On May 29th, as I got home from a good workout, I thought I was a healthy and pretty fit 48-year-old guy. I looked in the mirror and noticed swelling above my left clavicle, which was a lymph node, and after a little Google, it said that a swollen lymph node above the left clavicle could be a sign of abdominal cavity cancer. Having no other symptoms, and feeling great, I thought, no way this could be the "C" word, but I called my Dr. and scheduled an appointment for 6/1 to have it checked out anyway.
6/1- Dr. visit - all blood work came back clean, wait 3 weeks and see if the lymph nodes shrink. That didn't happen, so we scheduled an appointment with a surgeon
6/30 - Surgeon visit - Before cutting anything out, we went with a round of high dose anti-biotics to rule out any viral or bacterial infection. None of this worked either so surgery was scheduled for 8/10 to remove and biopsy one of the swollen lymph nodes
8/18 - Is when the bomb was dropped, you have Metastatic Adenocarcinoma with GI or Pancreatic patterns.
WHAT??? How is this possible, I feel great, I'm living life and not having any problems. It was an absolute punch in the gut and shocking news to accept, comprehend, and get my head around. The next several weeks were overwhelming with a whirlwind of appointments, tests, information, questions upon questions, etc... On 9/3, I saw my oncologist to review all of my test results and learn more about what is going on inside my body. So, what exactly am I dealing with?
Stage IV Esophageal Cancer that has spread to my lymph nodes as well as 3 lesions in my brain. Lymph node swelling in my lungs has also caused pneumonia and an annoying cough and brain lesions, one of which is 2.5 CM on the right side of my frontal lobe & 2 are very small and located in my cerebellum
So, what is our plan of attack to beat this cancer that has invaded my space?
PMA - POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE - This is 100% my approach. I have been dealt the hand that I now have and cannot go back and change, so I am going to fight this every day with everything I have and be thankful for each day!
9/14 - Chemo port inserted & first round of radiation on my brain
9/16 - 2nd round of radiation on my brain
9/18 - 3rd round of radiation on my brain
9/23 - Begin 1st round of chemotherapy
After this we will be doing new scans to see how my body and cancer are responding to the treatments.
As of today, other than this annoying cough, I feel great and I am ready to battle this. We will provide updates along the way to keep everyone posted on how treatments are going; any changes to treatment plans; and progress as we go through new scans.
With God leading my army of prayer warriors, family, friends, my own faith, strength and determinations, I firmly believe I got this! Thank you all for your ongoing prayers, support, love, and genuine care. Feel free to leave comments, thoughts, feedback, pictures, etc...for all to enjoy. Please also feel free to share the link to this page with others that know me and would want to stay connected and in the loop!
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