Gastric Cancer: Christopher's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

Christopher Lynch was 51 when a headache, vomiting, difficulty eating, and balance problems led him to seek care in early 2016. An endoscopic procedure found stomach cancer, and an MRI then showed a large, deep tumor in his left cerebellum. The brain tumor was a metastasis from the stomach cancer. On March 1, 2016, Christopher underwent a 3.5-hour operation to remove the brain metastasis. His neurosurgeon believed the tumor had been completely removed. He then had a chest port placed and received 54 chemotherapy treatments during a 3-year treatment journey. He also received 5 radiation treatments to the brain surgical area to reduce the chance of regrowth. After treatment, he was told that no cancer remained in his stomach or brain. By the latest update, he had no evidence of disease since January 2018 and had been in remission for 18 months. Support from his wife, children, students, colleagues, and medical team helped him continue through treatment. He gradually returned to the school where he had worked as a teacher and coach for 32 years, using the weight room once or twice a week to rebuild strength and focusing on living one day at a time.