Jackie and I used to “joke” that every little pain and lump or bump freaked us out that we had the Big “C”. Mind you, we may have “joked” about this but both of us were acutely aware of our risk factors so, ultimately, it was always on our mind. This fear became a reality in late 2018.
Jackie’s journey began in December 2018 when she discovered a lump in her left armpit. As most of us do, we try to ignore and hope and pray that it will go away. Unfortunately, hoping and praying did not work. Jackie went to see her Primary Care doc (for those of you that know Jackie, she avoids the doctor at all costs) right before Christmas. Initially, she was told that it was likely a “fat deposit”. Well, that definitely got us laughing because we are not small girls and this was yet another indicator to prove such. She got a call back later that evening that they wanted to schedule her for a CT scan. This is when it became "real".
The CT scan results came back as, “something doesn’t look quite right. We need to do a biopsy”
This is where Jackie’s Journey began….
The CT scan confirmed something definitely was not right and she was scheduled for a lymph node biopsy on 1/11/19. Cancer was confirmed....what kind....we didn't know. Biopsies were sent to Mayo. Initially, we were told this was a high-grade (aggressive) neuroendocrine tumor. When she went for her surgical consult, the surgeon found a mole on her back and we later found out this was melanoma with a metastasis to her axillae (armpit). We met her oncologist Dr. Trottier during this time.....what a guy! He and his team are quite the game changers. They have been such a miracle to her (to us) from the first day we met him. They continue to go out of their way for Jackie and I highly recommend them to anyone who is diagnosed with this scary disease!!
2019 was a year that will never be forgotten. Jackie had a port placement on 1/25/19 and had her first chemo scheduled on 1/29/19. On 2/15/19, Jackie ended up in the ER with chest pain. At that time, they thought it was related to her chemo and steroids leading to bone pain. She had her second round of chemo on 2/21/19 - 2/23/19. Jackie and chemotherapy did NOT get along so it was good that her course changed before her 3rd round!!! During this time, Jackie had also been doing some genetic testing and found out she had a gene mutation that made her more susceptible to this cancer and that she also had a mutation called a B-RAF mutation.
Per Dr. T's advice, Jackie sought a second opinion with Mayo Clinic. She went to the Mayo Clinic on 3/6 for the second opinion. She received medical advice that (thank God) we did not follow due to a change of events that likely saved her life. On 3/9/19, Jackie ended up in the ER again with severe chest pain. They did another CT scan and this one showed erosion in her sternum. They quickly did a direct admit to Methodist hospital where we learned the cancer had spread significantly to multiple areas throughout her body including her chest, abdomen, bones (ribs, spine, scapula, humerus), neck, pelvis, and other areas. To say this was scary is an understatement and Jackie was in severe pain. All of you know Jackie is an extremely strong person so to see her in that type of pain was devastating! They started Jackie on radiation therapy during her hospital stay to provide relief from her pain. Initially, the treatment plan was to start her on immunotherapy, but her insurance denied the request and insisted that she first go through treatment of a B-RAF inhibitor.
Jackie took this treatment for several months and she had a tremendous response with a reduction in the amount of the tumors in her body from 40+ down to about 6. Unfortunately, in late Summer 2019, the cancer found its way around the treatment. She was then approved for immunotherapy. Immunotherapy gave Jackie her life back.....she received a remission diagnosis in February of 2020.
Her immunotherapy journey won her the title of the "1% kid" (as her doctor called her). If there was a 1% chance of a side effect from her immunotherapy, Jackie was going to get it. In October of 2019, Jackie lost a portion of her hearing. She also endured a blood clot in her leg which resulted in her having to give herself twice daily anti-clotting shots in her tummy. In November 2019, she was admitted to the hospital for almost a week with complications from ulcerative colitis. Early in 2020, she also ended up losing a portion of her vision from autoimmune complications related to her immunotherapy.
Many of you are probably thinking, "poor thing". I'm not saying that Jackie (and "Team Jackie") didn't have her/their moments where she/they felt a little "picked on" but those moments were only moments and she always focused on her goal of "kicking cancer's ass". In true Jackie style, she would always say, "I'm giving myself one day to feel sorry about what I am going through but then I need to focus on kicking ass". To say that she has been amazing is truly an understatement!! Jackie did kick cancer's ass in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE! Not many people can say that they had Stage IV metastatic cancer and ended up in remission, but that is what she did. Jackie's February 2020 PET scan came back as "no evidence of disease". We truly received a miracle!
2020 definitely had its ups and downs as Jackie continued to struggle with autoimmune complications from the immunotherapy. These included additional bouts with colitis, muscle pain, pancreatitis and vitiligo. Vitiligo came later in 2020 and was a difficult diagnosis for Jackie, but her doctors reassured her that it meant that her immunotherapy was working and she would likely reap the benefits from it for a very long time. In other words, this was a sign that her immune system was still on overdrive and kicking cancer's ass!!! She had her last PET scan of the year on December 17, 2020. We received the best Christmas gift ever with another clear PET scan. We celebrated with grateful hearts and a new lease on life and lots of plans for 2021!!! It was wonderful.
In January 2021, Jackie began feeling unwell. At first, we thought it was the flu. Then we thought it was an acute flareup of her pancreatitis. Because of her recent clear PET Scan and her diagnosis of vitiligo, we did not even think or consider that this could be a reoccurrence of the cancer.
Well, on February 9th, (one day before she, Scott and Ian and Ian's GF were to leave on their Mexico trip), the pain had become too uncomfortable and she went in to see the GI doc to get some pain meds for the "pancreatitis" so she could enjoy her trip. That was the day we received the shock of our lives and learned that the dreaded Big "C" was back....this time....the Big "C" was found in her abdomen.
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