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In a transparent, vulnerable interview with “Hope for Stomach Cancer,” Hallmark star Brennan Elliott and his wife Camilla Elliott opened about their experience after her cancer returned in 2022. The interview was shared in late November, and Camilla has already undergone an additional surgery since the interview was published. She has said that she hopes her story will encourage others going through similar battles.
She Said It Took Years to Get Diagnosed
In the interview with Hope for Stomach Cancer, Camilla shared that she was first diagnosed in June 2018 with Stage 1B stomach cancer and her recurrence was diagnosed in February 2022 as Stage 4. She said her first symptom before her 2018 diagnosis was persistent heartburn despite being active and watching what she ate. It took two-and-a-half years before she could get an endoscopy, which revealed she had stomach cancer. She was 39 at the time.
“I got diagnosed June 1,” she said. “On July 2, I was having my complete stomach removed.”
She then followed that up with chemotherapy and was disease free for the next three-and-a-half years. But after a routine CT in December 2021, she was told she her cancer was back.
She Fought Her Doctors to Get a Controversial, New Treatment
She most recently has undergone a controversial treatment called HIPAC, she said. It involves pouring heated chemotherapy directly into her abdomen.
“I was able to do so after getting a lot of pushback from oncologists saying there’s no proven benefit,” she said. “…It’s a newer therapy and I know there’s a lot of controversy on it. But I think a lot of the newer studies are showing how it could benefit people with peritoneal disease.”
She had her most recent surgery just before Christmas and after the video was published. Brennan shared a happy, thankful post after the successful surgery.
In an interview with People in August, Brennan shared that his wife is doing well, but the journey has been tough. However, he’s glad to report that she currently has no evidence of disease.
“We just want to keep that cancer critter away from her,” he said. “It’s a lot of long nights.”
Brennan Said His Wife’s Warrior Spirit Inspires Him
Brennan and Camilla Elliott have two young children. In the interview, she said they do their best to keep the children’s lives as normal as possible.
Brennan said being a caregiver can feel helpless.
“As a caregiver, your experience is very different…” he said. “It’s like watching someone who’s on fire in bed and you want to put out the fire but you can’t do it. It’s a very helpless existence. But it makes you have perspective in life, and there’s a benefit to that for sure.”
He added that his wife inspires him.
“To see someone fight like this, you have to have a warrior spirit,” Brennan said. “There’s an energy that is not normal, and it’s the fire to stay alive and be with your family and try to have normality. This really inspired me. It’s really touched me in a big way.”
Throughout their journey, Brennan has thanked fans for praying for his wife.
Camilla said she wants people to feel hope from her story.
“I hope people can look at us and see that we can live productive, healthy, happy lives and manage this like chronic disease,” she said.
In a post she made for Hope for Stomach Cancer’s website, she said she wants to be an example to others in similar circumstances.
“Initially, I was secretive of my stage 4 status because I didn’t want people to look at me as a sickly cancer patient,” she wrote. “But now I feel like I am on a mission to spread awareness and hopefully be an example of a stage 4 patient who is thriving.”
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