Hollings Horizons Magazine Fall 2023 - Magazine - Page 17
Stories OF INSPIRATION
Ivan Young
Ebony Holmes
salIvary gland cancer
colorectal cancer
Ivan Young, 14, likes drawing, video games and military history.
He wants to be an architect when he grows up. And thanks to
a multidisciplinary team that pooled the expertise of adult and
pediatric physicians at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and
MUSC Children’s Health, the path is now clear for him to do
almost anything he wants, with few physical reminders of the
extraordinary lung surgery he underwent in 2021.
It started with wheeziness, then turned into pneumonia that
wouldn’t go away. Finally, he was diagnosed with mucoepidermoid
carcinoma in his airway, a salivary gland cancer that accounts for
about 0.2% of lung tumors.
The pediatric team worked with adult lung surgeon Barry Gibney,
D.O., to develop a plan for a rarely performed robotic surgery.
Gibney ordered special supplies for Ivan’s small frame and
partnered with the pediatric anesthesiologists.
Today, Ivan has only three tiny scars from the surgery. Although
he’s missing a third of his lung on the right side, he can breathe
normally and run about like any other kid.
God put us here for a reason, with these specific
people with these specific talents — and we
thank our lucky stars every single day.
Kelly Knight, Ivan's mom
Scan to read more stories of inspiration.
hollingscancercenter.musc.edu
“You’re young. You’re healthy. We’re not worried about cancer.”
That’s what Ebony Holmes’ doctor said when she raised concerns
about her stomach pains and the blood she saw in her stool.
It’s what the gastroenterologist said when she showed up for the
colonoscopy that her doctor ordered, just in case.
And yet, in February 2022, Holmes, at age 38, became one
of about 19,000 people under the age of 50 diagnosed with
colorectal cancer each year in the U.S.
EARLY SIGNS OF POSSIBLE COLON CANCER
Anemia | A lasting change in bowel habits
Weight loss for no reason | Blood in the stool
Abdominal pain or cramps that last
Although the colorectal cancer death rate has been decreasing
in older adults for decades, thanks to increased awareness of the
importance of screening, the rates of colorectal cancer and of
colorectal cancer deaths have been increasing in younger adults
since the mid-2000s.
Holmes came to Hollings, the only program in South Carolina to
earn accreditation through the National Accreditation Program for
Rectal Cancer. She had six months of chemotherapy to shrink the
tumor, followed by surgery, and is now considered cancer-free.
“Family support is the biggest thing that helped me through it,”
she says. And she advises others: “Enjoy life. It can turn just
that quickly.”
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