For those of you that are unaware of their stories, both Marco and Julie are currently experiencing serious health issues. Here is an overview of their situation.
Marco: In March of this year, Marco began to experience some odd symptoms in his abdomen. Initially he felt like he had strained a muscle, but despite rest and reduced exercise, the pain did not go away. The abdominal pain often felt like a GI issue, and Marco generally lost his appetite. Loss of appetite resulted in loss of weight. After several weeks with persistent pain and discomfort, Marco reached out to his doctor who ordered various tests. All test results came back “normal” or “clear,” but there was no relief from the abdominal pain/discomfort. Finally on May 26th, Marco went in for a physical exam and the doctor noticed an odd protrusion from the side of his abdomen. She ordered an ultrasound followed by a CT scan that revealed a large tumor between his liver and right kidney. It was biopsied on June 8th, which was inconclusive in terms of the type of cancer, though the doctors knew it was malignant. After sending Marco’s biopsy samples to Johns Hopkins for further review, the results seemed to indicate that the tumor was a retroperitoneal dedifferentiated liposarcoma. This particular type of cancer originates in fat cells, and can go undetected for many years. It is likely that Marco has had this tumor for at least several years. When it was finally discovered the tumor measured at approximately 7”x 5” x 4.3”. It is applying tremendous pressure to several vital organs and abdominal wall, and is causing significant pain, loss of appetite, and sleeplessness.
On June 24, after discussing Marco’s case and reviewing his scans, the Kaiser Oncology Board confirmed the liposarcoma diagnosis, and recommended radiation treatment followed by surgery as the standard of care for Marco’s condition. Marco agreed to the suggested treatment plan and began 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments (5x per week) on July 12. The purpose of radiation is to prevent recurrence by radiating the margins around the tumor and to prevent the cancer from spreading. Radiation would not shrink the tumor, but it would kill the cancer cells. We are happy to report that Marco completed his last treatment on August 18, but as the radiation oncologists had warned, radiation has taken a tremendous toll on his body and Marco is battling the continuous waves of nausea, fatigue, and increased pain. Hopefully these symptoms will resolve in the next week or so. Marco is constantly trying to manage the pain and continues to show bravery and resilience each and every day. Unfortunately, the nausea limits Marco’s appetite, and he has lost quite a bit of weight. Fortunately, friends and family are bringing delicious and healthy meals to try to fatten him back up!
In terms of next steps, Marco will take the next 3 to 4 weeks to recover before going into surgery to remove the tumor. Unfortunately, there are limited treatment options for liposarcoma. Surgically removing the tumor is the primary form of treatment. The surgery date is not confirmed at this time, but is anticipated to be mid-September. Because the tumor is large, protrudes into the liver, encapsulates the right kidney, and pushes into the intestines and abdominal wall, the surgeons anticipate removal of the right kidney, part of the ascending colon, part of the liver and sections of the right abdominal wall. Marco will likely be in the hospital for a week post-op, and recovery is expected to take anywhere between 4-8 weeks. As a result of this schedule he will likely not be able to return to teaching until late into this semester, or after the New Year.
Julie:
Around the same time Marco was first starting to notice the pain in his abdomen in late March, Julie felt something in her upper right chest wall that felt odd. At the time, she wasn’t immediately concerned, didn’t think much of it and quite frankly forgot about it assuming it was a pulled muscle or clogged milk duct that would eventually go away. It was not until a couple months later on a trip to the Cayman Islands with some college friends that she began to think about the odd lump more seriously. A couple of her dear friends who had their own experiences with breast cancer encouraged her to meet with her doctor upon her return stateside. In the beginning of June, Julie emailed her doctor about the lump and scheduled an appointment for a few weeks later. Julie truly believed nothing was wrong, but felt it was best to get it checked out nonetheless. She was really going to focus the appointment on her desire to get genetic testing for breast cancer (another suggestion from her friends) as her mother had passed away from breast cancer at the age of 54 and Julie felt it was important to find out if she might have a genetic predisposition to breast cancer. Julie has always been aware of her potential breast cancer risk and was getting regular mammograms annually, but was feeling as though she needed to get more information for her kids and to take everything a bit more seriously. She will be the first to tell you that she “probably buried her head in the sand a bit” when it came to wanting to know what the genetic test might reveal.
