Cancer Interviews Jim Foster

 
What Deb Krier thought was a routine mammogram turned into a Stage Zero diagnosis of breast cancer.  Stage Zero became Stage III, which was upgraded to Stage IV HER 2+ invasive breast cancer.  Deb opted for a double mastectomy with no reconstruction.  She was subsequently diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, then papillary thyroid cancer.  Through 33 surgeries, she has survived all three cancers.

Vicki Wolf was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 37.  Ductal Carcinoma in SITU was successfully addressed with a lumpectomy.  However, Vicki was diagnosed with the same type of cancer just two years later.  Again, a lumpectomy.  When Vicki was 47, she was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.  She survived that diagnosis but was again diagnosed with this type of breast when she was 58. That was in 2017.   Vicki survived, but not before undergoing a double mastectomy.  She now leads an active lifestyle and works as an advocate for men with breast cancer after her brother, Harvey Singer, was diagnosed.  They formed a non-profit, His Breast Cancer Awareness.

An ultrasound revealed a large mass in Melinda Bachini’s liver, and that led to a diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma, a form of bile duct cancer.  Doctors removed two thirds of her liver.  Unfortunately, her cancer returned three months.  Melinda was hoping to take part in a clinical trial, but when insurance wouldn’t cover a clinical trial, settled for a chemotherapy regimen.  When the chemo didn’t help but left her with a bunch of awful side effects, she decided to end the chemotherapy treatment and live as long as she could.  Then she and her husband found out about another opportunity for a clinical trial, pursued it, qualified for it.  The trial led to her achieving survivorship.

When Kay Kays was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1994, she not only had few treatment options, but she had no way of knowing this would be the first of four such diagnoses; but she survived each one, the last in 2008, and is still going strong.  She is now able to do just about everything she could do prior to her initial diagnosis and continues the fight as a cancer research advocate.

Chest pains and severe fatigue drove Valerie David to seek medical attention, which led to a diagnosis of Stage 3B Cell Diffuse Large Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  A chemotherapy regimen helped her achieve survivorship.  However, years later, she discovered a lump under her armpit.  After getting it checked out, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, a form of breast cancer. Again, aided by a chemotherapy regimen, Valerie survived this diagnosis, but not long after that, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.  Despite the staging, Valerie was prescribed a less aggressive form of chemotherapy, and survived.  Inspired by her cancer journey, she written and starred in an award-winning one-woman play, “The Pink Hulk,” seen through the United States and in Europe.

In today’s Cancer Interview podcast, Joe Bullock shares his story with host Bruce Morton, about how he survived Stage 3b colorectal cancer, a form of colon cancer, after first undergoing a colonoscopy due to irritable bowel syndrome which led to his
diagnosis, followed by chemotherapy treatments including Oxyplatin and Xeloda. Joe now works with the Man Up to Cancer support group for men facing a cancer diagnosis.