Shawn Thomas - Colon Cancer

Everyone’s life has been impacted by cancer. Some are survivors who have personally faced and/or continue to battle cancer. The rest of us are family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors of those whose lives were changed forever, because of it. Shawn Thomas is no exception.  For the past 15 years, she has lived through both of these unwelcome scenarios.  

In 2009, Shawn was at work when she received a call that her husband, Paul, was being taken to the hospital. She immediately left work to take her husband herself. She stayed for hours and then went home for the evening. Paul and the doctors had given her no reason to think it was overly serious. So, the next morning before going to the hospital, she went to an appointment at the hair salon. She was about to begin getting her hair shampooed when her phone rang. It was Paul, she answered and was ready for him to ask her to bring him something from home. Shawn’s voice dropped as she described what she heard next, “He told me. ‘Oh well so they said I have cancer.   I was like ‘Who told you that?!?!?’ He said he couldn’t remember, but it was an oncologist”. Shawn immediately left for the hospital. She called Dr. Bhavsar, their trusted family physician, on the way. He told her that he would meet her at the hospital shortly. A short time later, as Paul sat in a hospital bed, an oncologist she had never met before came in the room and began discussing his cancer.   Shawn erupted at the doctor. “How are you, someone we’ve never met coming in here and just telling us this!” She demanded the doctor leave the room and did not want to see any other doctors until Dr. Bhavsar, could talk to them. When Dr. Bhavsar arrived, Shawn began questioning her doctor on the news they had just heard for the first time. Paul stared out the window, avoiding the conversation. Dr. Bhavsar asked Paul, “Is there anything you’d like to tell your wife or would you like me to talk to her?” Paul sat silently and stared out the window. Dr. Bhavsar suggested he and Shawn leave the room and they went to the hall to speak.

Shawn didn’t care where they spoke. She wanted to know what was going on, what was the next step, what were the options.   Paul had sat silent, as he knew the conversation that was going to be had was one Shawn wished she had been included in years earlier.   You see, Paul had been battling lung cancer for years. He had received treatment, had many other appointments, and even required brain surgery.   He had instructed his physicians to not tell his wife he had cancer, even though many times she went with him to appointments. He wanted to protect her from his struggle. But now in this room, Dr. Bhavsar told Shawn that Paul only had weeks to live. Shawn recalls, “That’s when I hit the floor. All of a sudden, things began to make sense. All the doctors’ appointments that we used to go together for, Paul had been rescheduling for times I was at work”. The brain surgery had been because the cancer had metastasized to his brain, but he led her to believe it was for other symptoms. Procedures that she had believed were to treat other conditions had been for cancer. They had gone to doctor appointments together, but when Paul needed to go to the lab or for tests, the doctor would stay back and chat with Shawn so Paul could keep his secret.  

Regret, anger, confusion, and heartache sat with Shawn as Paul lived his last days having fought a battle alone. Paul passed on July 5, 2009. Shawn continued as millions of others do, walking among us, without the partner they weren’t prepared to live without.

Years passed and while life never was the same, it continued. Time, family and friends, particularly her best friend Barbara, helped her live in her new reality. Shawn recalls that in early 2023 she was enjoying retirement.   Her life was full of energy & adventure. She was travelling a lot, having fun, enjoying retirement.

Then in June 2023 something felt different. She was tired and uncomfortable. Her symptoms were consistent with a UTI, she was treated with antibiotics and felt better. Over the next few months, she developed diarrhea and again began to feel drained. By Thanksgiving weekend, it had gotten so bad that she went to urgent care, as she didn’t think she would be able to make it until Dr. Bhavsar was available the next week. She was diagnosed with a sinus infection and was given antibiotics. Dr. Bhavsar added another medication to address blood counts, and medication for her diarrhea which was attributed to diabetic colitis. Again, she improved. She finished the medications at Christmas and she recalled, “I finally felt myself again.”

That feeling was short lived and within a few days of completing her medications, she felt worse than she had over the previous 6 months. Barbara took her to the ER. During her stay there, they identified blood in her stool and the doctors urged her to be admitted to the hospital. Given it was a holiday weekend, she didn’t feel anything could really be done. Shawn denied admission and went home agreeing to get a colonoscopy with Dr. Hadi Atassi within the next 2 weeks.

