I have learned from others on these pages and elsewhere, to not bury the lead, as well as to share the good news, as for many these days that seems increasingly rare. As of this mid-month, August 13, 2025, I learned the results of several scans, tests and blood work and for the moment and the present, I am cancer free!!!
Generally in good health for most of my life, with the exception of a long-standing chronic medical condition (Ulcerative Colitis), I received word the day after my birthday, on January 31, 2025 (the reverse of 13, which has been a lifelong lucky number for me), that a small shiny spec in my sigmoid colon, that was suspected to possibly be a cyst or precancerous lesion, due for some later attention and removal, was identified via pathology as a rapidly growing, highly malignant and rare cancer. Though Adenocarcinoma of the colon is not unusual, roughly 25 percent of the cancer cells in my sample were Signet Ring Cells, a hard to kill and rapidly metastasizing cancer which almost never starts in the colon, versus other organs. Besides being a novel birthday gift, the surgeon I selected to help me remove the tumor and the cancer, as well as later my oncologist, were both initially convinced that I had this deadly cancer elsewhere in my body as well...we just had not found it yet. I will spare you the details as I chose to do then, but should you Google or bring AI around to educate you on Stage 3b, high risk, Adenocarcinoma with Signet Ring Cell features...the prognosis was not great.
After a second colonoscopy confirmed the pathology and significant growth in the tumor, my surgeon expressed the urgent need for surgery as well as removal of the entire large intestine. Right there, Dr. CiCi Zhang of the Northside Cancer Center and Northside Hospital, convinced me that radical surgery, in a matter of days, was really the only logical option. The surgery on March 7th was long and complex, but I had an excellent surgeon and care team and healed quickly, departing Northside at just over the 10-day stay mark. Goodbye to the colon and 46 lymph nodes, while thankfully only one of those showed compromise by the cancer, and there was then no evidence of cancer tissue spreading at the margins, as well as two later CT Scans confirming no metastasized cells or masses. I dropped almost 25 pounds, and became acquainted with several new medications and a few medical devices, as I planned to begin life anew, minus the body's largest organ. My daughter, Barclay and her husband took me in and helped care for me and worked to keep me from overdoing during my own rehab (most of the time). The visits, prayers, kind words, gifts, texts, phone calls, Emails and even letters and later hugs in public from complete strangers, all kept me from ever feeling for even one moment alone during this journey.
Shortly prior to the arrival of my third grandson, Cohen Daniel Carson, the younger Tiny Tike sibling of the world famous Mighty Mites, born on April 25th, I took leave of the Carson's home. I was still learning how to completely handle my ileostomy and the related stoma pouch and supplies...but necessity is the mother of invention, and with little choice living on my own at home in Scottdale, Georgia, I figured all of that out in about a week. As April and spring arrived, we began a regimen of seemingly daily medical appointments, twice monthly chemotherapy for 48-hours sessions, again, wonderful medical staff at the Georgia Cancer Specialists in Decatur, with my care team led by Dr. Kathleen Lambert. I dove into three months of chemotherapy, with some DIY additions, such as a cold-capping regimen assisted by some frozen gel caps from Amazon, and some eastern medicine layered atop the gold standard Western Medical treatment schedule. The side effects of chemotherapy are very real and can be quite daunting, to maintain a 'regular' life and work schedule. Some days I could barely make it home and crash by 7 p.m. But again with the help of so many family and friends, rides to the doctor or home...reunions of decades in duration, in person, via Zoom or Facetime and cards, letters and a flood of well wishes and gift cards, those days and nights were always bearable.
Never wonderful at entirely following directions, I still took all my prescribed meds, experienced a few gaps in managing hydration and fluid intake as this new physical set up certainly pushes fluids OUT. I swapped once weekly chair yoga for fairly regular and more challenging practice, walked outside when my body could handle the temps and prickly heat and whether the neuropathy, cold sensitivity, and occasional falling teeth or hair, again with your help and support... I powered through.
My particular cancer, particularly those sneaky Signet Ring Cells have high chance of return...but as I shared earlier, with my specific staging and prognosis, I was right on the cusp of a 3-month or 6-month treatment protocols, which made little difference in 3, 5 or 7 year recurrence, but based on data from multiple clinical trials, carried a 50 percent likelihood that 6-months of chemo would see many of these debilitating and life-limiting side effects become permanent. I am by nature a bit of a gambler. I like challenging projects and work which others often tell me cannot be done. Quality of life means incredibly more to me than quantity. I have no desire to leave, but neither do I choose a very limited and even decrepit existence as I witnessed during treatment meeting several other long term survivors still fighting hard after years of consecutive treatment.
I wanted to know IF my treatment was doing its job and IF, as my body was telling me, the chemo had already successfully placed my cancer at bay, and was by that time focusing on eating/damaging other healthy cells. Challenges with blood cell counts, liver, kidney and even heart function were beginning to multiply, along with a new prescription/medication for most every new symptom. I saw a cardiologist and other specialists, began acupuncture to ward off the nerve pain and neuropathy and resumed visits to a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, which forces oxygen into deep tissue and internal organs, and as I had known from earlier experience, aids healing. I continued to come across data also telling me that cancer does not love oxygen...which is part of why regular exercise is so good for you during healing and so bad for the cancer returning.
A newer technology and test called Signatera, from Natera Pharma, measures the presence of your cancer cells, taken from the pathology and samples of your own tumor/tumors post-surgery, creating a customized sampling in search of those specific cancer cells and their potential growth or return in your bloodstream. Without cancer DNA, you cannot have new cancer cells, and without cells you cannot have a new mass or tumor. That test was drawn into multiple vials on July 30th, before my last chemo session, and I was tipped on the results late afternoon on August 12. Negative...NO cancer DNA cells in my bloodstream. That was the second time with that result. Those tests will continue going forward roughly every three months.
Again, operating on the supposition that the Signet Ring Cells and perhaps a smaller or dormant tumor or mass were hiding elsewhere, we had my third CT Scan in 6 months. Thankfully again, the results were the same in all three scans, no shadows, no visible tumors or evidence of cancer cells spreading or metastasizing. I nearly exploded with joy that morning on the confirmation of what my body had been telling me for weeks. I will share one wisdom if you or you family later trod this or a similar path...listen to your doctors and medical team, but you are the expert on you, do not be afraid to self-advocate and always listen to your own body, its signals and pay attention to what your gut is telling you.
Treatment will continue, I am exploring a highly regarded Clinical Trial at the University of Florida, where an mRNA vaccine, customized again to individual cancers, is helping the patient's immune systems to identify, seek out and destroy new cancer cells. Immunotherapy may also be a later treatment option. Blood work and medical visits will continue to be routine, but without the rigors and after-effects of the chemo. I am taking/making a calculated risk here, and my oncologist would prefer the certainty of three more months of that treatment. Time will tell if I made the better decision. This fall, a second surgery and a 'bionic' smaller intestine will give me a return of a more typical food and waste 'exit' path.
Regular exercise, including morning Tai Chi is already underway, as well as a much more fresh food diet, with less processed and junk foods and no alcohol, all contributing to a better path to maintaining wellness on the journey yet ahead. I feel incredibly optimistic and just under 7-months from the date of my diagnosis to today...I am feeling well, getting stronger each day, and I am cancer free, while working and hoping to stay that way. Thank you all again for reading these updates, as well as for caring, praying and sending your warm thoughts and words along...my positive attitude never dipped for a moment, and in many ways, you all were collectively better medicine for me than the chemo. God bless you and yours!
