Mom of Four, 40, Dismissed ‘Trouble Swallowing’ As a Side Effect of Changing Her Diet. It Turned Out To Be Stage Four Stomach Cancer

The 40-year-old plant store owner, who has since raised more than $49,000 on her online crowdfunding page, explained how she initially overlooked her symptoms in a recent interview—while urging anyone hearing her story to be proactive when it comes to your health.

Speaking to The Independent, Chapman said she began having difficulty swallowing foods in March 2024, explaining further, “I was on a low-calorie diet and a lot of the diet was liquid based, but one of the solid foods you could make were pancakes and quite often they would get stuck in my throat. I would need to drink water with them.

“I ignored it, thinking it was just because I hadn’t been eating properly and maybe I had just got lazy at chewing. I thought my body was just used to swallowing liquid and not food.”

RELATED: How to Recognize Sneaky Cancer Symptoms — Looking at Cancers That Are Most Often Misdiagnosed

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Chapman, who has four sons, aged three, five, six and eight, recalled finding a small lump under her jaw just three months later, prompting her to visit her doctor.

After not disclosing her swallowing issue, her doctor sent her for an ultrasound and she was ultimately told “nothing was wrong.”

Fast-forward to a couple months later, Chapman’s swallowing troubles persisted and began disrupting her sleep. She decided to get checked again in January of this year.

In February, she discovered she had stomach [gastric] cancer, which spread to her lungs, liver, and lymph nodes surrounding her esophagus, after having a blood test done, as well as an endoscopy, biopsies, and a CT scan.

In an effort to encourage others to seek medical advice sooner than later when something feels off with your body, she told The Independent, “Difficulty swallowing is a symptom of stomach cancer, but because I didn’t have any other symptoms, such as acid reflux, I dismissed it.

“It is easy to dismiss it can be just a small change, maybe how you swallow or sound, but I would tell anyone who had the same symptoms as me to just go and get it checked out.”

Now, as Chapman is working to raise funds for additional types of treatments as she doesn’t want to move forward with palliative chemotherapy as she feels it will cause her to feel sick.

RELATED: Clearing Up Misconceptions About Palliative Care

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) defines palliative care as “an approach to care that addresses the person as a whole, not just their disease.” It’s a type of care that’s meant to address the symptoms and side effects that your cancer or its treatment may cause, ranging from psychological experiences like stress and fear to physical experiences like pain and discomfort.

It’s important to note that palliative care is not the same as end-of-life care. “It’s not the same thing as hospice. It’s really important to recognize that palliative care, whether provided by your oncologist or by a specialty palliative care team, is an important adjunct to your oncologic care,” Dr. Lisa Diver, gynecologic oncologist at Stanford University previously told SurvivorNet.

“It doesn’t mean that your doctor is going to stop treatment or even wants to talk about that, but simply that he or she thinks it’s important to support all aspects of your health. That could be pain control, [relief for] nausea or constipation, mental health care. All of these other symptoms that commonly arise and are intertwined inextricably with your cancer care.”

Considering Palliative Care

Chapman, who strives to make $100,000 on her JustGiving page to help with the costs of treatment and support her family needs, also offered some insight into her health challenges on her crowdfunding page.

The loving mom and fiance to her “soulmate” Matt, wrote, “For the past few months I’ve been having trouble swallowing so I was referred for an urgent endoscopy scan. On the 1st Feb this year it felt like a black cloud came over us, the doctor at this appointment found a ‘nasty lesion’ and told me it was what he thought an early gastric carcinoma…stomach cancer in my cardia section.

“I was referred for a CT scan and after what felt like the longest 10 days of my life, on Tuesday 11th Feb we saw the consultant. We were told the cancer was aggressive and in my cardia, liver, lungs and lymph nodes. The doctor told us there was nothing he can do, surgery isn’t an option and chemo may give us a bit more time but overall my life would be over within a year. Nothing prepares you for this news, my immediate thoughts were of my boys, seeing them grow up, marrying my fiancé and also how was I going to support my family financially.”

