Cinque Torri chairlift up to Rifugio Scoiattoli with its views of Cinque Torri.
Spending half an hour wandering, we walked back to Rifugio Scoiattoli just in time for opening and lunch before the crowds took over.
By 1:30pm we took the chairlift back down to the parking lot.
Another hour and half’s drive led us through the beautiful Gardena Pass . . .
. . . to the town of Ortisei, where we boarded the €45, 2 part and almost 20 minutes long Seceda Gondola and Cable Car.
The lfit is 2 parts as in, you get off the ski-like gondola first to board the official group cable car to the very top.
Once you disembark to the top up Seceda, you can see why this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site just for these views:
The peaceful, grazing cows here were a big hit with us:
Grateful to be alive, all things considering:
We really wanted to make the most of our time here so we decided to have a few drinks and a small meal at Baite Sofie Hütte overlooking the valley before they closed at 5:30pm:
With the last cable car running at 6:00pm in the evening, we boarded the last one down.
Back in our cars and figuring out how to escape the parking lots underneath the gondola station, we drove 37 minutes west and then north to the classic shot of Vai de Funes that is representative of everything you know when you search for The Dolomites on Google Images.
While Google Images is reliable for this viewpoint, Google Maps is not; so instead of plugging in Vai de Funes, we recommend that you plug in “Santa Magdalena Viewpoint” instead. Then drive as far as you can there (they only allow cars of Santa Magdalena-n residents past a certain point, although my guardian angel somehow allowed my car to go through back and forth the gate), park wherever you’re allowed, and hike from the town for no more than 15-20 minutes up to the classic viewpoint of the church underneath the peaks.
Can’t get enough of this view. Sadly, however, the other car with Kenny, Ainsley, Rashidah, and Samantha did not have a guardian angel whisking them past that pesky, mysterious, residents-only gate. But instead of parking and taking the 15-20 minute walk as we waited for them, they decided to turn back early to get dinner back in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Mel, Anna, and I lingered a little longer here until sunset before we drove back ourselves.
However, karma would have it balance out where our car may have missed a turn and ended up taking a much longer, 2.5 hour drive back to Cortina d’Ampezzo instead of the originally planned 2 hours. We got to dinner just in time as dishes were being served and before the restaurant closed up at 11pm.
Sleeping in the next morning, our Dolomites crew then drove up an hour to Lago di Braies for the water activities of Pragser Wildsee.
They have a weird parking and entry system where to enter the area, there’s a €40 per car “tax” that includes parking at either P1 (2.2km from the lake with a shuttle taking you to the lake every 30 minutes) or P2 (an 800m walk to the lake). Not trusting either option as making any sense, I decided to press further and drive as far up to the lake as we could.
Once we reached the lake itself without nobody stopping us, we happened upon the adjacent P4 parking lot where we could pay €7.50/hour/car without needing to bother with a shuttle bus or walking. See? Trust your gut
Once parked, we wanted to take part in the idyllic rowing activities in the lake; for 45 minutes it costs €15 per person or €50 for a private boat that fits 5 people max.
After 45 minutes of taking turns learning and teaching each other how to row, we then crossed over and stopped at the hotel by the lake for a quick al fresco lunch while going around playing an icebreaker of what our toxic traits are (thank Jenny! it’s a crowdpleaser).
By 3pm we headed northeast another hour up northeast to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the famous three distinctive battlement-like peaks. Learning from this morning, we drove up as far up as we could again after paying the €30/car toll to enter the area.
Deciding to go for a little hike, we traversed down the slopes to the church about a few km away.
You can keep going for another 3-5 hours (or even more!) if you’d like to tour the entire circuit around the whole park.
There’s a cafeteria style rifiugio back at the trailhead if you need a place to recharge, sleep, or eat.
After our hike, we drove back to Cortina d’Ampezzo and stopping at the picturesque Lake Misurina on the way.
Considering the whole story behind our time here and in the weeks preceding this trip, our 3 days in the Dolomites will be hard to beat.
The only downside of The Dolomites was figuring out laundry with a washing machine and without a dryer the night before our drive home. A little DIY, a small bathroom, and a heater underneath…
- At time of posting in Cortina d'Ampezzo, it was 17 °C - Humidity: 83% | Wind Speed: 5km/hr | Cloud Cover: heaven on earth