A woman facing a terminal diagnosis due to a ‘preventable’ cancer is sharing an important message that could potentially save lives.
Jamie Comer, a resident of San Francisco, was just 47 years old when a blood test indicated something was amiss. Doctors then informed her she had stage four colon cancer, which had spread to her liver.
In a 2023 interview with ABC 7 News, Comer recounted, “I had 45 tumors on my left side and 12 tumors on my right side and that I would likely die in three to six months.”
Comer underwent extensive chemotherapy, with sessions lasting between eight to 11 hours over three consecutive days every other week to combat the aggressive cancer.
Additionally, she had an infusion pump implanted in her abdomen to deliver chemotherapy directly to her liver. This treatment left her with ‘low energy’ and a persistent feeling of ‘vague nausea.’
“I feel like my insides are burning up. I feel hot,” she remarked at the time.
Despite receiving this terminal diagnosis in 2016, Comer has beaten the odds. Almost a decade later, she has only recently transitioned into hospice care.
Reflecting on her longevity, Comer shared, “The power of having children. I had an eight-year-old … I did not have permission to go.”
The determination to survive led Comer to endure an ‘intense’ treatment regimen, which included 190 rounds of chemotherapy, seven surgeries, and between 60 to 70 scans.
Last month, she was taken off chemotherapy and now only receives medication to manage pain.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision. There were no treatment options that were working and the chemo was making me sicker so I couldn’t recover,” she explained.
“Do I fight really hard or do I just give in?” she recounted asking her hospice nurse.
Comer’s journey underscores the importance of colon screenings. She emphasizes that an earlier colonoscopy might have saved her life.
At 47, when Comer had her blood test, the recommended age for a colonoscopy was 50.
“Subsequent to that, the screening age was moved to 45. If that had been the case and I had been screened, I would have been inconvenienced for maybe 18 months but it would not have been a death sentence.”
“I’m really a pain in the butt. I keep saying the same thing – screen early, what about this, try this,” she added.
Colorectal cancer remains the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and the fourth-leading cause among women in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates it will claim approximately 52,900 lives this year.
While diagnoses have decreased since the mid-1980s due to increased screenings and lifestyle changes, the charity notes that rates have risen by 2.5 percent annually from 2012 to 2021 in individuals younger than 50.
Healthcare professionals recommend that people with a family history of colon cancer start screenings at age 40 or, if a family member was diagnosed at age 40, to begin screenings at age 30.
If you’re affected by these issues and need someone to talk to confidentially, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or through their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.