To the editor:

When your health is not the best, sometimes it feels as if it is at its worst. While living with COPD, diabetes and obesity, my youngest brother recently moved from California to Iowa to live with and take care of me. After he arrived, I started getting indigestion frequently.

With my health not being the best, my husband, brother and I moved from Webster City to Fort Dodge to be closer to family. Soon after the move, I started losing weight, but everyone assumed it was from being more active with family.

This is when the indigestion quickly turned into acid reflux. I tried several medicines to treat that, but then I started vomiting excessively. My daughter stepped in then, and told me the symptoms were not normal and I should see a doctor. I went to the doctor and had an upper scope done which showed esophageal cancer – diagnosed October 2015.

This came as a huge shock to both my family and me.

As if having the cancer diagnosis was not enough, I also did not have health insurance. My youngest son spent several months in search of any kind of medical insurance that would allow me to start treatments. In December 2015, my son had to move in to help care for me and support me as I was getting increasingly sick and losing weight drastically.

At this point, my youngest brother was diagnosed with throat cancer and we started our cancer battle together.

The insurance issues lasted until January 2016 when I was finally able to get treatment at UnityPoint Health – Trinity Cancer Center. My brother and I started treatments together and finished treatments together in March 2016. Ironically enough, my birth month is April, which also happens to be Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month. I’m scheduled for a follow-up scan on April 4. It will determine the outcome of the treatments I’ve received. My brother awaits his as well.

Please take advantage of the upcoming free Oral Head and Neck Cancer Screening on April 21 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Iowa Central Community College Dental Hygiene Clinic, One Triton Circle, Fort Dodge. Area providers will help do the screenings.

Early detection is the key to successful outcomes.

Janey Fox/Brennan

Fort Dodge