Wayne Stillman

Stillman at the Soldier's Field Memorial in Rochester. He was instrumental in developing the memorial to veterans from Southeast Minnesota.

Wayne Stillman never thought a lot about how chance events in life really do matter. That is, until the discovery of a medical condition in his sister led to the discovery of a deadly form of cancer in him.

"When I think about how lucky I am to be alive, I often wonder who really stepped in to save my life — was it a message from God or was it the Mayo Clinic?" ponders Stillman, an otherwise healthy 68-year-old.

The road to cancer and recovery started in 1999 for Stillman. A retired small business owner, Stillman was busy enjoying his life, spending time with his wife of 44 years, his four grown children and seven grandchildren, and working as the president and chairman of the Soldier's Field Memorial, a non-profit organization created to honor veterans from Southeast Minnesota.

His life suddenly changed when his sister Yvonne, then age 66, was diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus, a disorder in which the lining of the esophagus is damaged from stomach acid. Immediately following Yvonne's diagnosis, the family was introduced to Yvonne Romero, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist involved in research on the genetics of Barrett's esophagus. Dr. Romero sent a questionnaire to Yvonne's siblings to check for their possible symptoms of Barrett's esophagus, too. Of particular concern was the possibility of esophageal cancer, known to be a higher risk in people with Barrett's.

Within a few days, Yvonne's four siblings and their children answered a questionnaire about their health, which included identifying all signs of reflux, indigestion and heartburn, among others. Wayne Stillman's mention of frequent heartburn led to further testing, which confirmed that he, too, had Barrett's esophagus.

Dr. Romero asked Stillman to join a research study following patients with Barrett's. He consented and was given an endoscopy exam. The results were frightening — esophageal cancer. Stillman, then age 62, immediately began chemotherapy and radiation treatments. After three months, he had surgery to remove part of his esophagus.

"It was a rare and unusual experience to learn that while I only had heartburn, my life was hanging in the balance. That is when I think God and Mayo stepped in to take control and offer me hope," says Stillman. "If Mayo Clinic physicians did not encourage me to have a test, based on one very common health symptom, I would have been dead within three months."

Throughout his diagnosis and treatment, Stillman was involved in building the Soldier's Field Memorial and he believes this involvement helped to save his life; he had an opportunity to focus on a project dear to his heart, instead of just his cancer.

Today, Stillman is cancer-free, and he remains grateful for the care he received. And he often wonders what would have happened if his sister had gone to just "any old" health care provider. "Mayo's commitment to each patient and to the whole picture, which in my case included genetic testing, saved my life," he says.