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Jody has had a very rough road these last five years, after being diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Colon Cancer. His cancer has spread from his colon, to his liver, lungs, lymph nodes, back to his liver and most recently, his brain. He has undergone many surgeries, various types of chemo, radiation, and the list continues. Due to his treatments, and related side effects, he has been unable to work. The stress of medication costs, medical supplies, the bills that keep coming and daily life is overwhelming. He has had to make many sacrifices, giving up work, sports, and much of his social life. When he does have time outside of treatment and being sick, he is extremely financially restricted. The stress and limitations of his diagnosis has been very difficult for him. Amazingly, he continues with his chin up and a positive attitude. We are asking for your support so that Jody can focus his energy on his health, and minimize the stress and worry that he has been under. Here is some information about what he has been going through most recently.
PLEASE HELP JODY IN HIS FIGHT, AND SHOW CANCER WHO IS BOSS!!!
Recent History
In August 2015, after 16 months of chemotherapy to shrink tumors that had metastasized to his lymph nodes, Jody went to the ER with severe back pain. He had developed blood clots in his lungs and was hospitalized. He continues to give himself blood thinners through injections every day. Since his chemo had been the main contributor of his blood clots he had to discontinue this particular “cocktail”. Chemo options were getting critically short.
Jody had had genetic testing completed to see if he was eligible for another type of chemo, which he began immediately, and continued to take until December 2015 when the rash he had developed all over his body (a side effect of the chemo) became too serious to continue. The Team at the Cancer Clinic decided they would try to radiate the tumors in his lymph nodes. Before radiation began Jody had a routine CT scan which showed that more lymph nodes had developed tumors and the cancer had returned to his liver. He had 10 rounds of radiation in March/ April and then underwent two TACE (Transarterial Chemoembolization) procedures in April and May , where they fed a tube through the femoral artery and injected chemo directly into his liver to try to shrink and control the tumors.
Then the 6 week waiting period began for his CT scan, so that we could find out how well the tumors had responded to the radiation and TACE procedures. During this time Jody developed a headache which became progressively worse. A head/neck CT scan on June 20th confirmed our worst fear; the cancer had metastasized to his brain. Jody was immediately admitted to hospital and started on steroids to bring the swelling on his brain down. Four days later he underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor and is currently in hospital.
Jody is awaiting a CT scan to find out the current status of the tumors in his lymph nodes and liver, and his team of doctors at the Cancer Clinic will decide what treatments are next for him. It has been a very difficult road for Jody, and returning to work in not an option for him any time soon.
Read more about Jody’s Cancer Fight
Jody was first diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Colon Cancer in February 2011 when he was just 33 years old. Jody became very sick and went to the emergency department where doctors determined that he had a complete bowel blockage. It was confirmed that it was CANCER!!! He underwent bowel resection surgery (Hartman’s Procedure) to remove the blockage, had a colostomy, and then 6 rounds of chemotherapy. He learned that the cancer had spread to his liver and, in September of that year, he underwent a liver resection surgery to remove the spots from his liver. Doctors were able to reverse his colostomy at this time. He then had another 6 rounds of chemo, which he finished in January 2012. Jody was given the thumbs up to resume life as normal. He eagerly went back to work, and was able to play sports again and resume normal routines.
In July 2013 his world was turned upside down again. The cancer had returned, this time in his right lung. We flew to Halifax five days after his diagnosis so that Jody could have a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan to determine how far the cancer had spread and whether or not it was present in other organs (this procedure is not yet offered here in Newfoundland). The following week he underwent lung surgery to remove two spots from his right lung. This was followed by oral chemo consisting of 1160 pills. During chemo treatments Jody tried to continue work, and even decreased his hours, but the side effects were too serious and debilitating. In November 2013, he was forced to go off work. He finished his chemo treatments in March 2014, just in time to celebrate his 36th birthday. We thought it was over.
One month later, in April 2014, doctors discovered that lymph nodes in Jody’s chest were enlarged and they were immediately concerned. A bronchial biopsy confirmed that the cancer was back again. This time Jody was informed that the cancer was inoperable. He was scheduled to have chemo every two weeks indefinitely, in hopes of shrinking the tumors and keeping them from spreading further. Jody received chemotherapy every two weeks for the next 16 months. But here was a long road ahead of him yet.
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