Toni called it her kickback. It was a nagging symptom she never before experienced. When she ate, some of the food regurgitated into her mouth.

“No matter what I ate or drank — food, water, it didn’t matter — it came back up,” says 68-year-old Toni, a retired information technology specialist for the Social Security Administration.

Eating was difficult, causing Toni to lose weight — 40 pounds in all. Her doctor tried acid reflux medications and antacids, but they didn’t help, so an endoscopy was ordered. During an endoscopy, a flexible tube with a tiny camera attached is passed, under anesthesia, through the mouth and throat so a doctor can examine the esophagus and stomach.

When the results of the endoscopy were in, Toni was told the cause of her “kickback” was esophageal cancer.

Toni didn’t hesitate. She made an appointment at the Kimmel Cancer Center and met with a multispecialty team of experts, including a surgeon, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist. The tumor was located where the esophagus joins the stomach. Her treatment plan began with six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation to kill as much of the cancer as possible.

The active mother of four, grandmother of 15 and great-grandmother of two, with another great-grandchild on the way, had focused much of her time on helping others. She frequently hosted family dinners for 40 people to recognize birthdays and honor accomplishments. Also, the self-identified DIY girl was busy redecorating and remodeling her home.

Toni is also a seamstress. She learned the skill from her godmother when she was 12.

“I’ve been sewing ever since,” says Toni, who can look at an outfit and re-create it. “I can make anything I see,” she says. When her grandsons needed pants altered for their high school graduation, they turned to Toni.

 “It’s hard for me to slow down,” she says. Still, she knew she would have to shift her focus to treatment and recovery.

Toni jokes with her radiation oncologist Russell Hales, M.D., about her alter ego — the Energizer Bunny.

Even as she contemplated her treatment options, she was thinking about how she could help other people. Her medical oncologist, Joy Feliciano, M.D., discussed a clinical trial of immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that activates the body’s natural defenses — the immune system — to seek and destroy stealth cancer cells that may remain after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The hope was that it would keep her cancer from coming back. The treatment involves a monthly infusion for a year. Toni opted to participate, but she did not think about how it might keep her cancer at bay. Instead, she was excited about how it could help future patients with esophageal cancer.

“It felt like something I could do to help others,” she says. She thought about her mother, who died of ovarian cancer, and her father, who died of lung cancer.

Toni did do one thing to help herself. Before treatment began, she quit smoking and she committed to sticking to her exercise routine of walking five miles three or more times per week, to prepare for her cancer battle.

Just before Thanksgiving 2021, Toni began a five-week regimen of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. When it was completed, two spots of cancer remained in her esophagus, which her surgeon (name) removed in a six-hour operation.

The surgery was successful — Toni’s surgeons believed they got all of the remaining cancer before it began to spread to other parts of her body. Still, there were some complications. To reach her tumor, the surgeon had to collapse her lung. She also had pain related to nerves that needed to be cut through to reach the cancer.

“I am very pleased with the entire team who cared for me,” says Toni. “I love the set up at Kimmel. I can do everything in the same place. I don’t have to go to other parts of the hospital.”

Toni was so appreciative that, when her treatment was finished, she brought fruit arrangements to her care team.

“Every person seemed to care about me,” she says. “They were all so dedicated. I could tell that every person I encountered cared about their jobs, and this was reflected in how they treated me. The care I was shown made this journey very comfortable.”

Toni continues monthly visits to receive immunotherapy, and she is working to regain some weight and some of the muscle tone she lost. She says she is getting back to where she was before the cancer diagnosis.

“I am still recovering, but my energy is slowly coming back,” she says. “I’m getting back in the groove.”