On Friday, June 24th, Julie met with her OB and shared about Marco’s situation and asked for the genetic testing. Her doctor then conducted a breast exam and gave Julie a look that she will never forget. Her doctor gently told her that she would need to get a diagnostic mammogram as soon as possible. Julie was in complete shock given everything that was going on with Marco’s health. The following Tuesday, June 28, Julie underwent a mammogram and then an ultrasound. After the ultrasound, the doctor and radiologist explained that there were three lesions that they were concerned with and wanted to biopsy for further review. Of course Julie agreed and proceeded to undergo the biopsy in which they took 15 samples from the three tumors.
On the evening of July 1st, Julie had received the unfathomable news that she had breast cancer. She then began the process of meeting with her cancer care team and talking with various doctors and surgeons to determine the best course of treatment. Based on the pathology, conversations with friends and family and lots of prayer, Julie decided to have a double-mastectomy followed by reconstruction. She then underwent a breast MRI on July 11 which revealed a 4th lesion. Thankfully, all of the lesions were small and were caught relatively early.
Julie selected two amazing surgeons out of Kaiser Oakland and had a successful double mastectomy on August 5. Julie was released the same day and arrived home to friends and family that assisted her around the clock during her recovery. The sentinel lymph node was taken during surgery to check to see if the cancer had spread. This past week, the doctor shared that the pathology report showed a micromet of cancer measuring at 1.5mm. Further testing was ordered by oncology and Julie will find out what further treatment options she will need to undergo when she meets with her oncologist on September 6. We are all hoping and praying that this will be the end of treatment for her and that she can focus on healing and supporting Marco in his upcoming surgery. Reconstruction surgery will be planned for Julie in approximately 4 months.
As you can see, this is a lot for any one family to hold and manage. Add to this that they were also in the middle of a long-awaited and much needed remodel of their tiny kitchen. At the beginning of the remodel, they tested for mold (which was at the same time they both received their cancer diagnosis’) and learned that there was significant mold in the master bathroom. So in addition to the kitchen remodel which was in progress, they now have to rip out and remodel the master bath to remove all of the mold and make sure they return to a safe, mold-free home where they can both recover.
Marco and Julie’s greatest concern is of course their children and ensuring that their lives remain as normal as possible. Because of God’s grace and the love and support of friends and family, both Olivia and Gianluca are doing remarkably well and keeping busy with school and their activities; Olivia in cheerleading and soon to be lacrosse and Gianluca with soccer. Marco and Julie would like to say to each and every person that has prayed for them, fed them, housed them, driven their kids, cared for them at their bedside, assisted with doctors appointments, sent flowers, cards and text messages, THANK YOU. Their hearts are full of gratitude and their spirits are strong because of their faith. They look forward to getting to the other side of this “interrupted life”, but are finding the beauty in each of the moments in between.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1
Thank you for the prayers, please keep them coming. The drain removal on Friday was very painful and Marco has been resting and recovering throughout the weekend. Unfortunately. he still has trouble sleeping due to his discomfort from the procedure. The frustrating part is that we are not even sure all of the fluid was removed and therefore it is a “wait and see” situation. Please pray that Marco’s body allows him to heal and seal up any part of the liver that might be secreting bile or other fluids. Our concern at this point is that the fluid begins to accumulate again which would lead to another infection and ultimately another drain repeating the same painful cycle.
Please also pray for Marco’s mental wellbeing. He is most resilient person I know, but even the toughest start to lose hope that they will ever truly feel better. It’s been a long 9 months of consistent pain. All he wants is to go back to work and get back to his normal life, what a blessing that would be!
Thank you for all of the love and support and especially for the prayers for our children and for our family. We are so grateful for each and every one of you and send all of our love and well wishes to you and your beautiful families.
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Marco and Julie Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Marco and Julie's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
