Talk Shows & Stories : Bart & Judy Stewart

Bart Stewart's Initial Diagnosis

Listen With 21 minutes, 43 seconds

Bart: Hi, my name is Bart Stewart. I'm a 52-year-old male living in Lafayette, Louisiana, and I'm a three-year survivor of colon cancer. I discovered I had colon cancer in June of 97, after repeated trips to the doctor. I was having some what they call very subtle symptoms. I was having some bleeding, intermittent bleeding when I would go to the bathroom, and I was also having some dull aching pain in my lower abdomen that just didn't seem to go away. And I made an appointment with my family physician went up there to see him and he kind of took some tests and everything, and started treating me for a colon infection called diverticulitis, gave me high powered antibiotics, and I took those and the pain went away and the blood disappeared, and we thought we had everything under control.

The C Word

Bart: This was in June of 97, and about that time I had, at the end of May of 97, my daughter was getting married and we had all the family in and everything was great. We had a great weekend here when she got married, and real good and so everything was rocking along real fine, and then about a week later, after the antibiotics had worn off, the pain came back and the blood came back. So I went back to my family physician and talked with him a little bit about what was going on, and he scheduled me an appointment with a gastroenterologist to do the colonoscopy. That not being one of the most desirable things I thought I wanted to go through, I took it upon myself to cancel the appointment. And once my family doctor found out about it, he called me into his office and sat me down and talked to me like I was a three-year-old child, told me that I can't do that, that I had to go through the colonoscopy procedure because I might have cancer.

Bart: At that point in time, the first time he had mentioned the word "cancer" to me during the 3 or 4 weeks or a month or however long it was we were doing some treating. When he mentioned that, I kind of listened to him, because he's not only a good doctor but he's also become a close personal friend of mine, and to know that he's fussing at me, so to speak, was pretty serious, coming from him, because he's one of the most mild-mannered, softspoken individuals that I've ever known in my life. So, this was on a Tuesday and we scheduled the colonscopy for the Friday. Went in that Friday morning, had the colonoscopy procedure done, found out that I had two tumors in my colon and talked to him about what we had to do. And they said the only way you can do this is to surgically remove them. So it was on a Friday, we scheduled the surgery for first thing Monday morning, so this all happened pretty quick. In less than a week's period of time, we went from thinking we were totally healthy to having colon cancer surgery.

Successful treatment

Bart: After having the cancer surgery, I spent from Monday morning to like Friday afternoon or maybe it was Saturday afternoon, in the hospital recovering from it. And the test came back from the pathology report where they had sent off the two tumors, and they had also taken some lymph nodes and some other stuff in the area to make sure it hadn't spread. The test came back and said the cancer had not gotten out of the colon wall, but had an oncologist come in and we decided at that point in time to do six months of chemotherapy, the preventative type, where you went and had chemotherapy done three to five days in a row, they gave you three weeks off, and then you did five days in a row. We did this for a period of six different times, so I had thirty sessions of chemotherapy over a six month period of time, to make sure that the cancer was contained and hadn't spread.

Bart: Since then I've had another colonoscopy at the end of a year, which at that point in time I had a few polyps that they removed during the colonoscopy procedure, sent them off, they came back negative. Just recently, in June of this year, had my second colonoscopy checkup and thank goodness, everything is clear on that, there's no polyps or anything. I had CAT scans, I had blood work, chest x-rays, and from the oncologist and the gastroenterologist point of view, as we speak right now, which is August the 4th, cancer-free. And I think God for that and I thank Him for the good physicians that I had that took care of me and also for the family and friends that stuck by me during this procedure.

Neal: What was this whole process like for you?

