Episode 115 - A Misdiagnosis Becomes The Wake-Up Call He Needed

Stage four lung cancer was the headline Moshe Batalion heard, and it instantly forced a full stop on everything he thought he knew about his future. Moshe is one of my closest lifelong friends, and when he told us what it felt like to sit across from doctors who sounded certain, while tests still could not confirm the disease, we knew this story could help anyone living in that brutal space between fear and clarity.

We walk through the whole arc, from subtle symptoms and a “this isn’t like me” moment on a set of stairs, to antibiotics that do nothing, to imaging that points to the worst case. Then the twists start: a chance reconnection with a doctor from high school basketball that helps move Moish into Toronto’s UHN network, a bronchoscopy that rules out lung cancer, and the eventual diagnosis of a treatable lymphoma. Along the way we talk about what it means to advocate for yourself in the healthcare system, why second opinions matter, and how to keep making decisions when your mind is flooded with statistics and dread.

This conversation also goes deeper than medicine. We share how faith and community support show up under pressure: prayer, charity, a tefillin “train” started by Moish’s son, and the way “signs” can land when you are finally quiet enough to notice them. Moish also explains why he is now raising funds for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Canada to support blood cancer research, turning a personal battle into real impact for other families.

If someone you love is facing a scary diagnosis, share this with them, then subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what part hit you hardest.]

Transcript

Why Moish Came To Share

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The Trust Factor is the ticket through a battery. The Trust Factor show you how to get through the Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a special episode of the Trust Factor Podcast. I've been telling you guys all week. I've been priming you, letting you know about this lifelong friend of mine, Moish Battalion, a guy who I grew up with. I've known him for the majority of my life, over 35 years. And what I didn't know was that in recent history, Moish had his own personal battle, a challenge with a life-changing illness. And so it's very apropos, because we've been talking about this. It's been a hot topic in the podcast for the last couple of weeks. We're talking about what happens when you get that diagnosis, when the doctor tells you something that you don't want to hear, that makes you reassess all of life, that puts the brakes on life. And so Moych reached out because he's also an avid listener. He listens to the podcast every morning and he said, Jesse, I've got to get on the show because I've got so much to share. A lot of the things you're saying are hitting home and they're making sense. And so I want to give my two cents because I was there and I went through it, and a lot of the stuff that you're saying resonates. So Moish wanted to be on the show. I think it's a great idea. And it's certainly apropos given what we're talking about. So having said all that, I'd like you all to meet my lifelong friend, Moyh Battalion. Moish, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Thanks, Jesse. Really appreciate your time. And uh yeah, very avid listener. I listen to it every morning on my way to work. So thank you for doing it.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Okay, amazing. Thank you for listening and uh and for reaching out. Because, you know, in reality, a lot of us, thank God, don't have to deal with this. You know, it's not necessarily a guarantee that you're gonna have to get this kind of diagnosis. And hopefully most of us live a long, healthy life where we don't have to hear this kind of news. But you were one of the individuals who actually sat in front of the doctor and actually got that diagnosis and had to deal with it. And so tell us, tell the audience, what was it like? What did you go through, and what were the key moments?

