Personal Journey Entry #1

This journey began almost a year ago. I had a routine physical, and my PCP, Dr. Olive, was not happy with some of my blood tests. He asked me to schedule an appointment with his colleague, Dr. Boland, in Topsham, Maine. He explained that it was an abnormal Iron count and some of the proteins were not quite right. I was not alarmed and started taking over-the-counter Iron tablets, figuring I would get a jump on Dr. Boland. Shay and I drove to Topsham and had a quick start when we saw the name on the building. NECS-New England Cancer Specialists was staring us both in the eyes. A little more reluctantly, now, we went in to meet Dr. Boland. The doctor is a hematologist and an oncologist. I don’t think Shay and I were in tune with what he was saying, but all of a sudden, we went from a routine physical to a discussion of Multiple Myeloma or Blood Cancer. Our world skipped a couple of spins, but the words were not registering. We went through the summer at our beautiful cabin on Bear Pond, trying to enjoy the magical feeling we both had at that place, but the Big C was always on our minds. New tests were brought in every week, but there was no definitive diagnosis. It was not until October that it was decided that I had an abnormal blood makeup, and we would treat it with vitamins and monitor it in the future. We dodged a bullet, but little did we know we would have a deja vu experience in a few months.

In September, I booked a colonoscopy and endoscopy, which are regular tests for me. Unfortunately, the earliest appointment was four months out. It was no big deal. These are standard tests, and we would get the usual results. We were wrong. Dr Tompkins, who looked like she had just attended her senior prom last week, performed the tests and came to speak to us in post-op. She hedged but did not have good news. She explained the area of my esophagus that she saw and was concerned about. It was not the usual Barrettes Esophagus that I have had for years, and she did not want to commit until the pathology results came back. Eight days later, it was a Friday night; my phone got very active. First, I got a call from Dr. Olive’s office urging me to schedule an appointment with Dr. Boland as soon as possible. The next call was from Dr. Boland’s office to book an appointment. These calls were ominous, but nobody told us why. The final call from Dr. Tompkins came on Tuesday, and I could tell from the tone that the message would not be good. Unfortunately, my feelings were well-founded. The doctor explained that the test showed cancerous cells in my esophagus and that I had Esophageal Cancer. The words I heard on January 28, 2025, changed my life forever.