The Early Signs

Judy: Well, I was with Bart whenever he had his scope done that day, but I had been noticing that there was a problem with Bart for about a half a year. I had told him, this was in June that he had the test done, but I had told him back in like November or December, I said, I really think there's something wrong. Because I could see there was a difference in color. He had a real pale appearance and I thought that perhaps he was anemic or, maybe there was stress, or I didn't know what the problem was. But I asked him at that time to go in and get checked to see if there was anything medically wrong. He went in for a checkup but you know, at that time he wasn't having any of the intestinal problems that he eventually had, and you know, the doctor checked him out and said he was okay. But then he started getting fever off and on, and lowgrade fever. He would run it like for three or four days, and he would get real cold, his body would get real cold, and he's a real warm-natured person. He's always, as a matter of fact around the house we'd fight over the thermostat because I'm cold natured he tends to be real warm natured, but I noticed that he was real cold. And this went on for several months and then he started having these other problems and that's what eventually led him to the testing.

Judy: But the day that he went in for the scope, you'd have to know Bart. Bart's a real outgoing person, he's active, he hunts, he fishes, he's on the go all the time. He loves a big yard so he can spend a lot of time outdoors. And having always been active like that, you know, when they came in and they told me while he was still under sedation, that he had a tumor and that they would need to go ahead and do surgery, well, it was really a shock for me because it was not something that I had expected. I thought they were just gonna say, yeah, there's a blockage of some kind, we're gonna go in and take care of it, but it never crossed my mind that it was cancerous. When he came in a told me that, a bit of disbelief on my part. I wanted to say, I wanted him to go back and check again because I could hardly believe the doctor when he told me that. And when Bart came back into the room after having his colonoscopy that morning, we talked about it, Bart was real positive that we've gotten the news now, we know what's wrong, and both of us were of the mind, okay, let's go ahead and have the surgery and get on the road to recovery.

Fighting the battle

Judy: We both were very positive about it and whenever we were in the hospital room that day, it was almost like there was another presence in there with us. As we were talking, we just kind of felt the presence of God. We knew that he was gonna be with us and that he was gonna help us through and walk us through the next few months, and we had a real peace about that. And Bart and I have talked about that so many times since that day about how we just felt the presence of God. And he went through the surgery, and it was very painful for him for the next few weeks. He gradually built up his strength. Bart like I say he's one of these people who just goes all the time, and he really wanted to hurry up and get back to work. We had had so many people come into the hospital room while we were there. There were so many of them, and he was sedated off and on, I was unsure how many people to let in, and who to let in when, but when Bart was awake, he said, I want to see everybody that I can, that comes in. So I knew that was his wish, so as many people as I could, I'd let come in a visit him.

Judy: But sometimes he didn't sleep well at night when he was in the hospital, and so I would ask them if they could please come back later, that he wants to see you, but if you could just come back a little bit later. He just fell asleep and he hasn't been sleeping very well, and they were always so good about it. We would have them sign, Bart wanted to know everybody that was coming to visit him in the hospital, so we would get them to sign the notebook you know. Whatever wishes they wanted to put down and sign their name, and when he'd wake up I'd say, okay, these are the people that have been to see you, so whenever he got out of the hospital, well, he wanted to make sure that he went around and visited everybody you know that he worked with and friends who had come to see him in the hospital.

Times Of Need

Judy: So we gradually after about a week and a half, he started getting out going places and I would drive him to work and to friends' houses, and I guess for about two weeks after that, I did most of the driving for him. You know, he would go and he would stay at work for an hour or so or two hours and then he would get kind of tired. You know, he couldn't stay in very long because that was a pretty big surgery and he would kind of know. I was overprotective as always and I would say okay, don't you think it's time for us to go. And he said, my body will tell me when it's time for me to rest. So I had to kind of back off a little bit and let him make the decisions about when he needed to rest and when he needed to get up and move around. So, over the next few weeks. I'm a teacher, and luckily I had the whole summer off. Of course it wouldn't have mattered because I would have taken off from teaching at that time to be with him during his recovery anyway, but I was not working that summer and I was able to go around with him. He was real positive through that whole summer, and then when he started his chemotherapy in the fall, once again I was fortunate in that I was able to get out of school, my planning hour that year was the last hour of the day. And he went for chemo one week of the month and I would take off the last hour of the day so I could be with him through the chemo. Because I think that's real important for people who are going through chemotherapy to have family members or friends around so that, you know, try to make this as positive an experience as possible and if when you go in with them and you see all that they go through. The clinic where he was going would allow the family members to come back and sit while they were going through chemotherapy, so you get to meet the other patients. You get to meet the nurses and you know them all first hand, and you know what your loved one is going through. That was a real important time for us. We got to know a lot of people and it's good to talk with other people who are going through the same thing that you're going through. That's why we feel so positive about this teleconference. And about this being taped so that other people who are going through this sort of situation and hear from another person what it was like for them. And you can draw from their experiences and know what to expect and able to identify with other people who are going through the same situation that you're going through.