The Stairs Moment And The Scare

A Grim Consult And A Hospital Switch

Faith Kicks In And The Truth Emerges

Chemo Recovery And Meaning In Coincidence

SPEAKER_01 2:07

So I'll start by telling you the reason I decided to call you and say, hey, do you do you want me on the show? I've got uh I've got a uh good story for you. Um and it was really your last uh this last couple of weeks when you've been talking about health. And primarily you were talking about, you know, the what really struck me was when you were talking about doctors and we all need them and how good they are and special. But at the end of the day, they're not, you know, a doctor that tells you you've got a month to leave to live, you got two months to live. How do they know? They don't really know. They're just giving you their best guess. And so when I heard that, I said, that's exactly my story. And I want to make sure that everybody realizes, everybody out there realizes that the doctors aren't the final say. There's obviously, you know, a higher power that can dictate what goes on. And so that's why I called. So let me give you a bit of the history and give you the Coles Notes version. Um so this was about four years ago. I just turned 50, and so I was 46, and I wasn't feeling great. Something wasn't right, I didn't know what it was, but you know, like most people do, it's like, oh, I'm allergic to this, or I'm eating too much soy, or nothing, you know, nothing really um to get worried about. But what happened was I went on a business trip, and when I got, I was going to a second level of a store, and I got to the stairs. And usually I'll run up the stairs, but for some reason, something told me, take the elevator. And as soon as I got in that elevator, I went, okay, this is something's off. And so right away I went to the doctor when I got back, and you know, being young, a non-smoker, the doctors basically said, no big deal. They took an x-ray and they said, no big deal, it's pneumonia. They put me on antibiotics. I took one dose, you know, or one series of antibiotics, didn't work. Then I went, they repeated it, still didn't work. And that's where they said, okay, we got to do some more tests. And after a series of tests, they came back and said, We think you've got lung cancer. And I said, What do you mean you've got I've got lung cancer? And they said, Yeah, the imaging shows it. Um, and not only do we believe you have lung cancer, but we believe you have stage four lung cancer. And for those of you who know anything about cancer, stage four is not exactly a good thing. So you can't you hear what they say. At first you don't really comprehend it, you know, and then you dig into it a little bit more and you say, I've got a problem. This is uh a really big problem. And so they started doing some tests. And the more tests they came back, and the more doctors, you know, I saw a couple of doctors, and all of them said the exact same thing. It looks to us like you've got stage four lung cancer. So, right away, I get introduced to a um thoracic surgeon because with lung cancer, you've got to remove it, you gotta treat it, and then you've got to uh sorry, remove it with uh with surgery, you gotta treat it with chemo, and then hopefully you don't need radiation. But that's kind of the process. But until they actually get a sample for anybody who knows anything about cancer, you know, they could think they know what they see, but until you've got you have an actual sample, and the sample tells them exactly what it is. And so I had a number of biopsies, and they couldn't, they couldn't really figure out what this thing was. So let me back up a little bit. So I went to one doctor, and the doctor said, I see exactly you know what's on the x-ray. It looks like it's stage four lung cancer. I see that it's intertwined, it looks like it's spread. And I said, Okay, what does that mean? And the doctor said, I don't know. I said, What do you mean you don't know? She goes, I don't know what to do with it. It's too big to operate. We're not exactly sure how to treat it. And when you hear a doctor tell you that she doesn't know what to do with it, like that that didn't sit well with me. I needed answers. I needed some real definitive action plan. And what's amazing, and this is where, you know, I'm gonna tell you a few miracles. Some people call it coincidences, I call it miracles. There were a few miracles along the way that really resonated. There was a whole number of them, but three really key uh miracles that resonated. And the first one was, you know, when I heard that this doctor saying, I don't know what it is, I don't know, we're not sure yet how to treat it. And my sister-in-law, who's a physician who was in the room, basically leaned over to my wife, and I didn't know this at the time, but basically said, the good news is he's not gonna suffer long. So you've got my sister-in-law saying he's not gonna suffer long. You've got this thoracic surgeon who are the best of the best, and she's saying it's stage four lung cancer, and it's we're not exactly sure what to do. You know, it's basically doomsday. Like you're being told this is doomsday. And um, my sister-in-law at the same time took it, took a picture or took my x-rays and sent it to a friend of hers. This friend of hers looks at the x-ray, and his name is Dr. Lenny. And he looks at the x-ray and says, Moish Battalion, because it said my name. He goes, I know Moish Battalion. And my sister-in-law said, How do you know him? And she says, I played basketball with him in high school. What a great guy. Do you mind if I call him? And my sister-in-law said, No, of course, go ahead. So he calls me and I pick up a phone. He says, Hi, Moish, it's Dr. Lenny. I'm like, Dr. Lenny, I don't know, Dr. Lenny. And he says, Dr. Lenny, we played basketball together. And I went, Oh my God, Lenny, how are you? You know, and we caught up for a bit. And he said, Look, I don't like what I see. But the one thing I can tell you is I also don't like what hospital you're being treated at. He said, We got to move you. And so he moved me to the UHN network. Uh, and I was thrilled because I wasn't uh happy with the doctor. I wanted somebody who says, I know exactly what we're gonna do. So I fast forward I moved to UHN. So that's miracle number one. I moved to UHN, and the physician who was a thoracic surgeon who was there says, Looks like stage cancer, uh stage four lung cancer, but you're young and healthy, we're gonna figure this out. So great. So he does a number of tests, and one of the tests is called a bronchoscopy, which is terrible. Uh, anyways, they he said to me, We're gonna go in, and when we come out of this operation or this procedure, we're gonna figure out what this thing is. So he goes in, and by coincidence, again, you know, we know there's no coincidence, but by coincidence, the specialist who performs this surgery happened to be there at the hospital. He came in, he does the procedure, I wake up, and they both look at me with a smile and they say, This is not lung cancer. We don't know what it is, but it's not lung cancer. I said, This is incredible. So I go home, and when I heard the news that it's not lung cancer, all these emotions go through your head and you know, you're ecstatic. And the one thing I forgot to mention is during this whole process, you know, when you hear stage four lung cancer, you your faith or your belief kicks into a whole new level. So I always had a relationship, you know, with the big man. I always had a relationship, and you know, I'd go to shul and I'd talk to him and ask for what I needed. But this you really take to a whole new level. And you start giving a ton more tsedaka charity, and you start going to shul more, and you're putting on fill, and you're really doing anything and everything you can to check those boxes to make sure that you've done it all. And you're you're you're praying for a miracle. My, you know, when you hear news like this, I kept working and I was very positive because my gut was telling me this isn't the end. My gut was telling me this is something you need to learn from and you need to treat and you need to, you know, battle through, but you're gonna be fine. Even though the doctor said stage four. Anyways, uh, my son actually started a uh fillin train. He got all his buddies to put on Tfillin every day and pray for me. And I had rabbis praying for me. Anyways, long uh story short, I get a call from the doctor four days later, and he says, I've got fantastic news. And I said, What? And he said, Not only uh is it lymphoma, because we knew it wasn't lung cancer at this point, he said, not only is it lymphoma, but it's a good kind of lymphoma, which is very treatable. And I said, That's amazing. Like, what does that mean? What do I do? And he goes, I don't know. I'm just a surgeon, but you don't operate on lymphoma. So we have to find you a good oncologist, and then once we find the oncologist, they'll be able to treat you. So I was ecstatic. And the one thing I um, and Jesse, you know this, my dad passed away about nine years ago. And I don't, you know, once a year on Father's Day or whatever, I'd go to the cemetery and I'd, you know, I'd be there for a couple minutes, and it didn't really do much for me other than I did it. But you know, when I heard this news, I said, you know what, let me, we we're pulling out all the stops at this point. So I go to the cemetery and you know, I say to my dad, um, you gotta help. You gotta talk to the big man and you gotta make sure that he's gonna be okay, that I'm gonna be okay. And so, anyways, you know, I spend a couple minutes there and I ask him to do everything he can. Anyways, I uh I get in the car, and I haven't even put on my seatbelt, and the phone rings. And I pick it up, and it's Dr. Lenny. And Dr. Lenny says, I've got good news. We found an oncologist. She's gonna see you tomorrow morning. She's the top in her field, she's young, she writes, she lectures, she's unbelievable. Oh, yeah, and she's Romanian. And I'm thinking to myself, Romanian? Who cares? I don't care. She's Israeli, Russian, Libino, it doesn't matter what she is. Why is he telling me she's Romanian? Because she could be an alien as long as she does her job, right? That's it. It doesn't matter. So I hang up the phone and I start thinking, Romanian, what Romanian? Anyways, I look over at the grave and I remember my dad is Romanian. It is the only thing that could have been said that would connect me to my dad. Like, other than Lenny saying, Hey, by the way, your dad spoke to God and God now sends you this. It's the only thing that he would have said that would have given me that clue. And it was incredible. I just kind of left there and I said, It's gonna be okay. Like, I'm in good hands. So that was kind of miracle number two. And you know, that's the one thing I have gotten better at is you know, looking at signs, seeing, you know, what we call coincidences. I do think there's more to it than that. So anyway, so then uh I go and I start seeing the doctor, and thankfully I do chemo uh for four months. It was aggressive chemo. Four months later, I was 100% cancer free. And, you know, everything was incredible. So then you start looking back and you're saying, you know, my diagnosis took so long, and you know, I wasn't sure why it took so long. Everybody said it was lung cancer, yet it wasn't diagnosed. And every time they went to did samples, nothing would come out conclusive. And you're trying to figure all this out, but you know, you can't figure it out, anyways. Uh, one of my close friends who is very spiritual, she is the one who connected me with all these rabbis who were praying for me. And this one rabbi was from New York, and it was a great-grandson of a big rabbi named Natusha Rebbe. And he basically, uh, every day he'd go to his grave and pray for me. He owns a trucking company, and this you won't believe, he owns a trucking company. This trucking company would supply my friend with the clothing for a clothing store. One day the clothing doesn't arrive. Like they just the truck didn't show up. She calls the company and says, Hey, where am I where's my delivery? They say to her, we have bad news. The driver out of nowhere gets diagnosed with lung cancer a month earlier, and he passed away. She calls me right away and obviously tells me the story. And again, you know, there's no such thing as coincidence. I'm thinking to myself, I'm saying, my diagnosis, like it wasn't, you couldn't figure it, everybody knew what it was, but you it wasn't coming out conclusive. And so the coincidence of me going from lung cancer to not lung cancer, this poor person, you know, who was connected to me through somebody, you know, gets lung cancer, dies, like there's a lot of, and now there's a lot of coincidences and a lot of what you look at now and say miracles. A lot of messaging. A lot of messaging. And uh so it's incredible. Yeah. So those are like, I mean, there's lots along the way, but those are really the three that really resonated with me.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

