Q & A: Meet the St. Thomas man shedding light on the battle with stomach cancer
Jumbo the Elephant monument will be lit up in perwinkle blue on Nov. 30
"How does somebody live without a stomach?"
It's a question stomach cancer survivor Harvey Easton had to ask himself after a diagnosis about four years ago that left him with a total gastrectomy.
For Stomach Cancer Awareness Month this November, he's successful petitioned his home community of St. Thomas to join the movement in support of survivors and victims of the disease, by lighting up the local monument Jumbo the Elephant in periwinkle blue on Nov. 30.
The gesture is important to him because it raises awareness, but also tributes those lost to the disease.
It's estimated 4,000 new cases of stomach cancer are diagnosed each year, according to Health Canada. About 70 per cent of those diagnosed are expected to die within five years, according to data from 2015 to 2017.
Easton spoke to CBC Afternoon Drive host Matt Allen to mark the second year St. Thomas has shown support to stomach cancer victims and survivors.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
LISTEN:
Matt Allen: How did it feel to receive your stomach cancer diagnosis?
It was horrible because I had so many thoughts and emotions going through my my mind. The biggest question, of course: 'How does somebody live without a stomach?'
Then I was wondering where I could get support, what was going to happen, the process and how long I would be in hospital. It was not a good day.
MA: What treatment did you receive after your gastrectomy?
HE: The original surgery happened in November 2020. That surgery went extremely well. After about two weeks of being home, I started to very slowly take in hydration and nutrition. I noticed that it was very difficult to swallow. It got to the point in December that I was not able to take in any hydration or nutrition.
It was pretty bad and I was starting to lose weight rapidly, so I was admitted to the hospital. They immediately had to move forward with putting in a feeding tube.
It got to the point where I had lost a third of my body weight and I was really emaciated. My wife was very concerned. She was afraid that I was on my deathbed, unfortunately. The surgeons at that time made a decision to take me back in and do a third surgery called the revision surgery, and that was the life saver.
MA: What does life look like for you now?
HE: Vastly different. I can't take in much every day. I'm lucky if I can get to 1,500 calorie intake. I have to eat a meal every two hours and I have to separate hydration from those meals.
The meals have to be small and frequent. Eating has become an adventure. I find that some foods my body could tolerate a month or two prior, I have them again and my body rejects them.
MA: Are there any foods that you miss eating?
HE: I have to be careful with high fat meals. I do like yellow perch dinners and I have to be careful. Lactose is a problem and ice cream. I have to be very cautious of Halloween too. I miss chocolates and candy and Halloween.
MA: What do you want people to understand about what it means to battle an illness like stomach cancer?
HE: I think the the most important thing is there's still a lot of unknowns about gastric cancer.
I belong to a support group, and I'm hearing lots of stories every month from people that have been diagnosed. In fact, we're seeing more diagnosis in younger people. Just a couple of months ago we lost a new member who was 25 years of age. He was recently diagnosed and unfortunately he didn't survive. We're seeing it's more common. There's not very much known about stomach cancer because it's not that well known.
MA: You made this request to the city of St. Thomas to light up its Jumbo monument in periwinkle next week. Why is that important for you?
HE: Periwinkle is the colour that's associated with stomach cancer victims and survivors, much like pink is the one associated with breast cancer. So on November 30, it's International Gastric Cancer Awareness Day and all over the world famous landmarks will light up in periwinkle.
I made the request to the City of St. Thomas council to light up the Jumbo the Elephant monument that evening in periwinkle [blue] in recognition of those in this area who are diagnosed or battling or survivors of stomach cancer. It's important to me because it raises awareness, and also pays tribute to those that we have lost from this disease.
MA: I understand that this is the second year that this will happen in St. Thomas. What does it mean for you to see this support?
HE: I'm very grateful to see that they're progressive on this. All I can say is I try to encourage everybody that's suffering with gastric issues to get checked out because early diagnosis is key. My surgeon said to me that I was one of the fortunate ones. I was diagnosed in the early stages. Had I waited a couple of years, my outcome probably may not have had been as positive.