02/23/2025
Quick Summary of Todd’s journey.
So, Todd had stomach issues since I knew him. He was on Zantac for years for it. He was prescribed pain medication, but it wasn’t until May of 2017, that he started doubling over in pain. I need to say that he had black stools too but never told me or anyone until the pain started. I immediately knew something was not right. He went to see his primary care provider and she ordered a slew of testing. Everything came back abnormal it seemed. He needed a blood transfusion. He was sent to a local oncologist because he needed iron infusions. He was only 37. He was sent to a Gastrologist. The scheduled a colonoscopy for July 5th, 2017. I knew it was to far away. I was able to get a CT scan order in the mean time. It showed the cancer. The Oncologist and GI doctor kept saying it is probably chrons disease. I knew they were wrong and just would not listen to us.
July 5th came and the could not get the camera through there was a blockage. It was a huge tumor. GI sent us to a general surgeon. The first one we called could not get us in for even an appointment for 2 weeks. We had God on our side at that moment. I contacted another surgeon who had a cancelation for the following day. After seeing him we met with the surgery scheduler and we again were looking at weeks before he could get in for surgery. I was not having that because I knew something was seriously wrong it was a gut feeling. Well God had another miracle for us. Someone had canceled surgery and we were in the next day. That is the day I learned the only thing wrong with him was full on colon cancer and it was a softball in there. The doctor removed it. Next step back to the oncologist. He needed chemo. It took forever to get that started it felt like. It was not until August or September before he got his first treatment. He had bad side effects and complained to the doctor. The doctor reduced his treatment eventually taking him off one of the chemo drugs. When chemo was over we were told he was good. He was not good the cancer was still in him growing. They ignored his complaints of pain and everything. Finally he became jaundice. I called them they sent us to a prompt care. He was immediately sent for rushed blood work. We got a call from that prompt care doctor within an hour or 2 telling us to get to a bigger hospital and to go now. This was a long hospital stay with several tests. His cancer was pushing on his bile duct. I was so mad at this point I was loud with the oncologists coming in asking how did you miss this he sees you guys every 1-2 weeks. The answer I go was it doesn’t usually transfer there. So the doctors talked the tumor board met and it was decided there was nothing they could do and he needed to get his affairs in order. BU****IT, I was not losing him yet. Our entire family got on the internet and started researching doctors and procedures and what could be done. My youngest daughter found a video of a doctor in Evanston IL and sent it to me. I watched and somehow felt like our search was over. I called Kellogg Cancer Center and we had an appointment that same week. Dr. Hogg said lets do the Whipple. Three months more of chemo to try and shrink anything then surgery. The surgery was supposed to last 6 hours it took 12. She did not give up on him. He was cancer free for 3 months. Then it came back, our doctors near home just did not have any care, they were not in a hurry to get things done. So we transferred all care to Kellogg. That was hard. All the trips and hotels away from our family. Kellogg knew so much more than Peoria. They started him back on Chemo but it was not working. So they started him on Keytruda and my husband lasted another 4 years. Towards the end of his treatment he was really tired and worn out a lot. He wanted to have energy to spend time with his family and do things. He was prescribed steroids to assist with this. We were told that the steroids could interfere with the treatment and unfortunately, I believe that is probably what happened. His cancer had spread to his abdomen and he was having to have his stomach drained several times a day from all the extra fluid his body was making because it was trying to protect. We knew that he would not be cured but the Keytruda was acting as a treatment to keep the cancer at a stand still and it did for a long time. It is similar to a diabetic they will never be cured from diabetes, but they can take treatment to control their blood sugar.
So I seen the question asked how come some people get surgery and some don’t. I don’t know the true medical reason for this. I can however tell you what I have learned from all that we went through. 1. Get a second opinion from the beginning even if you think your doctor knows what he/she is talking about get one anyway. This is my number one regret. 2nd find a doctor that cares about you as a person cares about YOU and wants to see you survive. Kellogg cared about my husband and I could tell that from the beginning. They cried when it was time to put him on hospice they reached out to me after he passed. They cared and that is what kept my husband alive for so long with stage 4 colon cancer. 3rd, DON’T EVER GIVE UP- Research, fight that cancer. My husband was a cancer warrior, he was still fighting the morning he passed. You must advocate for yourself or for your loved one suffering from cancer! Try and stay positive, research shows the more positive you are the better outcome you will have.
He passed away on October 24, 2023. I still feel like I will never get over missing him but that is a story for another time.
