Camilla Row had been complaining to her doctors about persistent pain that felt like heartburn for more than two years. She made all of the suggested lifestyle adjustments, such as giving up coffee, avoiding salty and spicy foods, and sleeping on an inclined pillow, but nothing helped.
Her consultations with gastroenterologists have advised her to continue taking medicine that lowers stomach acid. None of the experts looked more closely because, according to her, she was a young mother in her 30s and generally in good condition.
Row thought she was suffering a heart attack since the pain became so intense. She can still recall begging her primary care physician to assist her. “I was truly in tears. Now forty-five, Row tells TODAY.com, “I’m like, ‘This hurts so bad, please don’t send me home.‘” Row resides in Studio City, California.
After a long wait, a doctor ordered an endoscopy, which confirmed the actual diagnosis: stomach cancer. She remembers, “My first question was, is it possible to get stomach cancer?” “I had no knowledge of it.” In the end, the trauma would result in the removal of her breasts and ovaries in addition to her stomach.
A Healthy Lifestyle Didn’t Prevent Stomach Cancer Diagnosis for Actress
Row was particularly surprised because, prior to the onset of her symptoms in 2015, she thought she was in excellent condition. She met her spouse, the actor Brennan Elliott, at a gym and had a healthy lifestyle. There is no history of stomach cancer in her family.2018 saw the removal of her entire stomach as well as 47 lymph nodes following her diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma. Row was in stage 1 when two lymph nodes near her stomach tested positive for malignancy.
In addition to receiving chemotherapy, she had her esophagus and small intestine linked. Without a stomach, she had to learn how to eat and digest again, which required chewing a lot and pureeing her food. Row feels irritated that it took 2.5 years to receive a diagnosis.
According to Dr. Yanghee Woo, a surgical oncologist and expert in gastric cancer at City of Hope in California, who is caring for Row, the situation is well-known. She points out that while stomach cancer is uncommon in the United States, accounting for only 1.5% of all newly diagnosed cases, warning indications may go unnoticed by the medical community.
Two years following his diagnosis, on February 5, 2024, country music artist Toby Keith passed away from stomach cancer. According to Woo, symptoms consist of:
- Emesis
- Discomfort following a meal
- Bloating
- Unintentional loss of weight
- Early satiety, or experiencing fullness soon after consuming a small amount of food
- Stomach ache
- Reduced desire to eat
- Chronically poor acid reflux
- Dark-colored stool
The oncologist observes that stomach cancer in its early stages frequently exhibits no symptoms at all and is not visible on scans. “Stomach cancer has a very good hiding quality. Until it grows really big, it’s not particularly distinct,” Woo tells TODAY.com.
According to her, because of all those circumstances, at least 80% of stomach patients in the United States are diagnosed with the disease at an advanced stage. Usually, a biopsy and upper endoscopy are necessary for the diagnosis.
Risk Factors for Stomach Cancer
A person’s diet, a bacterial infection, or genetic abnormalities can cause the illness. Another risk factor is ethnicity: according to the American Cancer Society, stomach cancer is more common in Asian, Hispanic, Black, and Native American populations in the United States.
H. pylori infection is one of the main causes. The same bacteria that causes stomach ulcers can also spread by tainted food, water, or bodily fluid contact with an affected individual. According to Woo, the bacteria penetrates the stomach lining and alters it, resulting in inflammation.
She goes on to say that eating a diet heavy in salt and consuming a lot of smoked, charred, and preserved foods is another risk factor. Woo states that a genetic susceptibility to stomach cancer occurs in about 3% of individuals. Row has a mutation in the CDH1 gene, according to genetic tests. These alterations can lead to aggressive and swiftly progressing stomach cancer, according to Woo.
Row chose to have a double mastectomy in 2021 to prevent any disease in her breasts after learning that she had atypical hyperplasia, which is the precursor to breast cancer, from a breast MRI and biopsy. This was because the same mutation raises the chance of breast cancer. Still, the struggle was far from done.
Beating the Odds: Row’s Stage 4 Stomach Cancer Journey
Every six months, Row underwent a CT scan to check for any signs of cancer recurrence. She also underwent a blood test to check for DNA from circulating tumors. That test was positive in 2021. Though she no longer had a stomach, doctors discovered tumors on her ovaries that were the result of gastric cancer. The cancer cells can “sleep, hide, and reactivate,” they warned her.
Row had her fallopian tubes and ovaries removed surgically. She was now a stage 4 patient with stomach cancer and faced some frightening figures. My stage 4 cancer diagnosis came with a 24-month prognosis, which means that I have now exceeded my expiration date. Therefore, to be here and declare, “I’m still here, I’m still doing incredibly well,” says Row.
She refers to a procedure as a “hot chemo wash” and credits it for some of its effectiveness. The procedure, formally known as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion, involves injecting chemotherapy directly into the abdomen at a temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit, where it is agitated to target cancer cells, according to Woo.
According to Woo, heated chemotherapy has fewer negative effects and a better ability to enter the abdominal lining than systemic chemotherapy administered via vein injection. Row is still undergoing conventional chemotherapy and has now had seven of these treatments, all of which required general anesthesia.
Her scans show no signs of illness, but her blood contains trace amounts of a circulating tumor. Woo says her outlook is cautious yet brilliant. Row, a clinical psychologist, claims she is making an effort to maintain an optimistic outlook and is leading a typical life with her spouse and children. She keeps herself occupied by speaking out against stomach cancer and supporting other sufferers. Row declares, “If I have limited time, I’m going to make it count.” “Knowing that I have an impact makes me feel like my illness is not in vain.”
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