In June, 2016 I was having some problems that seemed to resemble acid reflux disease. Over the following two months, my doctor worked with me to figure out what was wrong, but my symptoms did not improve. I think that the situation came into focus for my doc when he palpated my abdomen on Friday, July 29 and discovered that my liver was enlarged. On the following Monday I was subjected to both an ultrasound and CT scan. On Tuesday, my doc informed me that the scans showed numerous masses in both liver and lungs. On Wednesday, I woke with pain and asked Barb, my wife, to drive me to the ER. I subsequently spent three says in the hospital, which was good because much was sorted out during this time. To me, the next significant discovery cane from an upper GI endoscopy which showed a mass in my stomach. The pathologists reported that I have an adenocarcinoma, with the primary tumor in the stomach. In other words, I have gastric cancer that has spread. In short order, I met with an oncologist and started treatments with FOLFOX. This is an acronym: FOL = Leucovorin Calcium (Folinic Acid); F = Fluorouracil; OX = oxaliplatin. Subsequent developments and certain details are describe in the ‘Journal.’
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