Kristopher Miranda: Overcoming Challenges with a Stage 3 Diagnosis

Kristopher Miranda received his stomach cancer diagnosis 1.5 months after his wedding day. Incredibly, it wasn’t his wife’s first time as a caregiver for someone with stomach cancer - her mother had stage 4 stomach cancer in 2007 and passed away in 2008 at age 42.
Kristopher credits her unconditional love and support for helping him survive. His stomach cancer journey began when he had trouble swallowing food. Initially, doctors thought he had acid reflux and indigestion, so they prescribed medications for those conditions. These meds didn’t help, and Kristopher knew something was seriously wrong when he began having black tarry stool.
Kristopher visited the doctor again and had an endoscopy. The procedure revealed a six-centimeter tumor in his stomach that was pushing against the bottom of his esophagus. Further testing showed the cancer had spread to the surrounding lymph nodes. The surgeon was hesitant to do a gastrectomy because of the widespread nature of the cancer, but they pushed forward with aggressive treatment since Kristopher was young and healthy.
Kristopher gathered a few opinions and began treatment as soon as he could. He did eight cycles of chemotherapy before the surgery. This was tough on Kristopher’s body, but it did the trick - the tumor shrunk significantly.
He had his partial gastrectomy in 2020. Unfortunately, there were some complications, including a leak at the junction of his remaining stomach and esophagus. Kristopher ended up with an infection, cardiac arrhythmia and other struggles. While in the hospital, he fought his battles alone since he couldn’t have visitors due to COVID. Finally, after two weeks, Kristopher was sent home to continue recovering. He has been in remission ever since.
Kristopher’s advice is to always keep hope. His cancer journey has been a roller coaster, with the low point being the realization that he may not be able to have children after his surgery. Thankfully, he was able to work with a fertility clinic to help ensure that he could have a family in the future. Kristopher thought he’d never be able to conceive naturally after extensive testing and consultations with various doctors. But miraculously, he and his wife had their first baby - a little boy - in March of 2022.

[@peggysue7898]

Sending you prayers of continued remission. 🙏 ❤

[@K9sf]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Thanks to all the care givers! All are heroes!

[@archangel1527]

God bless you, your health and family. I wish you a long, happy, healthy life.