She continued, “The nurse that was with us through this appointment has been amazing and has been speaking to my new consultant and discussing my options, she knows I will do anything. Unfortunately I am unable to have any immunotherapy and the only option for me is palliative chemo, this only has a 50% chance of slowing things but will also make me sick. I don’t want to become a sick mummy.”

Chapman has made it clear she is interested in pursuing alternative therapies, but it’s important to understand that medical experts advise that under no circumstances should anyone battling cancer ever substitute approved treatments backed by data and, or FDA registered clinical trials, for alternative, unproven treatments, and that doing so is extremely dangerous.

It’s important to note that patients who rely on unproven methods outside of the conventional medical realm often end up with fatal consequences; a study released by researchers at Yale University in 2017 revealed that patients with cancer who only use alternative treatments are twice as likely to die from the disease.

Understanding Gastric/Stomach Cancer

Gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer, originates in the stomach. The most common type, called adenocarcinoma, begins in the stomach’s inner lining. Other types of the disease can begin in the middle or outer parts of the stomach, but these are more rare.

Thanks to advanced endoscopic techniques — which allow doctors to insert a thin, lighted tube with a tiny camera on it through the mouth and view the throat, esophagus, stomach, and more — gastric cancers are now frequently caught earlier, which makes treatment easier.

The Staging System for Gastric Cancer — Finding the Right Treatment Plan

Surgery is often the most critical part of the treatment process and can be curative for patients whose cancer is caught at an earlier stage.

Even for those with more advanced cancer, surgery may still be an option to help control symptoms and improve quality of life. There are also some new and innovative treatment options for gastric cancer that has progressed.

Surgery is especially helpful in cases where the disease is localized and has not spread extensively beyond the stomach. The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer, along with part or all of the stomach, depending on how much the cancer has spread. Surgeons aim to ensure that no cancer cells are left behind, which gives patients the best chance at long-term survival.

Surgery for Gastric Cancer: What You Need to Know

For patients whose cancer is at an earlier stage, surgery can often be curative. Surgery may still be an option even for patients with more advanced cancer.

Systemic therapies, like chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy, may also be used. Eligibility for these treatment approaches will depend on several factors, like the stage of the cancer, the patient’s general health, and the results of biomarkers testing.

Meanwhile, when gastric cancer has spread beyond the stomach and surgery is not an option, it’s important to realize that there are still several treatment options and approaches. They just may look a bit different than the approach to more localized cancer.

Dr. Nicholas J Hornstein, a medical oncologist at Northwell Cancer Institute in Manhattan, previously told SurvivorNet that treatment at the advanced stage is a “bit of a marathon” rather than a sprint.

“In advanced cancers, we focus on things a little bit differently. Now it’s a bit of a marathon: we’re trying to sequence therapies in a way to provide patients for the best quality of life for as long as possible,” Dr. Hornstein explains.

“We employ a variety of different systemic therapies. These are treatments that go through the entire body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy. Those are the three major buckets of treatment that I think of when I counsel patients.”

Eligibility for these systemic treatments depends on several factors, including stage of the cancer, previous treatments, biomarkers testing, general health, and allergies, among other factors.

‘A Marathon vs. A Sprint’ — How Treatment for Advanced Gastric Cancer Differs From Early-Stage Disease

Treating Stomach Cancer

The treatment of gastric cancer is a complex process that is tailored to the individual’s specific stage of cancer, overall health, and personal treatment goals. It often involves a multidisciplinary team of specialists, including oncologists, surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiologists, and pathologists, to ensure a comprehensive approach to care.

