PATIENTS & FAMILIES

• Erica Paul, Reston, VA

  Erica Paul noticed sporadic side effects towards the end of college that would have anyone over 50 nervous. But as an active, un-expecting young woman, Erica would have never guessed that those signs were really symptomatic of stage IV metastatic colon cancer

  In 2007, at the ripe age of 26, a colonoscopy and a CT scan revealed that a large tumor in her colon had invaded a good chunk of her liver, several lymph nodes, and her lungs too. Erica knew there was no time to waste and quickly made fighting cancer her full time job.

  “I want to be at the cusp of everything. I always want to be one step ahead of the cancer, and I use scans to do that,” Erica said.

  Currently treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Erica calls herself an Executive Cancer Patient whose “reviews” consist of PET and CT scans – and sometimes an MRI for good measure.

  “I am determined to get better and reach my goal of a clean scan without any evidence of disease, and I will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. It has not been an easy road, but it’s the road I am on, and I have accepted the situation that life has thrown my way.”

  Since 2007, she has undergone surgery to remove most of her liver, the tumor in her colon and 35 lymph nodes; had chemotherapy pumped directly into her liver with a Hepatic Arterial Infusion pump; been a trooper through several rounds of chemotherapy; and had a new radiation treatment for her liver called SIRspheres. She has also become an active advocate with C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition and YES! Beat Liver Tumors, along with the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition, and has started her own support and fundraising network dubbed Team Fabulous.

  Erica gets scanned every eight weeks, and because of that, every eight weeks is a milestone in her treatment. “Without those scans, I – and other patients with metastatic cancers – would have much different treatment outcomes,” Erica said.

  Now, Erica is focusing on those stubborn tumors in her liver with chemoembolization and is receiving systemic chemo for the cancerous nodules in her lungs and to keep her cancer from spreading elsewhere.

  Her next milestone is Aug. 10, when she’ll receive CT, PET and MRI scans to see how her treatments are working – another testament to why the Right Scan at the Right Time can make all the difference.