In May of 2010, I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I completed a course of treatment based on the MAGIC trial that included a nine week round of chemo, a total gastrectomy, followed by a final nine week round of chemo.
Admittedly, treatment was extremely difficult.
None-the-less, I never had any serious pain, though admittedly there was a great deal of discomfort. Mostly it was a matter of feeling really crappy, and really frightened, for a very, very long time.
The treatment and recovery took over two years but was successful. The cancer appears to be cured, and I have returned to a normal life.
I still experience some inconveniences as a result of the gastrectomy, but on the whole my life is better than it has ever been.
I feel healthy, fit, and I have an appreciation for life I didn’t have before. I swim thirty minutes every day, get lots of exercise, and have as much energy as I’ve ever had.
Though digestion still occasionally has it’s challenges, my ability to eat has pretty much returned to normal. There is nothing I cannot eat, and sometimes I can eat as much at one time as I did in the past.
I enjoy going out to breakfast with my wife just like we did before. We go over to friends for dinner just like we did before. It is great.
The bottom line message here is that it is possible to survive stomach cancer treatment and return to a life that is pretty much normal.
In fact, in some ways, your life can end up being better than it was before. Mine is.
*************************************************************************************
Gary always said he was dammed if he was going to let stomach cancer kill him, and it didn’t. Unfortunately, sudden cardiac arrest did. Gary, who had preexisting arrhythmia issues and a family history of sudden cardiac death, died in March 2014 at age 65.
At the time of his death, Gary was feeling good and enjoying life to the fullest. He was nearly four years out from his stomach cancer diagnosis and had no known cancer recurrence.
He would want those visiting this website to see it as a message of hope that it is possible to survive stomach cancer and once again enjoy life.