My story: They used words like ‘aggressive’ and ‘advanced’

“Off and on through most of my adult life, I thought I had hemorrhoids, or something related. In 2006, at the age of 52, I went to Dr. Wayne Tuckson. He did a colonoscopy, and found I had stage 4 colon/rectal cancer.

“He shared a treatment plan with my family and me, explaining we were “playing catch-up”. He sent me to 2 other great doctors, Dr. Thomas Woodcock for chemo and Dr. William Spanos for radiation. I did chemo (Avastin) 24/7, through a pick in my arm, and went to radiation 5 days a week at Brown Cancer Center. I received a 24 hour quarantined radiation as well.

“They thought I would quite possibly lose my colon. Well, the cancer went away.Yippee! However, a few months later, it had re-appeared in my liver, again stage 4. They used words like “aggressive” and “advanced”. So they put a port in my chest, and I did chemo again.

“Dr. Charles Scoggins took out 65% of my liver. (The liver grows back.) I am happy to say that everything worked. Since 2007, I have had no cancer, and feel fine. I have had a couple of colonoscopies and CT scans. I know that anything could change tomorrow, but I am grateful to the doctors, and other health care professionals, who helped me through.”

— Ben Houchens, Louisville, Ky.