Jerry Rolland: Battling Stage 4 Colon, Rectal & Liver Cancer

72岁的杰瑞·罗兰一直认为自己很健康. 所以，当他在2021年初注意到粪便中有血时，他试着不去想它.

杰里说:“把它刷掉，希望它会消失，这更容易。. “但当问题持续存在时，我终于预约了结肠镜检查.”

杰里发现，接受他推迟了这么久的手术相对容易，但了解手术结果则是另一回事.

“The diagnosis was cancer, and it was gut-wrenching. What is it that makes us think we’re invincible?” he questions in hindsight. “我很感激我的妻子梅里(Merrie)在那里，她向我保证我们会一起度过难关.”

The Start of a Long Road

After receiving the diagnosis, Jerry and Merrie, along with their daughter, Kelly, and son, Jason, began to prepare themselves for the journey ahead.

“I was filled with fear, 但我也想尽我所能帮助我的父亲武装起来面对即将到来的事情,” Kelly remembers. “Jason and I started researching, and we became hopeful. If it was stage 1 or 2 colon cancer, survival rates were high.”

But after additional scans, the family’s hopes were dashed. 诊断结果是毁灭性的:4期结肠癌、直肠癌和肝癌.

“It was hard to wrap my mind around it,” Jerry says. “The prognosis was not good, 但我很感激奥特鲁的医生对我表现出的同情和同情. 我也感到幸运的是，我的家人和我在一起，让我放心，我们会尽我们最大的努力.”

Soon they were meeting with their oncologist, Daniel Walsh, MD, 是谁制定了治疗方案并咨询了梅奥诊所的专家. 而杰瑞一开始并不确定他是否想要接受化疗, as he knew the side effects could be difficult, he understood it was his best chance to beat the cancer.

“与癌症作斗争可能是世界上最孤独的感觉之一, but we quickly learned that we were far from alone,” Jerry says. “我们发现奥特鲁癌症中心的整个团队都在为我们加油, and I am grateful for every one of them. They are simply amazing.”

Staying Strong

On the day after Easter, Jerry’s chemo treatments began. He would have a total of 12 cycles, three days every other week, 在癌症中心进行三到四个小时的静脉注射, followed by 48 hours with a portable, wearable chemo pump. 而化疗及其副作用对每个病人来说都是不同的, Jerry 's由三种不同的药物组成，有很多副作用. They included extreme fatigue, 食欲和体重下降(35磅，手术后再增加10磅), mouth sores, hair loss, hearing loss, and chemo fog, 或者是化疗药物导致的精神敏锐度下降. He also experienced neuropathy in both his hands and feet.

“The neuropathy caused several problems, including balance issues, difficulty with fine motor skills such as buttoning a shirt, tying my shoes, 捡起一些小东西或翻页一本书，这对像我这样的狂热读者来说是令人沮丧的,” Jerry says. “但这是为来到这里的特权付出的小小代价.”

对大多数接受化疗的病人来说，神经病变是暂时的. Jerry, however, 被告知要期待他的一些可能会变成永久性的, given the time it has persisted. For Jerry, 神经病变包括针和针的感觉和冰冷的手几乎不断.

Answered Prayers

随着化疗接近尾声，扫描结果显示肝脏肿瘤几乎看不出来. It was the news they had been praying for. 杰里被转介到梅奥诊所的结肠直肠和肝脏外科医生那里.

“我再一次被我所得到的富有同情心的照顾程度所震惊, with an entire team of experts collaborating on my behalf,” Jerry says. “It all felt like a miracle.”

After two more rounds of chemo back home, 9月，杰里和他的家人回到梅奥诊所进行肝脏消融和结肠直肠手术, 接着是回肠造口术——在结肠愈合时，将小肠重新导向腹部的一个开口，用于排出废物. Jerry would receive the best possible results.

Just a few days after surgery, Mayo Clinic colorectal surgeon Kevin Behm, MD, and oncologist Zhaohui Jin, MD, 传达了这个消息:他们没有发现癌症的迹象.

“我记得医生告诉我们，他们很少看到像他这种诊断和癌症阶段的病人对治疗有如此完全的反应,” Kelly says. “It was a miracle.”

Prayers had been answered, indeed. There were a few more bumps along the road. 10月份的一次术后检查发现杰瑞的肺部有一个血块，并对其进行了治疗. 接下来是最后四个疗程的清理化疗(辅助治疗)，以减少癌症复发的机会.

On Nov. 感恩节的前一天，杰里最后一次把水泵卸下来. With his family there to celebrate, 他终于摇响了化疗结束的铃.

“It was music to my ears,” Jerry says. “And I had so much to be thankful for.”

Looking Ahead

今年1月，杰里回到梅奥诊所接受回肠造口手术. He shared how thankful he is for another successful surgery, 尽管他的恢复很艰难，而且还在起起伏伏.

He now has checkups every three months, 连续两年每月进行循环肿瘤DNA检测，并计划在4月份进行结肠镜检查和CT扫描. And while he still has lingering effects from the chemo, some of which may be permanent, 杰瑞充满了感激和希望，希望其他人也有类似的经历.

杰瑞和梅里都表达了他们对每一个参与他们旅程的人的感激之情——尤其是凯利和杰森, with whom it often seemed they had reversed roles.

“We could not have gotten through this without them,” Jerry says. “I know I’m here today through the grace of God, 祈祷的力量以及奥特鲁和梅奥诊所出色的医疗团队. Nowhere in the world could I have received any better care.”

When Should You Get a Colonoscopy?

美国癌症协会建议，结直肠癌平均风险人群在45岁时开始筛查, 要么每10年做一次结肠镜检查，要么用其他筛查方法. Talk to your doctor about which option is right for you. 如果由于家族病史或其他因素，你患结肠直肠癌的风险较高, you might need to start screening earlier.

了解结直肠癌的征兆也很重要. 如果出现排便习惯持续改变等症状, blood in your stool or abdominal pain, talk to your doctor right away.

患结直肠癌平均风险的患者应该在45岁时开始筛查. To schedule a screening colonoscopy, call 701.780.6533 or use MyChart.