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Kristopher Saim: Whatever you’re facing – don’t just go along for the ride

Kristopher Saim/youtube.com

Feb 14, 2025, 09:13

Kristopher Saim: Whatever you’re facing – don’t just go along for the ride

Kristopher Saim, Manager of Organizational Development at GALE, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Two and a half years.

Two and half years of chemo every other week. Two and a half years of hoping for good news and bracing for bad. Two and a half years of watching my CEA levels fluctuate between 40 and 80, knowing that while the metastases in my lungs had slowed, the tumors on my kidney and adrenal gland weren’t responding at all to the chemo. It was frustrating. It was disheartening. And honestly, it was exhausting.

But I couldn’t just sit on the sidelines and wait for something better to happen. After doing my own research, I learned that less than 3% of colon cancer patients experience metastasis to the kidney. That stat stuck with me – not just because it’s rare, but because it made me question whether we were approaching my treatment correctly.

So I pushed. I asked for more conversations and more opinions. I requested a meeting with a radiation oncologist, which led to exploring options beyond chemo. Radiation on my adrenal gland and cryoablation on my kidney. No guarantees, but a chance. And that was enough for me.

Fast forward to today. Four months after radiation and cryoablation, my CEA is at a 6. The lowest it has been since my diagnosis. And while this doesn’t mean remission, it does mean hope. It means progress. It means I am actively shaping my own future.

I share this not just as a milestone in my cancer journey but as a reminder: advocate for yourself. In your health. In your work. In your life. There is always another conversation, another option to explore, another question to ask. I don’t take credit for the science that got me here, but I do take credit for refusing to sit back and let things happen to me.

Whatever you’re facing – don’t just go along for the ride. Get in the driver’s seat. It could make all the difference.”

Kristopher Saim