You know, Walsh, it's an unbelievable story. It's a story that you could write a book on. As much as we want to say it's unique to you, you and I both know it's not, because everybody and anybody who goes through this is going through it because Hashem is trying to send him these messages, right? We've said this so many times. We've talked about it in the podcast. It's the crux of Amuna. It's what the whole podcast is built on. How does Hashem communicate with us? He doesn't come down and talk to us. We can't have conversations with him. But the way that he communicates with us is through love taps. And those love taps get stronger and stronger the less we listen, the less we're tuned in. And what the messaging is going over our head. And so they have to get stronger. And eventually those love taps become, God forbid, serious illnesses where you now have no choice but to stop and block out the noise. And now you're primed to be able to receive the messaging. And you got message after message after message. Son, I'm sure you got at the time it was happening, like with your father, that all of a sudden this guy tells you she's Romanian, you're like, What do I care? Right. And then, wait a second, right? Like, I just asked for help from the big boss through my Romanian father. And this guy decides to tell me that she's Romanian, like while I'm still in the cemetery, minutes later. You know, that stuff is hard-hitting. It's unbelievable, and it's gotta have an impact. What I know you said Ryan, your son did this this fill and train. What's the takeaway? What's the big, you know, the biggest changes that you've seen, not just in yourself, but with everybody around you in the family, now that it's all behind you, what's the biggest changes that you've seen?

