Phil Decker's Healthy Cancer Comeback

For Phil Decker, 46, from Robins, Iowa, fitness was a central focus of his life. Phil would regularly run up to six times per week and lift weights for up to four. In fact, in 2022, Phil was working his way to meet one of his fitness goals: running the Boston Marathon. One small problem; this was all prior to his diagnosis of Stage IV Colon Cancer, “the most serious and advanced stage” (Emuakhagbon, 2022).

At this stage, “cancer has spread outside of the colon to other parts of the body” (Emuakhagbon, 2022), commonly “ to the lungs, brain, peritoneum…, or to distant lymph nodes” (“Treatment,” 2020). While recovery is possible from this stage, it is not without its long and grinding comeback. In Phil’s case, he would be faced with a total of twelve rounds of chemotherapy and a major surgical procedure on both his liver and colon. In addition to this, Phil developed Acute Pancreatitis, a rare side effect from the chemotherapy, causing him a four-night stay in the hospital.

Yet, despite all that Phil has had to face, he did not give up on his passion for fitness and continued to work towards his goal of running the Boston Marathon, doing so last April and completing it in a time of 4:24. Phil believes that his focus on fitness greatly benefitted his life experience during treatment, believing that it allowed him “to stay engaged mentally with a goal” of running the Boston Marathon. Additionally, exercising during treatment made Phil feel that he was fighting back against cancer every time he got to run. While the strain of the recovery process has halted Phil’s ability to lift weights, he stayed committed to running.

Phil faced many setbacks, including major surgery on both his colon and liver in May 2022, restarting his chemotherapy treatment in August 2022, and an unplanned liver ablation in September 2022. None of this stopped Phil from continuing his passion for fitness, running, and completing the Chicago Marathon just one month after his liver surgery. Without exercise, Phil believes he would be mentally in a very dark place, as something he valued and committed much of his life to would have been ripped away.

As for Phil’s nutrition, gone are the days of consuming bacon and lunch meats, as he is now solely focused on eating plant-fed meat and increasing his intake of fruits and vegetables. Nutrition was, is, and will continue to be an additional priority in Phil’s recovery. Phil’s reasoning for focusing on nutrition is simple: “I don’t want to waste any good days not feeling 100 percent.”

Over the course of his recovery, Phil became an ally and steward of colon cancer awareness in a variety of ways. Prior to running both the 2022 Boston Marathon and the 2022 Chicago Marathon, Phil organized fundraising campaigns that generated a combined $25,500 for colon cancer patients. Phil also started a website, Tell5Friends.org, with the purpose of raising awareness for colon cancer. Phil’s spreading of information has already saved many lives due to the increased awareness and desire to get screened. Three of these people were diagnosed with early-stage Colon cancer (phew!), and at least 25 have had precancerous polyps removed. He set out to save at least one life and has saved more than 25.

We’re thrilled to share that as of March 2023, Phil has finished chemotherapy, and his latest scans show No Evidence of Disease, aka REMISSION! Many expect the cancer recovery process only to be filled with negatives and hardships; however, Phil sees his experience as one filled with silver linings. “Being diagnosed with cancer has been a huge blessing I never expected. I’ve met some of the most incredible people in my life that will be lifetime friends. I’ve been able to mentor other Colon cancer patients … I’ve gotten to see that the world is full of way more good people than bad. I’ve been able to help save lives by just talking about my diagnosis and advocating for others to get a Colonoscopy. I truly believe God needs me to be out talking about Colon cancer and ways to prevent it, and I’ll be doing it the rest of my life.”

Photos used with permission of Phil Decker