Family man survives stage 4 colon cancer

Husband and father of four Bill Colberg runs heavy equipment for a construction company. For a few weeks leading up to Christmas 2020, he had been experiencing abdominal pain. He figured it was related to constipation.

Three days before Christmas, the pain got so bad at work that Colberg, 48 at the time, couldn’t sit in the excavator.

“I went to my work truck and laid across the seat,” he recalls. “Once I was able to drive myself home, I was in so much pain, I crawled up the stairs to my bedroom.”

Colberg vomited through the night and assumed it was a stomach bug.

“But by the morning, it was coming out both ends,” he says. “My wife convinced me to let her take me to the ER.”

Colberg with wife Shannon

Christmas put on hold

After many hours at the MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital emergency department, a CT scan of Colberg’s abdomen and pelvis revealed a golf-ball-sized tumor in his colon. He stayed at the hospital overnight and was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next day, Christmas Eve.

When the colonoscopy was complete, he was told he needed a CT scan of his chest and wouldn’t be able to leave the hospital just yet. He and his family would have to hold off on their Christmas celebrations.

On Christmas morning, Douglas King, MD, delivered the results of the colonoscopy and CT scan.

“Dr. King said in addition to the mass, there were multiple polyps throughout my colon, and a few spots came up on the CT scan of my lungs,” Colberg says. “They suspected cancer.”

Polyps are precancerous clumps of cells that can become cancer if they aren’t removed. Because of the number of polyps in his colon, there was concern he had a genetic syndrome that predisposed him to colon cancer. However, he tested negative for genetic conditions.

“Cancer was a physical thing, but also a mindset. As long as I was moving and working and looking to the future, that was the best route for me.”

Subsequent biopsies of the tumor in his colon and the spots on his lung confirmed he had stage 4 colon cancer.

“My cancer diagnosis put a lot of things in perspective,” Colberg says. “Around the same time, my wife and I lost two friends to the same cancer. Theirs had spread to the kidneys and pancreas. I was blessed mine didn’t go to other blood-rich organs beyond my lung.”

His treatment plan included chemotherapy and surgery.

MultiCare colorectal surgeon Gabriela Vargas, MD, performed surgery to remove his entire colon.

“Typically, we only remove the section affected by cancer and leave the rest of the colon intact,” Dr. Vargas explains. “But because of the multiple polyps located throughout his colon, I recommended we remove it entirely to lower his risk of getting another cancer.”

Colberg agreed with her recommendation and has nothing but praise for Dr. Vargas.

“First and foremost, Dr. Vargas saved my life,” Colberg says. “She is a very kind-hearted person and genuinely interested in the well-being of her patients. After my surgery she called me every few months to see how I was doing. You don’t get that from many people, let alone your doctor.”

Getting through treatment with a positive mindset

Once recovered from surgery, Colberg went through another six rounds of chemo.

“I was still working at the time,” he says. “Cancer was a physical thing, but also a mindset. As long as I was moving and working and looking to the future, that was the best route for me. It’s the mental aspect you have to take control of.”

A month after his last chemo treatment, Colberg underwent surgery to remove 10 percent of his right lung. He had to live with an ileostomy bag for a year because of surgery restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. He required another surgery for its removal and to reconnect his small intestine to his rectum, which Dr. Vargas performed.

Despite the surgeries and many rounds of chemo, Colberg remains grateful. He gets scans every six months, which continue to be clear.

“Since my treatment, my brother got a colonoscopy and guys I work with have gotten theirs,” he adds. “The cancer has had positive benefits for me and my family in that regard. You appreciate a lot more surviving it.”