Jen Puglise

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I am a happy and proud wife to an amazing, supportive man. I have the most delightful 4 year old son, who sustains me and gives me a reason to fight harder. I am the dog mother of an adorable mini Yorkie named Katie Connie Dandi and sweet shi szu, Lily. I am a certified pilates/fitness instructor. Being healthy and fit really helped me in my journey. I graduated with a degree in American Studies/Civil Rights. I worked in the field for 2 years and then took a sabbatical. For what I did not know at the time, but my intuition told me to get fit and rest, a storm was coming...

Robin Braverman

In May, I will be celebrating a very remarkable milestone. It’s not my wedding anniversary, or hitting goal in Weight Watchers (although that would be nice!) or even quitting smoking (never have smoked), but something even more wonderful.

In May, I will celebrate five years in remission from Stage IV Colon Cancer (including a recurrence in the liver), and—with the exception of needing to lose about 20 pounds—am probably healthier than I’ve ever been. As the song quips: “What a long, strange trip it’s been,” and, while the war will be waged for the rest of my life, I can claim success in the latest battle.

My ordeal started in August of 2002. Less than one year earlier, the nation watched in horror as we were attacked, and many of us started thinking about our own mortality. We stocked our basements with fresh water, bought plastic sheeting to seal our windows, and came up with emergency plans for our families. Never had it crossed my mind that my enemy was on the inside.

Coming to terms with my possible demise at the age of 41 was not easy. My daughter had just turned six, and giving up was not an option. The statistics on survivability were abysmal, but I was determined to fight. I had surgery in mid August, followed by chemotherapy. Finding the right course of chemo itself was a huge endeavor; I had consulted four doctors in the Washington, D.C. and New York areas, and had received four different courses of treatment. With the assistance of my uncle, a doctor who was also a colon cancer patient, I was able to get an appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. There I underwent countless tests, but came away with a chemo protocol and the recommendation of a local doctor who would administer it.

Gordon_Dewhurst

Right after I turned 60 in April of 2005, my wife Nancy suggested I consider going for a colonoscopy.  I had never been for a screening before, and never had any symptoms of any kind.  I was somewhat indifferent to the idea at first to say the least.  I didn't think I needed to go through it.  As it be, they saw a large mass (10).  As I was rolled out of the examination room and had regained consciousness, I was told that I had to have surgery.  It had to come out.  A biopsy indicated that the mass was benign, but that was no guarantee.  I was subsequently scheduled for a colon resection.  They removed about a foot of my colon and lymph nodes.  The mass was cancerous, but had not penetrated the wall of the colon.  A check of my lymph nodes was negative.  No follow-up treatment was recommended.  They told me that I was cured.

     I try to stay as fit as I possibly can.  We eat healthy things, and I do alot of walking every day.  After around two years, I had started to notice a pain coming from the right side of my abdomen.  I was very reluctant to feel around the area for fear of finding something.  I just kept thinking that it was probably just some scar tissue, or something not very serious.  Then one day, I did go ahead and feel around the area and noticed a bump which was right on the surface.  I went to my doctor, and he told me that it was a cyst.  So he sent me home.  I worried for about a week and then went back to him.  He told me that he was going to put it to a rest by having me go for a CAT Scan with contrast.  It had not been picked up in a previous CAT Scan that I had done.  The CAT Scan with contrast indicated the possibility of a hematoma.  So then they sent me for an MRI.  That showed the possibility of a lesion.  Then they sent me for a CAT Scan guided biopsy.  It was a two centimeter malignant tumor.  Then I was sent for a PET Scan to determine if the disease existed anywhere else in my body.  There was no other signs of the disease anywhere else.  The tumor was completely removed from any of my organs.  It had not penetrated the fascia, or the bowel.  So, I was scheduled for surgery to have it removed.  I spent one night in the hospital.  Then my oncologist called and told me that the pathologist told him that the margins had not been cleared.  I had to go back for a second surgery to clear the margins.  After I healed, I went through 6 months of chemotherapy.  I had two reactions to the treatment, and was in the hospital on an antibiotic IV drip to rid off the infection which took about three days.  I also had a mild case of pneumonia.  My blood pressure dropped dramatically during my 12th and final treatment.  During the course of my treatment, I did not have any hair loss.  However, I still have neuropathy (nerve damage) mostly in my hands and in my feet which was as a result of my treatments.

     I am currently in follow-up.  I go back every 6 months for check-ups.  My organs are all very healthy.  There is no sign of the disease.  My CEA is outstanding at 1.4 something like that.  My scans once a year have also been outstanding.  After 5 years, they tell me that I will be released back to my primary care physician.

     It all started with that colonoscopy I didn't think I needed.  It was a strange series of events.  Nancy wanting me to go for a screening, and my persistence to have things further checked out after being told that what I was noticing in my abdomen was probably only a cyst.  I am so very thankful.  Alot of prayers were said for me, and alot of tears were also shed including my own.  It seemed like everyone we know was praying for me.  I thank God with all my heart that I am a very healthy man this day.  It was indeed the most difficult time of my life.

Erica Paul

At the young age of 26, I was given the devastating news of a diagnosis that would change the course of my life forever. In June 15, 2007, I was diagnosed with Metastatic Colon Cancer. Stage IV—it had already spread to my liver and lungs. In the blink of an eye, my life completely changed, and my future was now uncertain. I was a young professional, in the prime of my life, and now I was a young woman fighting for my life. There was no time to waste; I had to immediately begin chemotherapy to stop the progression of my disease. I have been receiving consistent chemo treatments ever since. I am determined to get better and reach my goal of a clean scan without any evidence of disease, and I will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. It has not been an easy road, but it's the road I am on, and I have accepted the situation that life has thrown my way.

I am very fortunate to receive some of the best medical care available. Dr. John Marshall, my local Oncologist here in Washington, D.C. at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Georgetown University Hospital, came into my life at a very critical time in my disease. I respect him so much--not only as a phenomenal physician--- but I also adore him as one of my greatest cheerleaders. I love his research and clinical approach along with his kind and compassionate demeanor. He provides a renewed hope that I so desperately need. Along with Dr. Marshall, I am also treated by an amazing multi-disciplinary team of physicians at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr. Kemeny, another phenomenal Oncologist who I am lucky to have has overseen my case for the last three years has played a significant role of developing treatments and procedures that increase Colon Cancer survival rates and improve quality of life. Since having surgery in November of 2007, the majority of the tumor on my liver had been removed, which included the 21 cm tumor that covered the right lobe of my liver. The remaining tumors or nodules in my body would be treated by either systemic or targeted chemotherapy. The primary tumor in my colon was also removed, along with many diseased lymph nodes and my gallbladder. A Hepatic Arterial Infusion (HAI) pump was placed in my abdominal cavity and would pump chemotherapy directly into my liver. Although the surgery was risky, it was very successful, and I can thank Dr. Ronald DeMatteo, my hepatic surgeon at MSKCC for that. I am also fortunate to have participated in a clinical trial where my liver tumors were treated with SIR spheres at MSKCC in October 2009, and am currently undergoing chemoembolization procedures at Georgetown.