Diagnosis: high grade undifferentiated Sarcoma cancer
Date of Diagnosis: March 2020
Location: Skull
Dave’s Story
I noticed something odd when I was at my athletic club in the fall of 2019. I was lying flat on my back stretching my legs. The back of my head was on the mat, but it felt like there was something underneath the mat, like a rock or something. The mat was perfectly flat so I felt the back of my head and found a bump, kind of like a goose egg you might get as a child after getting bumped in the head. I didn’t remember bumping my head but I still wasn’t too concerned. I felt the bump occasionally over the next week but the bump didn’t go away. I finally used the internet to search for “bump on the head that doesn’t go away.” BIG MISTAKE! Please learn the warning signs for Sarcoma cancer. If you ever have a bump that does not go away, seek professional medical help immediately!
The results of the internet search weren’t frightening so I did not do anything at that time. Ultimately, I had my physician look at the bump during my annual physical in March of 2020. He ordered a CAT scan which the radiologist reported as a suspicious lesion on my skull. So began my sarcoma journey.
I will fast forward through the gory details. I had craniectomy surgery to remove the lesion from my skull and replace it with a titanium plate. Pathology identified the lesion as being caused by “high grade undifferentiated Sarcoma cancer.” My wife Gail and I chose the University of Minnesota to treat my cancer. A PET scan and additional biopsies also found a soft tissue sarcoma tumor near my esophagus. This elevated my diagnosis to metastatic Sarcoma cancer. Let me say it again: Please learn the warning signs of Sarcoma Cancer Red-FLags-Brochure.pdf. If you ever have one of these symptoms, please take time out of your busy life to get the symptom checked out immediately by your health care professional.
There was a subsequent infection so the surgery had to be redone and I ended up with a PIK line for 6 weeks to rid myself of the infection. Finally in June of 2020 I started 33 days of radiation therapy plus infusions of the immunotherapy drug Keytruda once every 3 weeks to treat my sarcoma cancer.
In my initial meeting with my oncologist Dr. Skubitz, I was told that complete recovery from my Sarcoma cancer is unlikely, but it can happen. Chances are less than 5 percent for a complete cure, but he said we would work towards that goal. I took this as great news. I wasn’t being told I had “XX” number of months to live. I wasn’t being told there is no chance for a cure and this disease will ultimately lead to my demise. I was being told I had a chance to beat this disease.
I had another PET scan 3 months after starting on immunotherapy and radiation treatment. This was still in 2020 during the pandemic but surprisingly I had an in-person meeting with Dr. Skubitz to go over the results of the PET scan. Gail came with me to this meeting. Dr. Skubitz is normally reserved but when he was reviewing the results of the most recent PET scan, he became quite animated and excited. He flashed pictures back and forth on the computer screen from the 2 separate scans (one prior to Keytruda infusions and also the most recent scan in September). He excitedly told us ‘See, here it is on the scan back in May. This isn’t supposed to be here. And now in September (he pulls up the most recent scan) it’s gone!’ He was showing us scans of the soft tissue tumor that was near my esophagus that had disappeared after only 3 months of immunotherapy. Let me tell you, a happy, excited oncologist is an amazing sight to behold when you are the patient and he’s talking about your health. What an amazing red-letter day, a day that I will never forget! Thank goodness for modern medicine.
Being sick during the Covid pandemic made everything so much worse. It was hard having surgeries during the Covid pandemic. My wife Gail couldn’t even visit me in the hospital. It was also emotionally difficult during my recovery with social distancing from my 4 adult children, their spouses/significant others and our grandchildren. We spent time with our families as best we could by social distancing. We had driveway parties and parties at the local park for our family get-togethers. But I just ached to embrace my children and grandchildren with huge hugs, probably cry on each others shoulders and just let my emotions come spilling out. Being denied that because of Covid was so hard. I’m so thankful I had my wife Gail. She was my rock. She is an RN, so I had my own personal Florence Nightingale to take care of me. What a rockstar she is and what a lucky guy I am.
I’m not one to take a passive role in a health issue like this. I don’t second guess or challenge my physicians or anything like that. But I have focused on 5 areas that are under my control: Religion, health care (getting the best care I can), nutrition, my daily physical health, and relationships with family & friends. I’ve always been religious; I was eating very healthy before my diagnosis and I exercised with a personal trainer too. But after my diagnosis, surgeries, radiation and start of immunotherapy, I stepped up these areas as much as I could. I truly feel they have played a vital role in my recuperation.
The years have flown by since 2020. I was fortunate not to have any significant side effects from Keytruda. I was able to sell my CPA practice in late 2020 and took a full-time job as Chief Financial Officer with one of my major clients. I officially retired at the end of 2022. My life is now full with family activities with our 4 children, their spouses and our 9 grandchildren. Our 9th grandchild Walker was born in July 2024. Gail and I do daycare 2 days a week for Walker and he and I have become BFF’s. I’m also active professionally in retirement. I’m giving back to the community by jumping onto the board of directors of 2 nonprofit organizations, Rein In Sarcoma and Carpenter Nature Center. And I of course do get some “me time”…golf, fishing and skiing.
Fast forward to June 2025. I’ve had several discussions over the past few years with Dr. Skubitz and let him know I don’t want to take Keytruda if I don’t need it. No cancer has shown up on my scans since prior to my radiation treatment and starting Keytruda in 2020. We decided to stop Keytruda if the next scan did not show any indication of cancer. No cancer showed up on this last scan so after 70 Keytruda infusions, I have officially stopped my cancer treatments!
I generally don’t read the clinical notes from all my various medical visits. But I happened to read the notes from my last meeting. I read the following which brought tears to my eyes. ‘We discussed in the past that cure is unlikely but on occasion possible and we are trying for that. At this point it seems quite possible.’ I’m not one to tempt fate or jinx karma or anything like that. But I certainly feel that my chances are now much better than 5 percent! I feel so incredibly blessed!
I owe heartfelt thanks to so many people; my wonderful family, my medical team, my religious leader, my co-workers who stepped up for me when I wasn’t able to work and of course my wonderfully supportive friends. I am such a lucky guy!