Judy: He went through the chemotherapy and he had six months of that. He would get tired, off and on, we know with the chemotherapy, and once again, being a caregiver, you need to stand back and let them know when they're tired rather than you know tell them, don't you need to rest. I had to quit saying that after a point, because I knew he knew best about how much he could do and not do.

Bart and Judy's Lessons

Neal: From each of your perspectives, now that you've gone through this process, and I'm delighted to hear, it sounds like you're doing great, Bart, what advice from a patient's side for you Bart and from a caregiver's side for you, Judy, would you recommend other people going through this from a medical --- perspective. What would you recommend that people do that you learned that you'd say, what would you do differently or what would you tell the next person down the line to be sure to do?

Bart: I would definitely tell them to pay attention to what their body's telling them, because I had some of these signs for several months before I finally gave in, so to speak, and went to see a doctor. It's one of those male, macho things, you know. I was 49 years old at the time, I'm active, I mow my yard, I hunt, fish all the time, you know, I'm outside a lot and I don't smoke I don't drink. And you don't think that you're sick, you keep thinking this will pass, but sometimes it doesn't pass, and if I saw --- other folks if they think something's wrong with them, your body will tell you that this is not natural. And passing blood is not natural. So you need to go as soon as you discover that there's something wrong, because the key to not only cancer survival to a lot of other diseases is early detection. And fortunately I was able to catch mine in an early enough stage, because there was another guy in the hospital at the same time that had had colon cancer surgery on a Friday, the day I was doing my colonoscopy, he had surgery and his was a little further advanced than mine was, and unfortunately he didn't make it. We buried him in September of 97 as a result of the cancer. So, you know, just through the grace of God and some good physicians and a little urging from the family, you know, I went and got mine checked and found it early enough that I could survive for at least three years longer.

Judy: And I pretty much you know, believe in that same advice. Don't be afraid to talk to your doctor and tell him all the things that you feel. It might be nothing, but then again, there may be something there, and maybe all of your senses can let this doctor give him a sign as to what is wrong with you. So whatever problems you're having, don't be embarrassed to talk with your doctor about it. Let him know how you're feeling and if it's nothing, he can tell you that, or he can run a test, but if it is something then you can maybe find it in the early stages. And so as caregiver, the advice I would give to anyone who's going through this or has a loved one going through is it's important to have family and friends and as a family member you want to be there for your loved one. You know, go through as many of the procedures as you can with them, because they want to talk about it and when you're there with them, going through the procedure with them, you know exactly what they're going through, so you know it's important to go with them. If they go to chemotherapy and if they go for their testing, and you know, talk with them about it afterwards, because they do want to talk about it.

The Three F's

Neal: Great. You're probably both different people than you were when this all started. What's changed? How have you become different? How have you grown? Where'd you get the strength to make all this happen?

Bart: Well, you definitely are a changed person when a life threatening situation faces you like this. I wasn't a bad person before, but I'm a whole lot better person now because I have a so called different outlook on life, I realize that soon after this happened to me, of course the first thing you want to know is why me? But once you get past that, then you realize that why not me, because you're not any different or any better than anyone else. But I realize that there's only three things that are important in life, and first is your faith in God, which you know you gotta turn to him in times of crisis or I don't see how you make it through. And like Judy said earlier, we felt the presence of God early on, because we asked for some help and some guidance and some comforting, and that's instantaneous. It's not like you have to go get an appointment. So when you turn to god and ask for help, if you're a born-again Christian, the help is immediate. I mean, you can feel it right then.