Shawn was weak, tired, had blood in stool, but still was not prepared for what she was going to learn from the colonoscopy. “I didn’t want to get a colonoscopy. Dr. Bhavsar had been pushing me for years to get one. You know I’m not afraid to go to the doctor, I always did whenever I needed to. But I never brought myself to get the scope, even though I had been advised to do so for years”. As she awoke from the colonoscopy, Dr. Atassi asked her how she felt. She replied, “I feel great”. In a calm, but serious manner, Dr. Atassi told Shawn, “You have cancer”. Shawn recalls, “I heard the words, but it didn’t make sense. I asked, ‘how do you know if the results of biopsy aren’t done?’ Dr. Atassi solemnly explained that he had ‘seen too many cases and I know’.  His lips continued to move, but I can’t tell you a word he said. I was blacked out the same way I was when Dr. Bhavsar had told me Paul only had weeks to live. I cried, but I can’t tell you anything else”.

Shawn gathered herself and immediately told Barbara her condition. She called her sisters on the drive home from the appointment.   She spoke to Dr. Bhavsar who referred her to Dr. Michael Tallarico at Northwest Cancer Centers. She recognized Dr. Tallarico’s name from months earlier when Dr. Bhavsar had urged her to see him regarding her blood counts. Within a couple days she was sitting in front of Dr. Tallarico with her sister Gwendoly and niece Robin. Robin recorded their conversation as Dr. Tallarico discussed options for colon cancer that included surgery and follow up molecular testing. “Dr. Tallarico was upbeat and positive and clearly communicated the good news and the bad news. I felt comfortable with him, Iike I did with Dr. Bhavsar who I’d known for years”. Dr. Tallarico referred Shawn to Dr. Terrence Dempsey at Community Hospital who successfully removed the cancer from her colon. Shawn was relieved at Dr. Dempsey’s report and felt she was in the clear. At a follow-up appointment Dr. Tallarico discussed that the molecular testing he ordered had identified that she was not out of the woods yet. Shawn’s seemingly eternal smile disappeared as she described, “It turns out the Signatera molecular testing identified there was a problem that would need further investigation. Dr. Tallarico began discussing the options for addressing a spot on the liver. I was in shock and was like no, no, no! I wanted to do whatever I needed to do, but I felt like I’d never heard this before. It was like I was lied too. My sister and niece reminded me that that this had been part of the plan all along. Robin played the recording of my first appointment with Dr. Tallarico where he had explained this”. Jokingly, Shawn recalls, “I was so upset, but hearing the recording I was relieved that Dr. Tallarico wasn’t a liar, because I really liked him.” She continued with a smile that turned serious, “This is all so overwhelming, you try, you listen, you understand. But you are also confused, scared, and the emotions block out words. I don’t think you can understand unless you live it”.

Dr. Tallarico’s proposed plan to address the liver included surgery by a specialist, Dr. Matthew Dixon at Rush University. Following a successful surgery, Shawn was again ready to “return to normal”.   But she had an additional step of “adjuvant therapy” to help make sure the surgeries she had over the past year would have the results she so desperately wanted. This treatment would include months of both oral and infusion chemotherapy. Shawn struggled with the thought of continuing treatment, especially one that would include some potentially tough side effects.   Barbara was with her as she met with Dr. Tallarico, nurses, pharmacists, and team members at Northwest Cancer Centers as they discussed not only the reasons for the, but the plan to address the side effects.   Shawn knew this would be the most difficult part of her journey to date. She was scared, tired, and ready for treatment to be over. But she also knew this was the path to her “return to normal”. Every time she walked into the cancer center, she put smiles on faces, greeted fellow patients and staff with boisterous hellos and smiles.

