Survivor Story: Carol Nelson

I am a sixty-two year old single female. I live alone with my lovable cat, but also have a wonderful daughter, a son-in-law & two adorable grand kids, ages 8 and 11. I have my own accounting practice, which I continued to operate during my last year of surgeries and chemotherapy treatments. I am an avid tennis player and golfer and continued to play tennis through most of my chemo treatments.

There is no history of colon cancer in my family. However, my mother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at age of 83 and the cancer then went into her blood. At that point, she was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away at age 84.

I had bad diarrhea about seven months before I was diagnosed. About a month before my diagnosis, I began having shortness of breath, felt very tired and experienced a dull pain in my lower right abdomen. I thought that I might have a problem with either my appendix or my ovaries.

I first went to my general practitioner who did blood tests and an X-ray of my lungs. My lungs looked fine but he determined that I was badly anemic. I immediately had a transfusion of two pints of blood. He then sent me to a doctor for a colonoscopy. After finding signs of cancer in the colonoscopy, I was referred to a surgeon who immediately performed surgery.

My first surgeon operated on me at a local hospital. After opening me up, he determined that he could not remove the tumor because it was too close to a major artery. He then sent me to a cancer clinic for chemotherapy with the hopes of shrinking the tumor so it could be removed. After about a month of chemo, I developed an intestinal blockage & had to have another surgery to remove the blockage – back to the hospital. Soon after the surgery, I resumed seven months of chemo. After being told by my oncologist that the tumor had shrunk substantially, I become extremely frustrated when my surgeon told me he still could not operate. I was then advised by a client of mine to get another opinion. He is a doctor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, which is associated with Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, WI. He referred me to a colon cancer surgeon at Froedtert who then consulted with the teaching hospital to determine if they could help with my case. They approved my case for surgery. I had two surgeons, the first who performed the successful removal of the tumor in my right colon and the second who had to remove a large portion of my pancreas that the tumor had wrapped around. That surgery was called the “Whipple Procedure”. Thank God that the cancer had not spread to either my liver or pancreas. It was probably the most extreme surgery I had ever gone through, but, the surgery was successful!

My family, friends, and clients were of tremendous support, always believing that I would survive this cancer. My daughter was with me through all of the surgeries and the initial chemo sessions. I am sure that the experience was exhausting for her since she who has two young children, a husband, and a full time job. I had friends who also took me to chemo as well as to doctor visits. At the time of my third abdominal surgery, my girlfriend suggested to the surgeon that he just put in a zipper! I tried to schedule my surgeries around my work schedule (tax season) and almost all of my clients were very supportive and understanding, and stuck with me.

My current diet is supposed to be limited in fiber intake and higher in pasta, white bread, potatoes, etc due to the Whipple surgery. However, I find that I need to have a certain amount of fruit and vegetable intake to have a healthy balanced diet and I continue to eat accordingly. I also have changed my diet to include much more fish, chicken, pork and much less red meat. I now take only vitamins, no drugs. I also have a much greater appreciation of life!

It was pretty devastating to hear from my first surgeon that my tumor was inoperable. But, I was determined to keep a positive attitude and get better. I was not going to give up the fight! I still face challenges after having the procedure with having control over my bowels and need to be careful of what I eat when I know I am going out.

To others, I would say definitely have a colonoscopy when recommended by your doctor. Had I done that, the cancer could have been caught long before it became so invasive. Be positive. Even through all of the surgeries and treatment, it is so very important to try to remain positive. Also, if you are not getting answers that you find acceptable from your doctor, get another opinion. It saved my life!

To cope I read a lot of books about cancer – people who survived it as well as alternative treatments. I also did meditation and listened to “healing” music. I continued to try being as active as possible (playing as much tennis and golf as the surgeries would allow). I was back in my gardens only weeks after all of my three surgeries.

I sincerely believe that meditation helped me to overcome the cancer. Visualization of the chemo going through my body as a white light cleansing my body of the cancer was a regular part of my bi-weekly chemo treatments. Staying as positive as possible and having the tremendous support of my daughter and family, as well as, many good friends truly kept me hopeful over a year of treatment and surgeries. I am so grateful for the support of all of my doctors. The skill of my doctors at Froedtert Hospital truly saved my life.

I think that all of my doctors were quite amazed at my pathology report showing no further signs of cancer in the remaining tissues and the 39 lymph nodes that were removed. Following the surgery, I chose to not have any further chemo. I have since had a PET scan about thee months following the surgery and it showed no sign of any cancer. I will continue to follow-up with scans and any other recommended testing. To celebrate being diagnosed as cancer free, I rented a beautiful pavilion on a lagoon in a local park. I threw a big party of around 100 people to thank all of my family, friends, clients and doctors who were of such tremendous support during my battle with cancer. Without them, I might not be here now to tell my story.