Early in 2025 I started having some digestive symptoms that concerned me a little. As an active person I normally eat a lot of food, but I started having a difficult time eating more than a cup or so of food at a time. I started feeling extremely full after only a few bites, like I’d just finished Thanksgiving dinner, with a lot of discomfort in my upper belly.
I figured that I was maybe drinking too many cups of coffee, or that I’d been overdoing it with the ibuprofen since my 2023 bike crash and hip replacement, but I scheduled an appointment with my doctor to talk about it since I have a family history of GI cancer on both sides of the family. My regular doctor was out of town, so I scheduled with another doctor. In the meantime I stopped drinking my morning coffee, and omitted anything else that could be aggravating my stomach. I figured it was probably an ulcer.
The doctor examined me and went through my family history of cancer. She told me to take a daily 24 hour antacid, “just for fun,” and ordered a CT saying that if it didn’t reveal anything we would look at an upper endoscopy next. The CT appointment was 2 weeks out, so I put it out of my mind and started eating lots of small meals, as many as I could manage. I also started getting splitting headaches.
In the same time period I also had a regular screening MRI for breast cancer at the same office where my CT was scheduled. When I checked in the receptionist asked if I had another 30 minutes, because the radiologist had reviewed my symptoms, worked with my doctor to adjust the orders for my CT to add contrast, and wanted to do that exam too while I was there. I was thrilled to get it out of the way and went home to enjoy the weekend.
I was still having headaches since starting the antacid, so on the following Monday I sent a message to my doctor in the portal to ask if that could cause them. I got a call back from a nurse within the hour saying that was not normal and that they wanted to see me within 24 hours. My regular doctor was back in town, so I scheduled with him. I still didn’t have CT results but was increasingly convinced that it was improving with the medication so I wasn’t really worried. It was just like the regular screening exams I’d already been doing for years: to be safe.
On Tuesday morning I woke just before 6, rolled over and picked up my phone to see the time. The clock ticked over to 6:00 and as it did I got a notification that I had a new test result available in my portal. I was convinced that it was an ulcer by this point and I dreaded seeing it in writing. How long would I have to go without coffee? I opened it and the words jumped off the screen:
Left lower lobe pulmonary mass, numerous pulmonary nodules in the lung bases, nodular thickening of the left adrenal gland, and extensive abdominal lymphadenopathy are findings that are consistent with widespread metastatic disease. The primary site of malignancy is unclear.
I sat in stunned silence for a moment as I read and re-read the news. Then I woke my sister Sara and showed it to her. I was having a hard time catching my breath. It seemed unreal. It was supposed to be an ulcer. So we did what we always do when things get stressful: we went out for a walk and talked through it.