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Well, I think, I mean, the biggest is obviously awareness. We were always, we were always a, you know, traditional family. We went to show on the high holidays and we did the high holidays, but that was really it. I was maybe a little bit more than my kids, and still am a little bit more than my kids and uh and my wife, Stacey. But I think they had a bit of an eye-opening. You know, they may not realize it now. I mean, they certainly realize when it was going on, but it's like anything else. You know, I wish I could tell you that I, you know, like I look at life differently and I'm this unbelievable person and everything. I brush off everything, but I don't because we have short memories and we forget, you know, as soon as I got the all clear, maybe for a week it was like, let's go on vacation because it's that's all that matters, but you forget all that quick. But for me, the one thing is, you know, I've always been a spiritual guy, I've always been uh connected. And so this what's changed me is that when things start going wrong, I always say to myself, okay, I know what's happening here. And so I'm a lot quicker to correct certain things when things go wrong.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

You think that is it safe to say that you're now more aware of your relationship with your creator? You're now more aware that he's listening and that he's there and that he's watching over you and your family and that he's an active member of your life, that he's actively involved in it.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Yeah, absolutely. Anybody, anybody who is a spiritual or religious person, that's what it's all about. It doesn't matter if it's Judaism, Christianity, you know, whatever the religion is, that's really um, yeah, that's what it is. It's awareness of, or it's belief and awareness of the creator.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

The analogy that I've used in the past is that of a radio, that if you're not dialed in to the right station, then you get snow, you get static, right? In order to be, to get the message cleared, you need to be dialed in. And for most of us, we roll through this life spending 70, 80, 90 years. And the last thing we are is dialed in. We're too busy, we're too preoccupied with the million things that are vying for our attention, that we don't have the ability to dial in. And it's so, it's something like this that happens to us if it has to get to this stage where we're now forced to block out the noise and we're now forced to try and dial in. And so I think that helps. Ultimately, that helps you to be able to receive the message a little bit clearer. I wrote in the beginning of the story, you were talking about how you were going from doctor to doctor, thoracic surgeon, oncologist, and everybody's telling you the same story. It's not only lung cancer, but it's stage four lung cancer. But we can't confirm it. There's something blocking this confirmation. There's some static in between us telling you for sure what you have and knowing absolutely what it is, right? And where we are now. It feels like in hindsight, that was you being in limbo. That was Hashem saying, Moish, I'm giving you a window over here. I want to see. What are you going to do? Are you going to tap into it? Are you going to ask for help from your father in the grave? That he's with me here now. Are you going to tap into the spiritual side of you and your nishama, your soul? Or are you just going to run from doctor to doctor and scour the internet and try and find everybody's opinion on this? That's kind of like your limbo face, and that's a reason, there's a good reason why these amazing doctors who've done this a million times couldn't do it with you. Do you get that, Sillings?