Bart: The second thing that is important in your life is your family that you have. I mean they stay with you no matter what happens, and the third thing is the friends that you have. So I call that my three F's, which is Faith, Family and Friends. And after that, nothing else really matters in this life.

Judy: And I believe the same way about your faith. During this time you know your faith is very important to you, you pray and you talk to God every day and in that you know that he is with you through all. And you can find the strength and you say I don't know if I can do this or do that, but we are a lot stronger than we give ourselves credit for, and the things that you go through sometimes make you a stronger person. You realize that, hay, you can go through this. And Bart and I both have seen that, that whenever you go through a time of trial and you're tested then you know, sometimes you can draw from that strength that you didn't know you had.

Share Your Experience

Neal: That's great. So what do you look forward to, and is there any last thoughts you have for us?

Bart: The only thing is I have had an opportunity to become actually involved with the American Cancer Society and their Relay for Life events that they have. I was introduced to that in 98 and participated very heavily in that. And my way of fighting the cancer. I've got a history of cancer in my family as recently as last year. We buried my mother as a result of lung cancer, and my way of fighting it is to say, okay, I'm not giving in to you. I'm gonna fight it as hard as I can, and one of the best ways to do that is to help raise money for research. And all these other programs the ACS sponsors. I tell people everywhere I go that cancer is the best, worst thing that ever happened to me. I mean, we talked about it before, Judy and I have. She asked me about two months ago, if you could go back and not have cancer, would you do that? And my answer to that is no. I'd go through the whole thing all over again, because I have been able to go out and talk to people, and go to cancer support groups and talk one on one with people. Also in groups, and at the Relay for Lifes I've had opportunities to speak to people and tell them about my symptoms, about my change in life, about my relationship with God, how important my family and friends are to me. You know. I' m a cancer survivor, I'm happy for it. I wouldn't go back and change a thing.

Judy: And another thing, if you know someone who has cancer, if you know a loved one or a friend who has cancer, let them talk to you about it. Be open and willing to talk because a lot of people tend to shy away from discussions about cancer. They don't want to talk about it, they think it will just go way if they don't talk about it. But the person who's going through this, from what we have found, and I've asked this question a few weeks back: I said, do most people who are going through an illness like that, do they want to talk about it. He said yes, He said he had found out that in meeting other people that most of them do want to talk about it. So if you do have a loved one or a friend who's going through cancer, go by and visit them. Go talk to them, and let them tell you some of the things they're going through and what their feelings are.

Bart: I had a friend of mine several years ago that I had worked with a long time ago, I found out he had cancer and I called him one day, he was in the hospital there in Lake Charles Louisiana and I told him I said, I got a trip next week, and when I come back I'm gonna come visit you. Well, he died when I was off on the trip and I didn't get a chance to go see him. And I kind of made a little promise to myself at that point in time, that from then on, if I find out a friend of mine or a family member, has a terminal illness, I will make a point to go visit them before they pass on. Because like Judy said, they want you to come see them, and they want you to come visit them. It's hard to do but it's also something that feels good when you get through doing it. Because I had a friend of mine in a duck hunting club with me who died of lung cancer a couple of years ago and I went to see him about a week before he died. Sitting in his house talking to him, and as I walked out of his house, he shook hands with me, hugged me, and looked at me with tears in his eyes, and said, thank you for being my friend. And that's strong.

Parting Thoughts

Neal: I agree. That is. Boy. I think maybe that's the perfect place to end it, unless you all have other things you want to share.

Bart: I 've shared about as much, as I could go on talk about this for several hours, because I'm not ashamed of it and I don't mind sharing it with other people. And if it helps one person, for what I've been through, you know, to get through it or find out that they have a disease early enough to get it cured, well then, everything I've been through is worthwhile.

Neal: Well, thank you.

Judy: And I believe that if you could get a positive outlook about things, I think that would help people so much more. Bart, from the very beginning, had the most wonderful attitude toward the whole procedure. Every procedure he went through, he went through like nine procedures, in a year and a half, and he had a wonderful, positive outlook. So I think that's another thing that we could tell the people, you know, Stay Positive. Because I believe we can sometimes begin to heal ourselves with our attitudes towards things.

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