Beating the Odds

Immunotherapy Helps Father Thrive

Kelly and Craig Hill (center) stand with their family. Craig Hill faced stage 4 esophageal cancer with the help of the Enloe Regional Cancer Center.

While discussing his stage 4 esophageal cancer diagnosis, Craig Hill couldn’t help but showcase the qualities that make him a loving husband, father and grandfather. His humility was on display, immediately denouncing the notion that he was courageous in his battle. So was his compassion for those around him, speaking more about the toll his diagnosis has taken on his family and friends than it has his own body.

And don’t forget the humor. He jokingly petitioned for generous Photoshop work to hide the hair loss in photos at his daughter’s wedding.

He admits to being a bit “grouchy” during gruesome stretches of treatment. He affectionally added that his wife, Kelly, “deserves a purple heart,” for putting up with him. Even when treatment complications caused a blood clot that led to bleeding in his brain, he flipped the script.

“It was good, because they found out I had a brain,” Hill said.

Since his diagnosis in fall 2018, Hill faced harrowing odds. He was given three to six months to live, lost nearly 100 pounds and endured countless treatments along with nasty side effects. But it never changed who he was. With access to local treatment at the Enloe Regional Cancer Center, a resilient Hill persevered — walking his daughter down the aisle, welcoming his first grandchild and returning to the life he loves.

Check-Up Uncovers Cancer

Four years ago, Hill’s outlook wasn’t as favorable. He begrudgingly joined his wife on a diet to prepare for their daughter’s big day. “I was in perfect shape,” Hill said, laughing — but he wasn’t expecting the rapid weight loss and stomach pains that followed. Kelly prodded her husband to see their primary care doctor to figure out what was going on, and he booked his first check-up in nearly a decade.

“I went in, got tested and didn’t like what I found,” Hill said.

The first few months were a blur. Surgeries, chemotherapy, blood transfusions and more left him exhausted. Hill was assigned a hospice worker to make home visits, though he stubbornly shooed the worker away.

“It feels like I went from moving cows on a Thursday and turning around a week later and barely being able to even walk,” he said.

Then Hill started immunotherapy, a treatment meant to stop the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. With Hill, it did more. He regained strength, stopped suffering from the side effects of chemo, and returned to work after a year and a half off the job.

In the three years since Hill started immunotherapy, he hasn’t had a bad screening. He went from planning his funeral back to hauling hay and working with cows on his ranch. Most importantly, he found renewed time with his wife of 32 years, their two children and their granddaughter.

North State Sees Higher Cancer Rates

If he hadn’t been treated locally, he said, Hill’s story might have ended differently. It’s a sentiment that is too common in the North State, where cancer is a leading cause of death.

“Lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers are diagnosed at higher rates here — and often at later stages than other parts of California,” said Mike Wiltermood, Enloe’s President and CEO. That reality fueled the desire to build a new comprehensive cancer center in Chico.

“The new center will be inspired by some of the most advanced facilities in the nation,” added Jolene Francis, Enloe’s Vice President of Philanthropy & Communications. “It will maximize resources to improve cancer education, prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment.”

Hill is grateful for the current cancer center and welcomes the idea of a new one.

“Enloe saved my life, absolutely,” Hill said. “I’ll never be able to repay them. They are a lifeline for me and so many other people in the area.”