Help Riva Fight Cancer

Riva was originally diagnosed with colon cancer in January of 2019. She underwent a partial colectomy of her Sigmoid to remove a tumor in February. During the surgery 30 lymph nodes were extracted and sent to pathology and the result confirmed that ten of them were cancerous which meant stage 3 status.

After release from the hospital, she was sent to an oncologist for further evaluation and treatment. A Pet-CT scan was ordered and completed and the results showed that the cancer had metastasized to her liver and a couple areas behind some other organs at which point she was diagnosed with Stage 4b colon cancer.

She began treatment in March enduring an extremely intensive chemotherapy regimen that produced many unpleasant side effects which included coronary vasospasms. Coronary vasospasm (CAS) is when your heart's arteries suddenly constrict, causing spasms that trigger symptoms much like a heart attack. Due to this she was sent to a cardiologist and put on medication to protect her heart during treatment. She then had to have in-house treatments at MGH in Boston to be closely monitored while her oncologist and cardiologist could figure out the right combination of the heart medication and chemotherapy to put an end to the vasospasms.

While still in the hospital they performed an echocardiogram which revealed a clot in the wall of the right atrium, which is the upper right corner of the heart. As a result, she had to take Lovenox shots twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening. Enoxaparin (Lovenox) is an anticoagulant medicine. It is one of a class of anticoagulants called low molecular weight heparin. Many people call these medicines blood thinners. They don't actually thin the blood, but they increase the time it takes a blood clot to form. The doctors wanted to ensure that no more clots would form. There were multiple side effects, some of which Riva has to this day.

She completed six months of the chemotherapy treatment by September at which point no active cancer could be detected. That was the start of her road to remission. She still had to stay under the care of her oncologist for five years having bloodwork every three months and CT scans every six months. Riva had success with clean scans for almost three years. Unfortunately, last month a Pet-CT scan revealed metastasis to her spine and past the lymph nodes as well. A destructive legion/tumor completely obliterated her T12 (That’s the Thoracic spine.) November 7, 2022 she underwent surgery to place a cage where the T12 had been and also a spinal fusion was performed from her T10 to L2, as there was a fracture in her spine.

The cancer is much more aggressive now than in 2019 and requires both radiation followed by some type of chemo or immunotherapy after completion. Riva started radiation therapy last week. Even though her surgery was successful repairing her T12, there are tiny particles they describe as seeds that can not be seen that surround the site. That is the reason radiation is necessary. She needs to complete a total of ten sessions. The sessions are consecutive with a break only on Saturdays and Sundays. She will meet with her oncologist on January 5 to discuss which treatment will be the next course of action. She has a long road ahead of her, but she is still treatable.