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, you know, if the one thing you can get out of this podcast, or if the one thing you get out of my story, is that it doesn't mat, I mean, not that it doesn't matter. It matters what people say and what doctors say, but you can always do more. You can always change your outcome. And so, you know, always stay positive and always know that just because somebody tells you something, there's always something else you can do.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Well, that's the thing. We've heard it so many times, and that's why we mentioned in the podcast that doctors, as wonderful as they are, most doctors don't get into the business for fame and fortune. I'm sure some do. I mean, it's a lucrative career, not so much in Canada, but still, it's not a bad career, right? So a lot of them get into it for that reason, but I'm sure the vast majority get in because they're compassionate people and they want to help humanity. And so there's and and they spend so much time and money. Trying to get educated and to get into the field. And so we have to hold them in that high regard. But a lot of people are mistaken to believe that it starts and stops with the doctors, that there is nothing else outside of the medical industry. And it's stories like yours and so many other ones that are similar that show us clearly that there was an entirely different dimension that we need to tap into. And you did it when you were at your father's grave praying for assistance. And Hashem obviously loves you, sent you message after message, sent you a doctor that you played basketball with 35, 40 years ago, right? Like it's been so long. And suddenly this is the doctor, and this guy becomes a doctor, and then he gets your chart and he calls you, right? And he starts pulling strings on your behalf. You didn't ask him to, right? I mean, it's an unbelievable story, but it just goes to show you that even the doctor that comes to your eight is controlled by your creator. 100%. 100%.

Giving Back Plus The Jubilee Year]

SPEAKER_01 22:59

It's an amazing story. Yeah, thank you, Jesse. I'm also going to take this opportunity to, you know, the one thing I am doing as, you know, uh the new Moish, the Moish After 50, is um that I've started uh giving back a little bit more. And so I'm uh raising funds for an organization called LLSE, which is the Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Canada, and they help fund research, uh cancer research. And um I'm raising funds for a 10-week period, and there's three weeks left in the campaign. You know, another another thing, I hope to raise 50 grand when I started this. You know, what do I know? Who can I managed to raise$140,000 in the first three weeks? And so my goal is$200,000 now because obviously when you reach that goal, you try to raise it. Um, and so I just wanted to, you know, anybody that's listening, uh, if they do want to donate or they want to hear more about my story, uh, you can either check out my LinkedIn page where I posted it uh or send an email. I'm happy to set share the link. But uh yeah, I just wanted to kind of get that out there as well.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

No, no question. We're gonna share it far and wide. And like you've said multiple times, it is no coincidences. Um we're gonna share it, and there's people that need to hear it, and God willing, there are people that will donate and take that up to 200,000. Uh, on the coincidence side, I just want to finish with this because there is no such thing as coincidence. It doesn't exist. It's a fallacy. We are talking, you and I, on the day today was Lagba Omer. We're counting the Omer. You are now 50, and you got your all clear at 50. 50 is the Jubilee year. It's a very, very critical year. If you want to, I encourage people to study it, learn it. Google events, world events that have happened on the Jubilee year. There's a running calendar, and people are tracking these events. Major, major world events have happened on the seventh year, which is the Shemitah year, and then seven times seven is 49. And on the 50th year is the Jubilee year. In Torah, in Judaism, there were 49 days that we had to count, which we're counting now, as we left Egypt on our way to Mount Sinai. And on the 50th day was the day that history changed forever. It was the day that the Torah was given to the Jewish nation, to the entire world. That is the power of the Jubilee year of 50. And so for me, last year I started the podcast, it was my 50th. I needed to do something drastic because it needed to be a game changer. And for you, this 50 is a game changer. You got your Jubilee, was when you got your clean bill of health, which I got just to correct you, I got my bill of health a few years ago.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

But this is the year where I decided, A, to come on your podcast and B, give back by donating to the or helping the LLC and tell my story.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Okay. 50 is a huge number. Yeah. And so um it's momentous. It was momentous for me in this podcast. Hopefully, it'll continue to run and grow and be successful. And God willing, you'll continue to grow and be healthy and do more and share your story and inspire more people because there's going to be people who hear this, and there are going to be people who are going to get that diagnosis, and they're going to have a tendency to put all of their eggs in the medical system basket. And they're going to have to remember and think about this podcast and know that there is an entirely different dimension that controls this dimension. It's a very powerful story. Marge, thank you so much for sharing it and for being on the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

My pleasure, Jess. Thanks for having me. All right.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

We'll see you.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Bye.