If it wasn’t for a kidney stone on Christmas Eve in 2022, Mike may not have found his cancer until it was too late.
“It was a pretty scary holiday season,” Mike recalls. “Doctors didn’t know what kind of tumor it was, but it was the size of my fist, and it was attached to my pancreas.”
He later discovered he had a somewhat rare type of cancer called a neuroendocrine tumor. The same kind of cancer that took the life of Steve Jobs. These tumors can develop anywhere in the body but most commonly occur in the lungs, small intestines, and pancreas.
Doctors told Mike if treatment didn’t work, he may only have 7-10 years to live. At just 55 years old, he wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
Exploring Neuroendocrine Tumor Treatment Options
His first treatment was surgery. He was told if everything went well, and they could remove the tumor, he’d be good to go. But after a five-hour surgery, doctors said the tumor was attached to critical blood vessels and couldn’t be removed. It was time to try chemotherapy.
“I tolerated the chemo better than doctors thought,” Mike said. “The physician’s assistant told me, ‘I can’t believe how well you’re doing. Nothing seems to stick to you.’ I laughed and said back, ‘Except the tumors.’”
Mike would need that strong sense of humor for what was ahead. In July 2022, he learned the disappointing results of his chemotherapy.
“The good news was the tumor shrunk. The bad news was it wasn’t enough. One way or another I was going to win,” he determined. “I joke that I tried to throw in the towel, but God kept throwing it back.”
Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Offers Promising Option
As fate would have it, BAMF Health Medical Director Dr. Brandon Mancini was on a tumor board tasked with evaluating Mike’s case. After hearing the details about Mike’s journey, Dr. Mancini believed he’d be a great candidate for Lutathera1 , a radiopharmaceutical therapy offered at BAMF.
“Without something to shrink his tumor, it couldn’t be removed,” Dr. Mancini said. “Knowing that it was Mike and his treatment team’s goal to shrink it in order to move forward with surgical removal, and that Lutathera has proven useful for tumors like his, the treatment was a great option to consider.”
“Dr. Mancini is a phenomenal communicator,” Mike said. “During our consultation, he broke everything down and told me what was going to happen and what to expect. He told me I’d have four treatments over the next eight months.”
And instead of waiting those eight months to know if the treatment worked, Mike saw the results every step of the way. Twenty-four hours after every treatment, Mike had a SPECT/CT scan to visualize the treatment in his body. He remembers each one.
Tracking Treatment Progress Scan-by-Scan
SPECT/CT #1 – “Dr. Mancini told me the radiation was going to my tumor. It’s this bright yellow, glowing stuff only in my tumor. The cancer wasn’t spreading, and that was encouraging.”
SPECT/CT #2 – “It looked pretty much the same.”
SPECT/CT #3 – “The cancer still hadn’t spread, but the bright yellow area was a little smaller.”
SPECT/CT #4 – “The yellow area on the scan was super small. We’re killing cancer!”
“Because we were able to shrink Mike’s tumor by 30%, he was finally able to have surgery to remove it,” said Dr. Mancini. “He is effectively cancer-free now.”
Since his surgery in October 2024, Mike says he feels great. He feels so lucky that not only does a place like BAMF Health exists, but it’s also just 20 minutes from his home.
“It’s like it was meant to be,” he said. “It was an absolute miracle that saved my life, and I’ll be waving BAMF’s flag for a long time. I’m eternally grateful.”
