By Suzette Martinez Standring
Now there are breakthrough treatments for esophageal cancer, such as FDA-approved drugs like Jemperli, Keytruda, Tevimbra, and Vyloy. Also, clinical trials show advancements in how infusions are given; a typical IV infusion takes about 30 minutes, but a new injection method takes 3-5 minutes.
All this did not exist in 2012 when Boston firefighter Jim Connolly was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. If he had to do anything over, he would not hesitate to get an early cancer screening. This is his story.
After 27 years of service, Jim Connolly retired from the Boston Fire Department in 2014 due to esophogeal cancer, which was diagnosed in 2012. When he looks back, early detection could have prevented his misery. He knew his job brought higher risks of cancer due to smoke, toxic materials in buildings, and carcinogens in fire gear. Sadly, the resistance he had to early cancer screening is common.
However, early diagnosis saves lives, and today's treatments are effective.
He said, “A lot of people say ‘I ain't getting tests done,’ but now I'm a firm believer. If you're going to be a firefighter, you better get tested right away.”
Today, Jim shares his cautionary tale of waiting too long before seeking medical help. His symptoms began with uncontrollable hiccups, then problems with swallowing. During a deep sea fishing trip in Florida, he was seasick and noticed blood when he threw up. After being gone a month on vacation, he returned to Engine 20 in Boston and made an appointment, but his doctor couldn’t see him for another two weeks.
At the station, things took a bad turn and Jim said, “I felt something snap right in here (his abdomen). It felt like an elastic band snapped.”
He collapsed twice and an ambulance was called.
“This is gonna get a little graphic. While I was waiting for the ambulance, I had to go to the bathroom, and it was like used motor oil. When it’s that black, then you got an upper GI bleed of some sort. I knew I had a problem. I was bleeding internally.”
When he got to the hospital, the doctors thought it was a bleeding ulcer.
“I kept saying, ‘Don’t call my wife! I’m supposed to be in the firehouse for 24 hours. You got time to fix me before she needs to know.”
But it wasn’t a quick fix, and it wasn't a bleeding ulcer. His wife Joyce soon was present when an emergency biopsy confirmed it was a large tumor: Stage 2 cancer.
“It was basically in the upper nodule of my stomach, but it was attached to my esophagus, so they called it esophageal cancer.”
Radiation, surgery and chemo followed. However, the severity of his condition was compounded by medical office closures in Quincy where he was being treated, and complicated the quality of his care. His option was to travel north of Boston from his home in Abington.
“The doctor said, ‘Do you want to finish up on the North Shore? I said, ‘I live in the South Shore. I'm staying here. What I didn't realize, though, was that they were upping the daily dosage of radiation to get me done quicker,” said Jim.
After that, a surgery that followed took a bad turn.
“I should have been in the hospital for 10 days, but I was basically in a coma. I was in the hospital for 82 days. Once my surgeon opened me up, he said that trying to sew me back together was like trying to sew wet tissue paper because of the radiation.
“I had all kinds of problems. I had deep vein thrombosis. I had a pulmonary embolism. I had a Chyle duct leak. Like I said, for 10 days I was in a coma.”
Today, Jim is in remission, and he and Joyce have moved from Abington in Massachusetts to live in New Hampshire. They have stepdaughter and four grandchildren who live nearby, but he still suffers the after-effects of internal damage. His gallbladder was removed, and he battles lung infections. He has to sleep upright and he can’t bend over.
“I have to sleep in a 45 degree angle. I can't lay flat. Your sphincter musle slams shut so nothing comes out, but I don’t have that anymore, so my stomach is gonna empty.”
But it’s the loss of the job he loves that remains a big blow, as his family has a firefighting history.
Jim’s father was a firefighter who was killed in the line of duty in South Boston in 1986. In 1987, Jim was 27 when he became a firefighter, first with Ladder 6 in Dorchester, and later with Engine 20. Prior to that, Jim served in the Navy for eight years. In 1986 firefighters’ gear was simpler.
He said, “They issued us basically a raincoat, helmet, gloves, and boots.”
Around the early 1990’s, new “bunker gear” was issued to firefighters.
“But I found out there were chemicals in the bunker gear and in our pants. And I said, ‘Jeez, I'm not too sure about this. I'm more worried about the bunker gear with the chemicals. They have PFAs in them. Now we know it causes problems.”
Jim admits that his case was complicated, but he sees things differently now, and said, “Get tested, See the doctor early. You're in a profession that has a high incidence of cancers.”
DO YOU HAVE A FIREFIGHTER RELATED CANCER STORY?
Please contact Suzette Standring (suzette@firefightersvscancer.org) if you, as a firefighter or family member, have a story to share.
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