Recognizing the Signs: Nick’s Story of Early Symptoms, HER2 Testing and Hope

Nick shares his experience recognizing early signs of stomach cancer, navigating diagnosis, learning the importance of HER2 testing, and finding strength through treatment, family support, and hope for the future. His story highlights the value of self‑advocacy, supportive care teams, and staying hopeful through treatment.

Transcription:

Nick: We were on a family vacation in Colorado and we were having lunch and I was eating a hamburger, and all of a sudden, I couldn't swallow my food. And it was very painful...But that was the first sign, really. That would've been December of '23. By January of '24, the following month we were out at dinner with some friends, and I was having a steak. And the pain from eating that steak was even more than eating that burger....I went and told my wife, and that's when she said, "Tomorrow morning, we're making an appointment. You're going to go see a doctor."

I remember the moment I was told I had cancer by the doctor who did my endoscopy. I thought he was wrong. In fact, I said to him, I said, “Are you sure? Because I think you have the wrong chart.” And then I said, “Don't you have to send a biopsy?” He goes, “Yes, we will biopsy it. We will do further testing to give you a more definite diagnosis. But right now, I can tell you, you have cancer.”

From the moment I was told I had cancer, I was very confused. I didn't think it was possible. Here I was a healthy man. Every year I had gotten physicals and I was always told, you're healthy. I've never been on medication. I've never been admitted to a hospital.

After being diagnosed with stomach cancer, my doctor and I, we talked about several treatments and several strategies of how we were going to take this on. So what they did was they reconstructed my small intestines to what they call a pouch. It's about two ounces big. So obviously I can't eat the same amount of food that you eat. I also don't have acid or enzymes to break food down so I have to eat very small portions, and I have to chew my food very finely.

Automatically I lost 15, 20 pounds right from the get-go. And then being able to put that weight back on is a struggle. I mean, I literally have to eat 6, 7, 8 times a day just so I don't lose weight. If I do too much cardio, I mean, I can literally lose half a pound in one workout. I'm sure a lot of people would love that option, but trust me, it's not as glamorous as it may sound.

I remember early on receiving paperwork online about some of the test results, and one of them was talking about how I had tested positive for HER2. Now it was in medical terminology, so I didn't quite understand if I qualified or not. But my oncologist reassured me of that in that first visit. He gives me this big hug and he says, you tested positive for HER2, and this is going to help you, Nick.

After I was done through all the treatments, my doctor had a serious conversation with me and he said, “I didn’t want to tell you this when you were going through your treatment, Nick, because I didn't want it to scare you.” He goes, “But I can tell you now that the kind of cancer that we found in your body was extremely aggressive. And if you would've waited just a little bit longer, you probably wouldn't be here today.”

All my life, I thought I was invincible. And then this kind of woke me up to, hey, you're not invincible, Nick. But I'm glad I learned that later in my career because all my career, I always had that confidence. Going into search warrants, we’re knocking down people's doors, I never worried, not once ever, because I felt that my training, I felt that my physical abilities would always overcome whatever danger I was going to face. And then you get told this, and you realize you're not immortal. You are just a human.

So I think what helped me get through it the most obviously, was my faith. And beyond that, though, my family played a big role. My oldest daughter is the emotional one. So she provided me with an extreme amount of emotional support. My second daughter is my health nut. So she did all the research on treatments, on food, on exercise, on mental health as well. And then my youngest one, she was just pure joy. She just kept me upbeat and positive and she just cracked me up. And then of course, my wife was just a rock. She was just always there for me and never gave up on me and keeping the family strong.

So one of the advantages of being a part of an online support group is we get a lot of newcomers who have a lot of questions. And what I start by telling them is, you have to be the best advocate for yourself.

One of the first questions I'll ask someone. Were you tested for HER2? Some were, some were not. And then I highly encourage it if they hadn't gotten the test. I said, you definitely want this test, especially when it comes to stomach cancer... because I know the significance that it has on treatment and success.

It's just very rewarding when you use your own challenging experience to help others. And that's what I'm doing now as being on the other side of cancer. I'm definitely using the experience that I went through to help other people.

My life hasn't changed significantly, but I would say that my outlook on life now is way more positive than it was before. And not that it wasn't positive, but now it's just an added bonus because I can look at my family, I can hang with my friends and just realize, you know what? Time is precious....I find myself catching sunsets or the moon, and you just think, wow, thank God I'm here and thank God I can enjoy this. And hopefully I have many more years to go.

So I'd like to say to people, no matter what your diagnosis is, no matter what challenge is ahead of you, you have to have hope, hope is what's going to get you through it... and you got to find that hope wherever you can, whether that be your doctor team, your family, the community, your friends, you got to find it and you got to cling onto it, and you got to focus on that hope because that’s what's going to get you to the other side of it.