Caregiver for Shigeo Tsuruoka, Stage 3B, Turning Fear into HOPE for Stomach Cancer

When Aki Smith’s dad, Shigeo Tsuruoka, was diagnosed with stomach cancer, the doctor handed her a pamphlet for colon cancer. This was all they had to distribute to patients and their families at the time. This served as a seed for Hope for Stomach Cancer, an organization that Aki has passionately poured her energy into for years.
Shigeo’s cancer journey began in November of 2013, when he was seen in the ER for gastric bleeding and heartburn. His brother had died of stomach cancer, and he already knew the symptoms and figured the news wouldn’t be good. They ran a bunch of tests, including an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. Shigeo asked the GI doctor if he had stomach cancer, and he told him no. He was discharged with diverticulitis.
Soon after, Aki scheduled an appointment with his primary care doctor. The appointment was a physical, so Aki let her dad go to the doctor by himself. Shigeo was told he had stomach cancer and had 6 months to liver. Aki says that her world fell apart as soon as she heard the news.
They returned to the GI doctor and demanded answers - the pathology report showed that he had cancer, and they did a scope and CT scan to confirm the presence of cancer. The entire experience was overwhelming and frustrating. Doctors at the community hospital had conflicting opinions about Shigeo’s diagnosis and staging.
Eventually, Shigeo was seen at a different institution. They staged him (3b). He had a tumor was 7.5 cm (it grew 5 cm in 6 weeks), and lots of lymph node involvement. Shigeo also had the HER2 biomarker, which made him eligible for immunotherapy. He did these treatments for a year. In total, Shigeo had six cycles of chemotherapy, a total gastrectomy, a year of targeted therapy, and 25 radiation treatments.
Treatment was difficult for Shigeo - many of his teeth broke and he developed an involuntary tick. He transitioned to radiation, but that was even tougher. Shigeo could barely eat or drink, and he was extremely miserable. They accidentally hit his pancreas as well, which caused irreversible damage.
The targeted therapy was the easiest treatment - it was straightforward and didn’t include major side effects. The whole family did not celebrate when they learned that the treatments were over.
Aki describes being lost and overwhelmed when she discovered that her father had stomach cancer. But she told herself that if her dad survived, she would do everything she could to give back. She started Hope for Stomach Cancer in 2016. Aki wanted to create a community for people to navigate this diagnosis since it’s so rare, and there were so few resources at the time that Shigeo was diagnosed. Her hope is that Hope for Stomach Cancer won’t need to exist five years from now because we’ll have a cure.

[@jessicafang8389]

Thank you! Let’s all work for that HOPE!!!

[@K9sf]

Thank you Aki!

[@mariaotriz9387]

Thank you Aki for all you do for our community. You help so many with so much information when they find themselves in such a dark place. God bless you.

[@HopeForStomachCancer]

Thank you