I think that for my first entry in the Stomp Out Cancer blog, I’ll tell the story of my patient, J.  I hope you find it as inspirational as I do. When I first met J, he was 19. 

It was fall, and he had just started his sophomore year of college at Johns Hopkins.  He was majoring in electrical engineering and computer science (a single major at his school). He went to the student health center in the spring of his freshman year, several months prior to meeting me, because he was having chest pain, but they did not found a cause.  Over the summer he returned home to Texas. 

The pain became increasingly worse, and he started having trouble breathing.  He thought it was just his asthma worsening, but his doctor did a CT scan and found a tumor!  J decided that he wasn’t going to let a tumor keep him from school, so he returned to Baltimore.  One week after his CT scan at home, he had one at Johns Hopkins that showed some new fluid around his lung, and he was referred to a surgeon for a biopsy.  A week later he had a diagnosis – Ewing’s sarcoma.  Because the treatment of Ewing’s sarcoma is very hard on patients, the doctors at the Student Health Center told J he should return home for treatment. 

J remained determined to continue his schooling, so rather than returning to Texas, he chose to be treated at Johns Hopkins, hoping that he could continue to take classes. I met J and his mother on September 28.  We talked about the diagnosis, about the prognosis, and about our treatment plan.  He was pleasantly surprised to hear that I was willing to treat him as an outpatient.  J had returned to Baltimore after his summer vacation knowing he had cancer, hoping to be able to continue with school while he was treated, and was thrilled when I encouraged him to do just that. Despite his initial optimism, J had a difficult time tolerating his therapy.  We had a very difficult time controlling the nausea caused by his chemotherapy.  His surgery was extensive, and he was in significant pain afterwards.  The pain medications, while effective at relieving the pain, many nights left him too groggy to study. 

Although we treated J as an outpatient, the treatment was still very time consuming, making it difficult for J to attend classes regularly. But J was determined to keep up with his school work.  During most of his clinic visits, J could be found sitting in his examination room studying, rather than watching TV or playing video games.  He made us schedule chemotherapy around his exams so he could take them with his class, rather than getting special treatment because he had cancer. The team taking care of J was amazed at his persistence.  Despite the nausea, despite the pain, despite 8 hospitalizations, countless clinic visits, and dozens of visits from nurses to his home, J persevered and continued to take classes.  He continued to study, even when he was nauseated and exhausted by his treatments.  He continued to take his exams.  And he did well!  This despite taking one of the toughest majors on campus.  The doctors, nurses, and the rest of the staff taking care of J were so impressed at his determination.  He started his treatment saying that he wasn’t going to let cancer stop him, and he didn’t.  He was determined to stay in school, and he did.  Under circumstances far more trying than those facing most of his classmates.  This dedication to maintaining his normal life regardless of what happened to him I find truly inspiring.

David Loeb, MD, PhD
http://doctordavidsblog.blogspot.com/