Raising awareness vital in battle against esophageal cancer, caregivers say

Local family fights good fight against chronic illness

Note: I've known Maggie Nolan-Solsbury since I wrote a story for the New Haven Register three years ago about a fundraiser for her husband, Keith Solsbury, who is living with esophageal cancer.

Ansonia native Keith Solsbury, 52, has been fighting the good fight against esophageal cancer for nearly a decade. 

And he is winning the battle, thanks to the tireless efforts of a loving family.

Keith Solsbury

His wife, Maggie Nolan-Solsbury, and their two children, Brandon, 24, and Brianna, 22, have cared for him throughout several surgeries, chemotherapy treatments, and more. Keith Solsbury is unable to work, and the family is struggling financially. 

Esophageal cancer is the fastest-growing cancer in the United States, Maggie Solsbury said, yet there are no routine tests for early detection.

Brandon Solsbury commented, “People do not care about awareness. If it has not happened to them or someone close to them, they can’t see it! Some choose to ignore it, [they] cannot handle the fact that even if you are cancer free you can have years and years of complications. 

“Until people care about awareness before it hurts someone in their family directly, nothing will change and it will be a slow, painful, uphill battle that most will not win.”

Maggie Solsbury seeks to effect change and raise awareness about the disease. Her goal is to make April National Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month.

Several years ago she was successful in having April designated as Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month in Connecticut.

“Awareness can save lives,” Maggie Solsbury said. “Just because it is a rare cancer does not mean we should not count. The patients and families are never the same,” she said, after receiving a diagnosis.

She wants people to realize something seemingly simple such as chronic heartburn can cause esophageal cancer to develop.

Maggie Solsbury

In addition, risk factors include obesity, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) and smoking. Those who have those risk factors can develop Barrett’s esophagus which increases the potential for developing esophageal cancer.

Maggie Solsbury serves as regional contact for the Esophageal Cancer Awareness Association.

According to information on its Facebook page, “the Esophageal Cancer Awareness Association is an organization dedicated to providing outreach for esophageal cancer patients, caregivers, and survivors; to increase public awareness of this disease, and to provide education and information in a supportive environment. 

The ECAA is a purely volunteer group with unpaid officers.” 

Maggie Solsbury said she has been comforted by the support she has received through online groups for families dealing with the disease.

One of those individuals is a woman who lost her 23-year old son to esophageal cancer in 2010.

She wrote on Maggie Solsbury’s Facebook page: 

“Here is my son Christopher's EC story which involves two moves, no health insurance, the naivete of my son to [not] take his symptoms seriously and follow-up, and the unwillingness of the medical community to recognize that someone that young could get this cancer and diagnose him properly.” 

Her story is quoted below:

“Chris was 22 years old when first became ill in April of 2009. At first he thought he had a stomach virus. Prior to that, there were no symptoms. At that time, he was working several part time jobs on Long Island and had no health insurance. The ACA was not yet passed, neither was parents being able to cover children up to age 26. 

“His initial symptoms were dysphagia, unexplained weight loss, and pain in the chest area. He went to a clinic and the ER. He was given a Rx of Protonix and was told to follow-up with a GI doctor. 

“He was never scoped until after he moved from Long Island to Pittsburgh in September of 2009, five-plus months since the initial symptoms and over a 50-plus pound weight loss. He finally made an appointment in November (the earliest he could get) with a GI doctor in Pittsburgh. 

“Unfortunately, he never made that appointment because he collapsed at work, two weeks before the appointment. Within 24 hours on Nov. 17 the University of Pittsburgh scoped him and diagnosed Chris with Adenocarcinoma of the GEJ and stomach, he also needed three blood transfusions because of low hemoglobin counts. I took Chris to downtown Pittsburgh to file for Medicaid and Social 

Security disability benefits.

“He had a PET scan two days before Thanksgiving; the diagnosis was Stage 4, metastatic gastro esophageal cancer with multiple lymph node involvement from his neck all the way down to his groin, and metastases to the liver. 

"The first week of December in Pittsburgh he had surgery to put in a port and an esophageal stent so he could eat and had another three blood transfusions. 

"On Dec. 17, Chris and I decided that he would come back to Connecticut with me for treatment as that's where my husband and I were living.

"Chris was readmitted to the hospital in Norwich on Dec. 22 because the esophageal stent did not stay in place and had to be surgically removed. He needed an additional three units of blood and chemotherapy was started on Dec. 28, 2009.

"My son was never able to eat again. He was readmitted to the hospital in Norwich March 3 because we could not control his pain level with oral pain medications.

"Chemo was not controlling the spread of his cancer. His cancer then spread to the peritoneal sac. He then needed a Denver catheter to remove the fluid. Chemo was stopped as was TPN. He never came home again. On April 28, the hospital transferred him to hospice in Branford, Ct.

"On May 8, 2010, Mother's Day weekend, my son Christopher Michael Bloom died at the age of 23 from this beast of a cancer. He never really had a chance, the doctors told me in two different states.”

Keith and Maggie Solsbury renewed their wedding vows on their 25th anniversary last year. This photo with their two children was taken on the day Keith came home from the hospital.

Maggie Solsbury said she is working with other families nationwide to establish a foundation to assist those who have been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

Meanwhile, Keith Solsbury continues to valiantly fight the disease every day.
And the family is right there next to him.