Surgical Treatment

Surgery is the cornerstone of curative treatment for gastric cancer, particularly in the early stages. The extent of surgery depends on the tumor’s location, size, and stage. The types of surgery include:

• Endoscopic Resection: For very early-stage cancers (T1a) that have not invaded beyond the superficial layers of the stomach lining, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) or endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) may be performed.
• Partial Gastrectomy: Removal of part of the stomach (subtotal gastrectomy) may be indicated for tumors located in the lower or middle portions of the stomach.
• Total Gastrectomy: For tumors that involve a larger portion of the stomach or are located near the esophagus, the entire stomach may be removed.
• Lymph Node Dissection: The removal of surrounding lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy) is typically performed to ensure the cancer has not spread and to aid in staging.

Chemotherapy

Different types of chemotherapy may be used at different points during treatment, including:

• Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Administered before surgery to shrink the tumor and make it easier to remove.
• Adjuvant Chemotherapy: Given after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells and reduce the risk of recurrence.
• Palliative Chemotherapy: Used in advanced stages to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life when curative treatment is not possible.

Radiation therapy may be used in combination with chemotherapy (chemoradiation) either before surgery to shrink the tumor or after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells. It can also be a palliative treatment to relieve symptoms such as pain or bleeding.

Targeted therapy drugs focus on specific abnormalities within cancer cells. For example, trastuzumab (Herceptin) may be used for HER2-positive gastric cancers, which have high levels of the HER2 protein.

Immunotherapy is a newer form of treatment that helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells. Drugs like pembrolizumab (Keytruda) may be used for advanced gastric cancer, especially when the cancer has a high level of PD-L1 expression or is MSI-H (microsatellite instability-high).

Avoiding Provider Bias – Is Your Doctor Understanding You?

While your doctor has undergone years of training and practice, they are still human, and may come with their own set of biases that can impact how they treat patients.

To combat these biases and really get the most out of your interactions with your doctor, you should provide her or him with plenty of information about your life and ask plenty of questions when things aren’t clear. To better understand how you should approach conversations with your doctor, we previously spoke with Dr. Dana Chase, gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology.

According to Dr. Chase, physicians, like many of us, can be a bit biased when seeing patients. She made it clear that these biases are rarely sinister, but rather unconscious and more subtle.

She explained, “We have certain beliefs that we don’t know about. We might look, for example, at an older woman, and just by the way she looks we might make certain assumptions, and we might not even know that we’re making these assumptions.”

Let’s Talk About Provider Bias

Clearing up misconceptions is important, but so is understanding what your doctor is telling you, Dr. Chase noted. Overall, she advises women to speak up and ask questions when they don’t understand something.

“It’s never a bad thing to ask for something to be repeated, or to ask the doctors to explain it in different terms.”

So next time you go to your physician, speak up if you need clarity, so your doctor can understand you and you can understand them.

The Importance of Advocating for Yourself

Standing up for yourself is important. If you feel that you’re being dismissed or mistreated by a doctor. Getting a second opinion is crucial if something doesn’t feel right. Experts tell SurvivorNet that no one knows your body better than you, so if you feel like something is wrong, keep pushing for answers.

Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet that sometimes, patients need to be pushy.

“From a doctor’s perspective, every problem should have a diagnosis, a treatment, a plan for follow-up, and a plan for what happens next if the treatment doesn’t work,” Dr. Murrell said.

And as a patient, “If you don’t feel like each of these four things has been accomplished, just ask! Even if it requires multiple visits or seeing additional providers for a second opinion, always be your own advocate.”

Ultimately, patients advocating for their health can lead to better patient outcomes. This is especially important when you find your doctor has misdiagnosed your symptoms.

A component of advocating for yourself in healthcare includes going back to the doctor multiple times and even getting multiple opinions.

Dr. Steven Rosenberg is the National Cancer Institute Chief of Surgery, and he previously told SurvivorNet about the advantages of getting input from multiple doctors.

Cancer research legend urges patients to get multiple opinions.

“If I had any advice for you following a cancer diagnosis, it would be, first, to seek out multiple opinions as to the best care. Because finding a doctor who is up to the latest of information is important,” Dr. Rosenberg said.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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