I’ve had 180 rounds of chemo… tragic reason I’m giving up after 10-year fight with ‘death sentence’ cancer
A California woman given just six months to live from ‘death sentence’ colon cancer is finally giving up treatments after nearly a decade.
Jamie Comer was 47 when a routine blood test came back with elevated liver enzymes, which help the liver break down nutrients, in 2016.
A colonoscopy revealed stage four colon cancer that had spread to her liver.
Suddenly, the fit mother-of-one from San Francisco had 57 tumors on her liver and just three to six months left to live.
However, nearly a decade and 180 rounds of chemotherapy later, Ms Comer is still not giving up on life.
But after the torturous treatments wore on her and left her even ‘sicker’ than before, the now 55-year-old has stopped the treatments and entered hospice care.
Ms Comer is now focusing on encouraging young patients to seek colon cancer screening and advocating for earlier screening guidelines.
While a colonscopy is considered the gold standard for detecting colon cancer, the recommended screening age does not start until age 45.
Jamie Comer (pictured here), 55, was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer nearly a decade ago and given just six months to live. She has survived 180 rounds of chemo and seven surgeries
Rates of colorectal cancer in Americans under 50 have risen over the past two decades. This graph shows the latest year for which data is available
This has changed from 50 when Ms Comer was diagnosed.
She told ABC 7 News if the recommended colon cancer screening age had been moved just a few years earlier, ‘I would have been inconvenienced for maybe 18 months, but it would not have been a death sentence.’
Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the US and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths.
The American Cancer Society estimates 154,270 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer this year, and 52,900 will die.
This includes 19,550 cases and 3,750 deaths in under-50s.
By 2030, colon cancer is estimated to be the biggest cancer killer in patients under 50.
Experts are still largely unsure what’s behind the epidemic, but obesity, diets high in processed meats and sugar, sedentary lifestyles, and environmental exposures like microplastics and antibiotics are several of the top theories.
While bloody stool, abdominal pain, weight loss, and changes in bowel habits are tell-tale signs of colon cancer, Ms Comer had no symptoms leading up to her diagnosis.
Instead, the only sign of trouble was elevated liver enzymes during a blood test.
Liver enzymes are proteins that help the liver produce and break down bile and rid the body of toxins.
Cancer that has spread to the liver damages protective cells and can lead to excess enzymes flooding into the bloodstream.
Ms Comer told ABC 7 News that following her diagnosis, she would spend eight to 11 hours three days every other week in doing chemotherapy treatments.
She also underwent seven surgeries to remove the tumors from her liver.
But after 180 rounds of chemotherapy and between 60 and 70 scans, Ms Comer made the decision to stop treatment and enter hospice care at home this year due to the lasting wear and tear from chemotherapy.
She said: ‘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.’
Ms Comer, pictured here with her husband and daughter, is now in hospice care and focusing on encouraging young patients to get screened for colon cancer
Ms Comer said that over the years, her advice to young people and doctors has stayed the same.
‘I’m really a pain in the butt. I keep saying the same thing – screen early,’ she said.
A colonoscopy is considered the gold standard for diagnosing colon cancer.
This involves inserting a long tube with a camera on the end into the anus and passing it through the rectum and colon.
If the doctor finds polyps during the exam, they will remove them and test them for cancer.
The American Cancer Society recommends getting a colonoscopy every 10 years starting at age 45. Prior to 2021, this began at age 50, making Ms Comer miss the age requirement to catch her cancer before it spread.
Ms Comer said: ‘To the problem in your life, you are the answer and you are the solution. You have to figure it out.’
Though she is no longer seeking treatment, she noted her husband and 17-year-old daughter have helped keep her from giving up on life itself.
‘Who would want to leave, who would want to leave this beautiful world with all this kindness?’ she said.
