Support Bill's Fight Against Cancer

Hello friends,

A few of us have gotten together to help Bill and Kelly Gilles and their sweet family. In January, Bill was diagnosed with colon cancer. While he is bravely fighting the cancer, unfortunately he is unable to work during this time. The Gilles family has always been quick to lend a helping hand to many of us, and now it's our time to return the favor.

Below is a message from Bill, and a medical update on his cancer journey thus far. Please join us in supporting the Gilles family during this difficult time.

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On New Year’s Eve I had the shortest colonoscopy ever. The GI got the scope a few inches past the rectum and hit a brick wall. He couldn’t pass the scope through the small opening in the donut shaped tumor (called an apple core lesion due to its inverse image on scans). This explained the pain I experienced the past 5 months. I thought I was suffering another bout of diverticulits which I had resolved with anti-biotics five and ten years ago, but the pain was purely physical - trying to push through a tiny opening.

The GI told me I would definitely need surgery and the tumor needed to be evaluated for cancer. A week later, the pathologist confirmed cancer. I spent the next week navigating the surgical/insurance/referral complex, and after about a half dozen tries landed on a surgeon, hospital and location that would accept my insurance.

On January 24th, I went in for colorectal resectional surgery. In short, the surgeon would remove the section of colon with the tumor and then re-attach the colon to the rectum. In truth, this surgery is incredibly complex, fraught with complications (colostomy bags, clipping urinary tract, colon rupture) that could be uncomfortable to lethal and entails hours of having your guts separated by cuts and cauterization. Fortunately, the surgeon was able to get me in quickly. The emergency version of this surgery has a lethality rate of 20%, and only 4% if properly planned. The surgeon also took her time, spending 8 hours instead of the scheduled 4 to carefully dis-entwine my spleen from my colon.

I spent the next three days on an epidural to block the pain, but after 3 days I was in reasonably good shape, was able to walk and able to eat small meals. I was discharged and the surgical wounds healed up quickly. Thankfully no complications, no colostomy bags, and I was able to avoid pain pilsl after my first night home. I credit the surgeon’s skill with my recovery.

As well as the surgery went, the pathology report was disappointing. The tumor had ruptured the colon wall and spilled into the arterial supply/drainage area. In the mass of tissue removed with the colon, the pathologist found tumors in 5 of the 43 lymph nodes and a small free floating tumor. The only good news was that there was no sign of spread to other organs. This put me at Stage 3c.

Since this staging, I’ve had a couple of scares. The UF team conducted an all hands review to investigate if the cancer has spread to my rectum. Thankfully their review decided to proceed with colon cancer treatment vs. reclassifying as rectal cancer.

My oncologist discovered 3 shadows in my liver on a CT scan and ordered an MRI. Thankfully the MRI came back as “likely benign”.

On March 2nd, I started chemotherapy. At first, the oncologist suggest Cape-ox for three months, but is now recommending 6 months. I recently started my second round of chemo, and round 2 has hit much harder than round 1. I’m hoping the chest cold I have is the primary culprit, but chemo gets worse with time. I still have my hair, but I’ve had to deal with neuropathy, inability to touch or drink anything cold (which includes room temperature drinks or items in Florida!), lip sores, face rash, general queasiness, loss of appetite, and ridiculous fatigue. Getting ready in the morning (shower, dress, meal) is enough to make me want to crawl back in bed. Basically 45 minutes of sustained effort kicks my butt.

There’s probably not a good time to get cancer, but this one caught me between jobs. I rolled off a campaign job in late November, and lets just say the cancer diagnosis hasn’t been conducive with a job search. I have applied for disability, but that takes 3-6 months to determine so we have been living off of savings, tax returns, and help from my parents. Thankfully the health insurance has covered the medical bills (I hit my deductible about 12 minutes into my surgery). But the financial stress of everyday expenses and bills has been mounting. Kelly is doing what she can, but the chemo has removed me from being able to help around the house and with the kids - so much of that is falling on her.

As for the kids, three of them are young enough that they are duly unimpressed. They know I’m sick, the surgery recovery and chemo make that obvious, but they don’t grasp the gravity of it. Gracie has a better grasp, but in her stoic approach is handling it in her own way. I think she chooses to be internally brave and unflinching. Kelly took it pretty hard, but has since decided I won’t be dying, so I’ve got that going for me!