to try to shrink it \u2013 or have it disappear entirely \u2013 without chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe got so excited when we got Ken\u2019s results,\u201d Foote said. \u201cIn our clinical trial, we knew that the tumors in 100% of the rectal cancer patients who had immunotherapy disappeared, so we had expanded the trial to other types of cancer, including colon cancer.\u00a0We thought he would be a good candidate for the trial.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nBut first he would need a PET scan to make sure his tumor hadn\u2019t metastasized. This, too, prompted another shocking finding. During the scan, one of his lymph nodes lit up, so he was scheduled for a biopsy right away. The finding: Aaron also has low-grade follicular lymphoma \u2013 that had nothing to do with his colon tumor.<\/span><\/p>\nBecause Aaron now had two cancers, he no longer qualified for the clinical trial, but that didn\u2019t stop his team from starting him on\u00a0pembrolizumab (Keytruda) instead of dostarlimab (Jemperli), the drug being used in the\u00a0trial.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThis was an additional complication, as lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system and we would be using immunotherapy to treat Ken\u2019s colon cancer,\u201d Foote said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t clear at first how effective it would be, but we decided to try it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIn April, Aaron had the first of his nine immunotherapy IVs of Keytruda, 2 ounces at a time, given every 3 weeks. Aaron had virtually no side effects, except that his existing gout got worse.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t like chemo,\u201d he said. \u201cI can drive to the cancer center and back and even go skiing or hiking the next day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nA Potential Bump in the Road \u2013 and Then a Miracle<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nAfter the fifth treatment, Aaron had another PET scan and another colonoscopy. It showed that he was making progress, but it was slower compared to other patients in the clinical trial.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThat was frustrating,\u201d he said. \u201cBut my oncologist said that he thought my lymphoma might be the reason \u2013 they were giving me drugs to kick my immune system into gear, but lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system, so he explained that it might be tugging in the opposite direction a bit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIt was only after his seventh treatment, colonoscopy, and another scan that a miracle happened: There was no sign of the tumor, and the biopsy came up clean.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThere was no cancer detected, and there was only scar tissue where the tumor was,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a miracle \u2013 I still can\u2019t believe I\u2019m saying this out loud.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nAs per protocol, Aaron completed his treatment and had his final treatment in September. He has since had two PET scans, with another coming in June. He will get colonoscopies every 4 months for the foreseeable future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYou\u2019re never really done \u2013 it\u2019s just a new phase,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is why they have support groups for cancer survivors. It\u2019s not because you sit around and exchange high-fives. You\u2019ve been on a war footing, and now you\u2019re not, and you have a little PTSD. It\u2019s definitely a traumatic experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAaron remains the de facto organizer of an online support group with his fellow Sloan Kettering patients.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re still helping each other,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m still scheduling our Zooms every other Tuesday at 3 p.m. We need each other, and I know it helps all of us to talk to each other about what we\u2019re going through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nUltimately, Aaron said, he\u2019s walked away from this situation with a new philosophy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\u201cThe answer is to extend empathy to everybody you meet and to do it perhaps more than I was doing it every day,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily because you never know what somebody has going on. That\u2019s true. But, even more than that, if you extend grace and somebody else does it in turn, the world becomes a better place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAaron\u2019s Tips for Advocating for Yourself<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nMake Sure Your Doctor Listens to You<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIf you think something is wrong, get an answer,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know your body best. If you feel like something\u2019s not right, don’t let it go. If your doctor isn’t responsive, find another. Before I was diagnosed, I’m glad to say my primary care doctor was very attentive to my concerns, even though they were subtle; I’m still not sure they were related to my cancer. But I know others whose initial concerns were ignored.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nEscalate the Situation Right Away<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cFind an institution or hospital that specializes in your cancer and go there. I wanted to be the most boring case my doctor saw all week, not the most interesting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nFind the Best \u2018Cancer Machine\u2019 Near You<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIn choosing to go to [Sloan Kettering], I felt like I engaged a \u2018cancer machine,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBy becoming a patient there, I enlisted countless advocates on my behalf, an entire medical team steeped in the latest advances. I almost certainly wouldn’t have been put on the same treatment protocol if I didn’t go there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nLet Your Doctors Take Care of You<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cCancer throws a lot of questions at you that can be really hard to answer, and while you want to advocate for yourself, it’s hard to know if you’re making the right decision,\u201d he said. \u201cGoogle only goes so far, but by going to a place like [Sloan Kettering], it was a relief to know that even if things went sideways \u2013 and they certainly could have as there are no guarantees with cancer \u2013 I at least took the \u2018what if\u2019 off the table. And at a time when it\u2019s really the uncertainty that\u2019s the hardest thing of all, it’s comforting to know you\u2019ve done that for yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 18, 2024 \u2013 When Ken Aaron, 51, woke up from his first-ever colonoscopy last February to his doctor mouthing the words \u201cwe found a tumor,\u201d there was no one more surprised than he was. The married father of two had some very mild GI discomfort before he booked the scan, but, besides that, there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":652,"featured_media":3992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3991"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worlddailyinfo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}