Over the next 4 months, she outwardly displayed energy and positivity that did not match how she felt inside. In fact, Barbara reflects, “She has a chair in the middle of the kitchen so she could take a break halfway to the fridge. It was a struggle just to walk across the room, but she’s doing it.” Shawn chimed in, “Sometimes when I wasn’t looking Barbara would do something for me that I was intending to do and it would tick me off. I’d get angry with her, but I know I needed the help. I really did. I just don’t want to ask for it. But she saw I needed it. She knew I wanted to do for myself. But it wasn’t always possible”.

Shawn paused briefly, and then continued, “I’d say everyone when they go through this needs to try to do what you can for yourself. But you also need to know when you can’t. Push yourself, but don’t hurt yourself. Let others help you. Whether it’s your doctors, friends, or family. Let them help you. God is putting them there for a reason”.  

Today, Shawn recently completed her adjuvant therapy and looks forward to living free of the side effects of treatment, weekly appointments, and exhaustion. The emotional strain of awaiting the next scan or test results is something she lives with every day. Shawn said, “One thing people who don’t have cancer might not understand is, being done with this treatment, doesn’t mean you’re done with cancer in your life. It’s always there”.   Those around her may find this story surprising. When you hear her strength and determination, listen to her laugh, hear her positivity, it masks the struggle that a survivor pushes through every day. She recalls a conversation with her sister Geraldine when her sister told her that she sounds so strong, “I’m like I don’t feel strong, come lay eyes on me. My voice can’t tell the story.   What others don’t understand is patients have a choice, and it’s a tough one. We push ourselves and act strong, everyone treats us like we won! But we don’t feel like we won anything. We’re still fighting to even walk across a room”. She laughed, “Right now I feel like I can run a marathon, later today I might not. $h#!, in a few minutes I may not”!

Like many survivors, Shawn does not offer much advice to fellow survivors. Her perspective is that everyone’s journey and experience is different. Only a fellow survivor can truly appreciate the challenges, but they all fight on differently. Paul chose to walk his journey alone, because that is who he was. It may have upset Shawn, but it wasn’t her journey, it was his. On her path, she chose to immediately tell family and friends. She chooses to accept help when it is given. She chooses to trust her doctors, but advocates for herself and makes sure to understand what is being done and why. She’s chosen to move forward with every surgery and treatment that she’s been offered so far because that is what she wants to have the best chance for living a longer and fulfilling life. But that is not how everyone may choose to proceed.

Shawn is however willing to give advice to those of us who have not personally faced a cancer diagnosis.  

First, she offers advice to everyone as we get older. “Trust your doctors, even when you feel well. They aren’t telling you to get tests or screenings for no reason, or to trick you. I wish I had listened to Dr. Bhavsar and gone to get the colonoscopy years earlier. Everything I’ve been through would have been different if I had”.

Second, she has advice for those who have loved ones surviving and going through treatment today. “Don’t ask if you can help. JUST HELP. It’s always easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. Don’t say, if there is anything I can do for you, let me know. Those words are like a kick in the back. The last thing you want as a patient who already feels like they aren’t themselves is to start asking everyone around them to help, even if you need it. A survivor has enough to struggle with, without feeling like they are being a burden. Just help. They’ll appreciate it, even if they don’t act like it all the time”. Barbara and Shawn made eye contact and shared a laugh as those last words came out of her mouth.

As she has completed her treatment, Shawn is grateful to God for placing everyone on her path. She is grateful for her siblings and niece who helped her at the start of her diagnosis, her healthcare team led by Dr. Tallarico and Dr. Bhavsar who have guided her through a year of various treatments. She is most appreciative to Barbara who “just did, without asking”. Barbara has been by Shawn’s side at appointments, treatments, and sneaking past Shawn to complete daily tasks while Shawn took a break on her kitchen chair when a simple trip to the garbage seemed like it was a 10-mile hike.  

Shawn’s story is a testament to both the strength and struggles of survivors who face ups and downs in recovery that does not always follow the path they originally understood.   It is a testament to the advancements in cancer treatments. Just a few years ago, the molecular testing that identified metastasis to her liver was not available and Shawn’s journey may have taken a much different path with a less likely positive outcome.   But the most important part of Shawn’s survivor story is that she is here and chose to share it with us.

Note: Every patient’s cancer and treatment is unique and results are not typical of every patient undergoing treatment.