WBRC Chief Meterologist JP Dice shares his colon cancer journey in his own words.

I had always taken my health for granted. Aside from the occasional flu or sore throat, my visits to the doctor were a breeze. This all changed in July, 2012. I had noticed after visiting the bathroom there was a small amount of blood or what I thought looked like blood. The first time I dismissed it and went on not thinking much about it. But, it happened again. This time was a bit more concerning. I asked my wife, who’s an RN, what she thought and she said it was probably an internal hemorrhoid and not a big deal. After all, I didn’t have any other symptoms like fatigue or weight loss. Plus, I had just turned 40. That’s well under the age for colorectal cancer screening. Even though it was “probably” nothing, something was eating at me to have it checked out by a physician. I called and made an appointment to see Dr. Craig Philpot and Birmingham Gastroenterology. He recommended a colonoscopy. He didn’t suspect anything too bad because of my age and lack of any other symptoms.

A week later I arrive early in the morning for the colonoscopy. The procedure wasn’t really as bad as I thought. It’s probably more embarrassing than anything, but my quest to know what was causing the blood outweighed any possible loss of dignity. After a little sedation, I was out like a light and the procedure seemed to pass in seconds. When I woke up, I will never forget Dr. Philpot saying we found a rectal mass and it’s likely cancer. Yikes! That news will make the Versed wear off quickly. Dr. Philpot indicated it’s likely cancer and he would know for sure in a few days after the pathology report. For the novice, when you hear about colorectal cancer – you think immediately about a colostomy. The good news – colostomies are only needed about 10% of the time. Of course, that was my first question will I be able to go to the bathroom like always. Dr. Philpot ordered a complete chest to pelvis CT scan on the same day. The idea was to see if any cancer had spread to other parts of the body. To be honest, this was the scariest part. When the cancer spreads, the cure rate is much lower than when it’s localized. The waiting for three days after the scan seemed to take weeks. I remember clearly getting the phone call from Dr. Philpot right before the 5pm news. He said the CT was clear. I considered myself very blessed at that point. The next step – Dr. Philpot needed to stage the tumor using one of his favorite tools Endoscopic Ultrasound. The next week I arrived in the GI lab for a procedure that resembled a colonoscopy, but as one of my physician friends told me this time they’re only knocking on the bedroom door and not going all the way in. The EUS was to stage tumor depth and determine if any lymph nodes were involved. My tumor was determined to be a T3 because it had invaded the rectal wall. Dr. Philpot staged it an N0 because it detected no node involvement. This was also good news since the CT had shown an enlarged lymph node nearby.

After the staging, it was off to see surgeons and oncologists. Dr. Philpot recommended I see Birmingham colorectal surgeon Blaine Bishop. I took Dr. Philpot’s advice and I couldn’t be more thankful. Dr. Bishop is a Fellowship trained colorectal surgeon and a doctor that immediately puts you at ease – especially with his sense of humor. Dr. Bishop recommended a low anterior resection done laproscopically. But, there was some work to be done first. He said we need to shrink the 2.5cm tumor using radiation and chemotherapy. This process would take a few months prior to surgery. A week later I met with Dr. Clinton Holliday, radiation oncologist and Dr. Kevin Windsor, medical oncologist. They would work together to reduce the size of the tumor. I would be hit with a drug called 5-FU and daily doses of radiation targeting the rectal tumor. Things were pretty good at first…very few symptoms from the treatment. Toward the last couple of days, the radiation had made going to the bathroom like passing razor blades and fish hooks. The pain was intense. It was so intense I had to take Lortab just to be able to the bathroom. I was thankful the intense pain was just toward the last several days of treatment.

Then the waiting begins. Treatment wrapped up in November, but we had to wait until early December for the surgery because everything is so raw. It was during this time – I actually felt like a normal human again. I had a great Thanksgiving and even managed to take a trip to St. Augustine, Florida with my wife.

The day of surgery was a bit scary. I had never had surgery before and this wasn’t exactly a simple surgery. It would take about three and a half hours. Dr. Bishop had to remove the diseased portion of the rectum and splice everything back together. I arrived at Trinity Medical Center with TV crew and my wife. I had made a point of sharing my story with my TV viewers are hopefully helping others. My thinking if I can have colorectal cancer anyone can. I didn’t have a high risk lifestyle or any family history of the disease. I didn’t smoke or drink…two of the major risk factors for this type of cancer. The surgery went well. The tumor which had originally been about the size of quarter was down to about 6mm. That was a great response from the chemo and radiation. Since the surgery was done laproscopically, I had very little pain. I was just a bit sore when I would get up to walk. While most of the news was good, we did have a bit of setback. The pathology report indicated some tumor debris was found outside the rectal wall. This was an indication that I would likely need additional chemotherapy. I had hoped that would not be the case.

After four days in the hospital, I was sent home. I was feeling good and within a week I was flying my airplane with another pilot on-board. The soreness quickly went away. I returned to a normal diet fairly quickly.

The hardest part has been the chemotherapy. It started in January and will run through June. I’m on Xeloda and Oxaliplatin. I get an Oxaliplatin infusion every four weeks and it’s pretty rough. That’s the week I feel terrible…no energy at all. The Xeolda is an oral based chemotherapy. I take seven pills per day and they will also make you a bit tired, but it’s manageable. Every month I get a week off from both drugs and that’s like a vacation to me!
Since being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, I’ve been the poster child for colonoscopies. I tell everyone if you have any symptoms you need to get checked out no matter what your age. Fortunately, my position as a TV meteorologist at WBRC Fox 6 has given me a good sounding-board to help people. I’ve had a number of people email me saying their cancer was caught just in time as a result of hearing my story.