I kept getting this nagging ache in the pit of my stomach and across my back, and my digestion was off. Even so, my appetite was fine. If anything, eating something made the discomfort settle down a bit, so I didn't think much of it. Everyone's digestion slows down as they get older, right? I kept telling myself that and kept putting off the endoscopy. When I finally had one after ten years, they told me it was a stomach ulcer, and even with medication it just wouldn't heal.
It wasn't until the third tissue biopsy that I heard the word "cancer." While I was still trying to decide which major hospital to go to, a CT scan showed that it had already spread to my ovaries. In that moment my mind just went blank. The only thought I had was, "Is this how it ends?" Looking back now, I think that was the most frightening time of all.
Thankfully, things found their direction through a multidisciplinary approach, where several departments put their heads together. I had a gastrectomy and the ovaries removed in a single operation, and for a while I continued on a treatment that combined immunotherapy with cytotoxic chemotherapy. Now I've moved on to a stage where the harsher drug has been dropped and I'm maintaining on just the immunotherapy. The goal is two years. Every time the next cycle comes around I do get tense, wondering what side effect will hit this time, but still, I think about how far I've come and feel grateful.
Honestly, I don't know how much time I have left either. Even so, I wanted to share the side effects I've been through and the little things that turned out to help me during treatment with people in a similar situation. It might be nothing to some, but if even a single line can offer some comfort during a bleak time, I think that's enough.
Even with the same diagnosis, the course of the disease and the treatment differ from person to person. What I've written here is just one person's experience, so please be sure to discuss your own treatment with your attending medical team before deciding anything.