The Battle After the Diagnosis
Herald and News, October 24, 2010
Just like anyone else who hears the diagnosis of cancer, Paul Stewart, president and CEO of Sky Lakes Medical Center, said it hit him “like a sucker punch,” a blow by an opponent he would face more than once.
This reaction was despite his knowledge of hospitals and medical care, particularly the Cancer Treatment Center, with which he was intimately involved in the effort to help make the center that now serves this community a reality. “There was no family history, and I was completely asymptomatic,” he said. “The only risk factor I had was that I was a male.”
It was 2000, and Stewart had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor of the testis called a seminoma.
Stewart felt the lump through self-examination on a Thursday, saw his physician on Friday for a biopsy and was in surgery to remove it by Saturday.
In the interim, he did research for the best course of treatment, and decided he could get everything he needed to fight it here in Klamath Falls, under the care of Drs. Carol Fellows and Henry Louderbaugh.
Sharing with family
His wife, Suzanne, was with him in the doctor’s office when he got the diagnosis.
“Both my wife and I were thinking — how do you mentally and psychologically deal with it? We were both going through all the Kubler-Ross stages — anger, denial … ,” he said.
“We have five children, three of whom were still at home. We sat down as a family and discussed what the diagnosis was and explained how I would be treated, and that the type of cancer I had is considered highly treatable.”
Still, one of their sons was living in Portugal at the time and couldn’t be there with his dad and the rest of the family. Stewart said it was harder for him, and they spent considerable time on the phone talking.
Treatment
Treatment consisted of surgery and a daily 15-20 minute dose of radiation therapy for six weeks, no chemotherapy because, “it seemed early enough.” The side effects included “feeling a little weak, having foods I normally like not tasting good and losing a little weight,” he said.
Stewart was still able to continue working full time during the treatment. His evaluation of the cancer services and treatments he received: “I know the capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, and I know you can get just about everything you need here.” The one possible exception, he said, was pediatric cancer care.
Receiving this diagnosis, going through treatment, and seeing its impact on his family has given him a window into the lives of other people facing cancer: “I have sympathy and empathy for every individual going through this,” he said.
That sensitivity has translated into sharing his experience with others fighting the disease. He and Suzanne have spoken frankly and openly in support of patients at several cancer support groups conducted on a regular basis in the Basin.
A recurrence
He followed up after the course of treatment with annual checkups, tests and a healthy lifestyle. “I’m a poster child. I was healthy, active and I was doing everything I should.”
So, when Stewart received a phone call from Dr. Carl Jung, radiation oncologist, while he and his family were traveling back East, it still came as a shock — another “sucker punch,” he said. It was 2005, four and one-half years since his first diagnosis, he was asymptomatic, and there was something suspicious on a CT scan.
“It was tiny, just a 5 centimeter tumor, and the doctor had seen just the tip of it — I was lucky (that he saw it). I got a biopsy, and it was the same type of tumor, just in a different location.”
He realized, even though he had undergone successful surgery and radiation previously and had annual scans, that imaging studies don’t pick up microcellular carcinomas, which remain in the body and may develop into tumors at a later time.
The family was again faced with the specter of possibly losing their husband and father.
“On the second go around,” said Stewart, “we still had one daughter at home, a senior in high school. To have it recur was hard — she was brave and we had a bonding experience. I’ve been blessed to have a supportive wife and family to lean on. It’s difficult for a family to deal with,” he added.
Considering treatment
Stewart considered treatment options again, consulting with a specialist in Indiana, and again chose to be treated here. He was started on a regime of chemotherapy. With this treatment came some major physical side effects: persistent nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and subsequent weight loss, lack of energy, hair loss and occasional severe dehydration.
To get through it, Stewart again relied on family as well as his own inner strength: “Having a good support network, letting your family share emotions and feelings and maintaining a positive attitude is essential,” he said.
There supporting him, too, was the staff at the Cancer Treatment Center. Of those people he said, “I believe most of the staff at the CTC do not see their work as a job — more of a mission — to ease the burden of the illness and relieve as much of the pain and concern as possible while bringing a measure of support and peace. They function as a closeknit family would to come together to support their patients. They are both competent and compassionate and deeply care for the people they see and treat and take care of.”
Looking ahead
Stewart admits, “There is literally not a day I don’t think about it.”
Yet today, he looks ahead to December, an anniversary which will mark 10 years since his first diagnosis of cancer, and 5 years since his second diagnosis, with no further sign of recurrence of the cancer. His family didn’t wait for that “official” date to acknowledge how, as a family, they have gone through this with him.
“On Father’s Day this year, Suzanne put all the e-mails about our experiences together in a scrapbook. It was very touching.”
Despite the disappointment of a recurrence, Stewart doesn’t let what could be considered bad luck dominate his life.
”If you’re dwelling on the bad side of things, you can’t live life fully. For me, it has put into perspective what is important in life.”
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