My Story

Patti, my wife, has documented most of my story on a Caring Bridge site. She captured our journey into the world of cancer and allowed many of our friends and relative to travel by our side and make the journey a lot less lonely and perhaps even less scary.

In couple of lines, the summary is: After many months of misdiagnosis, I was finally diagnosed with colon cancer on Sept 18th 2008. Within a week, I went into surgery and a coke can size tumor was removed, metastases discovered in the lymph nodes and liver and I was staged at IV. On Nov 6th I started Folfox. After two rounds, Avastin was added to the regimen. After 4rounds of chemo, the scan on Dec 23 showed no metastases. However, given the rarity of remission in 2 month, the oncologist ordered me on another cycle of chemo. In March, after another 4 rounds, the scans reconfirmed that the liver and lymph were clear and I was declared to be in remission. However, we continued with yet another cycle of chemo In June of 2009 a laparoscopy and an inter-operational ultra sound confirmed that there were no metastases and I continue to be in remission (as of today 11/22/2009).

Obviously I cannot explain why the disease took this path in my case especially since there are others who have been a similar situation, done most of what I have done to battle cancer but have had less favorable outcomes. There are those who have seen this and are convinced it is divine intervention, while others believe that there is evidence that the latest chemo regiments are very effective in certain cases and others who attribute this to attitude and changes to my diet. Personally, I do not know. All of the above seem probable and improbable. There is so much we do not know about colon cancer (or any cancer for that matter), that it is hard to tell which parameters are sensitive in a fight against it. Besides, we have now discovered that there are two varieties of colon cancer (the garden variety and KRAS these are not considered different diseases). They both react very differently to chemo (by the way, I had the garden variety). But how many more varieties are there? Could there be 600 different varieties each of which are fundamentally different? Are we trying to treat different diseases with the same treatment? Do some of these varieties go into spontaneous remission?

Perhaps the path the disease took is partially under my control. In which case, I need to share what I did. There were several factor none, some or all of which contributed to my being in remission (In alphabetic order).

1. Attitude - for better or worse, I have a skill of not dwelling on negative experiences. Less charitably, that attitude can be described as denial. But in this case, it worked out for me. Every piece of bad news came with a wisp of a silver lining that I grabbed and focused upon. For example, when I was told that No, it was not stage II and instead it was stage IV, since they found small metastases in the liver, I heard SMALL. When 6 of the 33 lymph nodes were positive, I thought of the 27 or 33 that were just fine. It was a much easier journey for me with stage IV, all I could do was get better a benefit of starting at the bottom.

2. Chemo - FOLFox Avastin. I understand that this and FOLFIri are standard first line treatment for Colon cancer. This was not too hard on me. The first round was most difficult. The subsequent rounds were well tolerated although the post-chemo symptoms became increasingly difficult to bear as the doses went on. We stopped after 11 treatments when I developed L’Hermittes syndrome. This symptom of LHermittes disappeared in about 4 months after chemo. The first 10 doses were at 100% and the last one at 50%. The neuropathies from the regimen exist even today 6 months after chemo It is a minor inconvenience painful cold sensitivity on the finger tips and toes.

3. Community/Support - It has been overwhelming the mount of community support our family received during this time. From all the delicious food made with so much love and caring, the time people spent with us, the shoulders to lean on, the arms and the hearts that were opened up to us boosted our strength. In my mind’s eye, I felt like that Verizon guy with a phalanx of incredible hearts and minds behind me as I entered the ring at every chemo session to battle my quivering enemy. I imagined the cancer regretting the day it ever entered my body. It was not prepared for a fight against an angry village.

4. Diet/Supplements - For 4 months, every day, my sister in law, Sarah made me fresh juice on a Norwalk Juicer. I would drink 8 16oz Mason jars of juice a day - 1 Gallon of juice - carrots, kale, apples, beets, spinach, celery - each with a teaspoon of turmeric. In addition to this I stopped eating meat, dairy and sugar. I would eat fish and eggs. I increased my fiber intake as much as I could. In terms of supplements, during chemo, I took AHCC, Vitamin K2 (on recommendation of naturopath), L-Glutamine (reduce neuropathy), Vitamin D, Curcumin, Green tea extract and heavy dose of multi vitamin. Since being in remission, I have continued the multivitamins, curcumin, vitamin d and added folic acid (controversial) and asprin. I also take two glasses of water with a tablespoon each of psyllium husk. I have remained on my diet of no meat, no sugar and no diary - I don’t miss it and don’t believe I will ever eat it again.

5. Exercise - Right before I began chemo, I started on a regular and rigorous exercise regimen -with the goal of running 20 miles a week. Typically I would do 15 miles and occasionally 18 miles. During chemo, I would walk 2-3 miles with my chemo pack and run 3-5 miles the day after chemo. I believe this really helped ward off the fatigue that chemo typically brings on. I also imagined that this pumped the chemo through ALL parts of my body. Since then, my work out routine has been sporadic.

6. Prayer - There has been numerous people praying for me. My extended family in India offered Novenas, masses and held vigils for me. Prayer groups implored. My brother Mathew laid hands on me in prayer every other day. The love and concern that I received through the prayers were very moving and powerful. The prayer and love that I received was constant and great sense of comfort. My visitor page at the caringbridge site listed above was a reservoir or Clove-lets that I drew from frequently. The prayers continue to keep in in remission.

The threat of cancer has reduced in my life because of the remission and also because of constant vigil. The diet continues to be without dairy, meat or sugar. Supplements continue to fortify me. Household cleansers are nontoxic, cooking materials are mostly stainless food is almost always organic. Little or no processed food. Cancer has also left me more deliberate with life, a thousand fold more appreciative of every minute I spend with my wife , children, family and friends, I don’t sweat the small stuff as much. And I appreciate people in their variety. While cancer is a cruel disease like all life taking disease, my experience through it, partly because of those around me, has been remarkable and wonderful. To go to the brink to realize how short and precious life and then be given another lease. I am so grateful!