Cancer Sucks, Indeed! My son-in-law a Victim

It is with sadness and relief to announce to you, my blog readers, that my son-in-law, Nick Thompson passed away last week. Nick was only 51 years old and was the husband of my youngest daughter, Ditas Katague. He left behind two daughters, Randi, 19 ( from a former marriage) and Carenna 8, ( my youngest grand daughter) and four sisters besides Ditas. Nick was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer about 2 years ago. The following is a brief background of the beginning of his fight for life against colon cancer as posted in Caringbridge.org. “In the Fall 2009, Nick was anxiously getting ready for coaching Carenna's Under 8 (U8) girls soccer team. He was always a bit nervous before game time, but lately his stomach was really churning. He thought it was just nerves but repeatedly the pain became intense...but only in the mornings. After a few visits to our primary care physician, and a few prescriptions to calm his nerves and cramping, Nick knew that something was definitely wrong. Right before Halloween, he called the Dr. who then scheduled him for a CT scan stat. November 5th, he went to the Med Ctr for a late afternoon CT scan. He finished after 6 pm and they couldn't find a Dr. to sign off or anyone to let him go home (his PCP had broken her foot that night), so they told him to go to the ER. He was treated by the ER docs for diverticulitis, an intestinal tract ailment, finally released around 1 am Friday morning with antibiotics and directions for a clear diet. Over the weekend, Nick got progressively worse, until we sternly advocated to the Drs that there was something definitely wrong. Finally got a hold of his PCP who requested a follow up CT scan on Tuesday morning. I brought him to the Med Ctr and he could barely walk and was delirious. They gave him a saline IV to hydrate him and did a 2nd CT scan. That afternoon we saw his PCP and he had him admitted to the hospital, but since there were no beds available, Nick had to spend yet another 12 hours in the ER. He was admitted for 3 days while they observed him, but no one wanted to tell him anything definitive. They waited til he went home and had his consult with the GastroIntestinal Specialist (GI) for a colonoscopy. She was wonderful and explained the different theories on what could be going on. She also scheduled an ultrasound for 2 days after his colonoscopy. December 2, 2009 Nick went in for his colonoscopy that revealed a huge tumor that was 90% blocking his colon. The GI specialist could not get around the tumor to finish the procedure. She took pictures of the tumor. The GI specialist was very compassionate and she kept apologizing and we were still not sure what she was saying. December 4, 2009 we went to get his ultrasound where they saw masses on his liver. After much patient advocacy on our part, the UC Davis Cancer center finally called us and immediate got us an appointment to see a surgical oncologist on December 10th. We met the team at the cancer center and they told us that it was very likely that Nick had colon cancer and that since the tumor was 90% blocking his intestine that it was emergent and they'd need to schedule surgery as soon as possible. December 15, 2009. Nick went in for surgery. The Stanford trained surgeon removed about 7 inches of his sigmoid colon and was able to reattach the colon to each other leaving no need for a colostomy. They biopsied his liver and sent the tumor for analysis. His diagnosis: Stage IV Colon cancer with metastasis in his liver. His recovery was brutal and he spent nearly 13 days in the hospital. Jump forward 6 weeks of recovery from surgery and Nick went into get a port for the chemotherapy the first week of February 2010. He started his first round of FOLFOX with Avastin on President's Day. Nick will received a minimum of 24 rounds of chemotherapy, every other week”. The following is from the Capitol Morning Report (CMR) dated April 23, 2012 Michael Bustamante, a principal with the lobbying and consulting firm California Strategies, reports that a friend of the Capitol community, Nick Thompson, died last week after a two-year battle with colon cancer. He was 51. Thompson was director of public safety for the CA Truckers Assn. and married to Ditas Katague, former chief deputy commissioner at the Dept. of Corporations and current chief of staff to PUC Commissioner Catherine Sandoval. Services will be held Friday April 27 at 10 a.m. at Sacred Heart Parish Church, 1040 39th St. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to an education fund for his daughter, Carenna, may be made out to: Edward Jones fbo Carenna Thompson, 3600 McKinley Blvd. Sacramento 95816, 916 454 1841. Contact: Bustamante 916 425 0839. Macrine and I will miss you, Nick. May your soul rest in Peace, Amen