New Jersey Stage Issue 44 | Page 7

Tom is dying of cancer. A few of his trusted friends know, but many will probably be learning this for the first time. He was originally given just four months to live, but after re- sponding well to chemotherapy they gave him another year. Tom’s doctor now puts him in the 2-5 year category, “but prob- ably closer to 2-3.” And then came the news. “The doctor said, ‘You have cancer and it’s spread every- where,’” recalled Richards. “I was in complete and utter shock. I felt numb. Here I was: I didn’t feel bad, I didn’t look bad, and I hadn’t had any health issues. At first I didn’t believe it, saying it’s got to be something else. But they showed me the scans and it was like ‘woh!’ I literally have a massive spread from my lungs, my liver, the area right outside the intestinal and abdominal area, and lymph nodes. You look at the scans and the doctors are staring at me like, ‘Why don’t you have any blood coming out of any orifices? Why aren’t you on oxygen?” It all started when Tom and his wife, Suzanne, moved to Ten- nessee. He was taking a physi- cal as a new patient with a doc- tor there, feeling and looking completely healthy. A few days later the doctor asked him to do an ultrasound just to follow up on something that he said was probably nothing. But three days later he had a localized Suzanne was stunned, but im- CAT Scan and then was asked to mediately started looking for do a full CAT Scan of his upper an answer. She led the way into and lower regions. 3rd, 4th, and 5th opinions. Tom NJ STAGE - ISSUE 44 INDEX NEXT ARTICLE 7