Matt’s Cancer Chronology
By Sarah M. Hylton
Today marks one year since Matt’s passing on to his eternal home. As much as he loved this life, I know that he has now had the best year he has ever known. He has been truly cancer free for a year and better than that he has been with Jesus for a year! I am sure he has had conversations with Peter and Paul, and his dad and his grandparents! Oh, what a year he has had!
At his passing, I made a promise to Matt that people would know his story. In the past year, I have shared with you about his departure from this life which was a testimony to eternity itself. I have also shared the story of how we met. If you follow his page on Facebook, you’ve seen other posts, including a 4 part memorial video made by a friend of ours. I have also posted two of Matt’s previously unpublished blogs. I plan to spend this coming year posting more things like that.
This post is a chronological glimpse into his battle with cancer. The battle he is no longer required to fight. 🙏💙 Warning: You'll probably need tissues.
Before cancer, Matt was an avid swimmer and an active weightlifter. He lost 255lbs through natural diet and exercise. Prior to losing, he weighed 625 so there was a lot of excess skin once he lost. One doctor estimated approximately 150lbs. of the remaining weight was just excess skin. There was also a large amount of fluid that would accumulate in his body, especially in what Matt called his “wrecking ball” which was his abdomen and hung down between his legs to approximately his knees. This made it difficult to walk and was, at times, the object of looks and ridicule.
Too many hours of being up, walking &/or sitting, would cause the ball to fill with such an amount of fluid that it would become very hard. If it was too hard, it would take a day or more of bed rest for it to soften. But, as far as I know, this did not have to do with the cancer. This was just part of his life for a few years before cancer.
A lot can be said for any individual who suffers from such an issue who will still get out and work on his health, and Matt certainly did! In fact, he swam so much that when he took a nuclear stress test (because he was being prepped for possible skin removal surgery) he passed it with flying colors and was told that he had the heart of an athlete!
In February of 2019, Matt began to be sick with what we thought was seasonal allergies. He also experienced muscle aches we thought were caused from doing something wrong at the gym. At the time, he did not have health insurance so he did not go to the doctor until May, when insurance was acquired.
At first, he was diagnosed with pneumonia. By the time his follow-up came around he had spent most of 24 days in bed and was feeling worse. He refused to go to the follow-up because it was too much work to move, but about 3 days later I called the doctor and told her what was going on. She told me that it didn’t matter what he wanted, I needed to get him an ambulance and take him to a larger hospital about an hour from us.
When I talked to the doctor on the phone I was on my way home from picking up an ice cream treat for us from a local restaurant. Once I was home, I handed his to him and told him to enjoy it because I had news he was not going to like. He and I laughed about this later, which is why I am mentioning it. He had always said that no one can frown when they eat ice cream. No, he didn’t like the news but he realized the doctor was probably right and agreed to go (not that he had a choice at this point! Lol)
Using a chair for assistance, Matt was able to walk from the bedroom to the living room chair before the ambulance arrived but that was as far as he could go. It was also the farthest he would walk for a couple of months.
The intent was to go to the hospital the doctor had mentioned, but Matt's pulse was too high for the ambulance ride. So they stopped at the local hospital to get him stabilized. Once he made it to the larger hospital, 2 liters of non-cancerous fluid was extracted from his lungs. They also found broken ribs with tiny pieces missing. Matt had not been hit, he thought maybe he had done something in the gym but could not remember anything specific. The doctors eventually concluded that he had Non-Hodgkin's Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. They said it was treatable and that he could go for infusions at their day clinic.
The trouble was that Matt had lost so much strength and was unable to walk. So, while in the hospital, he had one infusion. We feared any more would increase his weakness further, so the focus transitioned to physical therapy. The plan was to regain strength so he could walk well enough to leave the hospital and then take the outpatient infusions.
After 57 days in the hospital that is about an hour from our house, he was transferred to our local hospital to finish physical therapy. His ability to perform sit-to-stands and walk with a walker increased and he was able to come home after 12 days at the local hospital.
On his first day home he fell when he was trying to get up from the couch. I called two of my friends who rushed over to help. They ended up being able to temporarily modify our couch so that it was taller. This was a tremendous help! In addition, our pastor helped with some modifications to our bed, to help Matt lay down/get up. We were truly blessed with many individuals who would help in various ways and by many far and wide who prayed for us. My mother was also able to come stay with us 3 different times during the entire 2 year battle. Talk about a major help! The Lord provides in so many ways. Even in the storm, He is faithful.
A few days after being home, Matt experienced another ER visit and was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. The palsy went away after about a year. After nearly a month of being home, Matt’s oxygen dipped to 83%. He returned to the hospital where they extracted more fluid from his lungs and kept him for 17 days. They discovered the cancer had spread and there was now only a 20% chance that chemo treatments would be effective, but a much higher chance that, within 8 months, he would no longer be with us if nothing was done. So, he was transferred to an even larger hospital, even further away from our home. He remained there for 63 days, receiving a few infusions and more physical therapy.
In November, his local primary doctor was able to arrange for him to come back to our local hospital and receive skilled care as a special situation. We were very happy because during his 63 day stay far away, I had only been able to see him one time for 2 days. (It was a blessing that I made it there and back though. A good Samaritan paid by way, the Lord protected me in the bad neighborhood of the big city, and another good Samaritan helped me avoid the neighborhood challenges on the way back. It is quite a story. I posted it on my Facebook back then. Many of you have read it. Lol.) Anyway, we were also happy that Matt could stay at the local hospital because the holidays were coming up and we wanted him to be near.
The local hospital could not administer the infusions he needed, so he was sent by ambulance, a few times, to a cancer center a couple of hours away. Following each appointment, he returned to the local hospital since it was basically his “home” at that time. However, as time went on, his ability to respond to physical therapy decreased and this affected his eligibility for his extended stay at the local hospital.
As a result, for around 3 weeks the hospital looked for a nursing home to transfer him to. He was turned down by approximately 42 nursing homes for various reasons. Then, after 56 days of being in the local hospital, he was sent home. (Yes, if you have been counting, that makes 205 days spent in one hospital or another during his first battle with cancer.) Thankfully, the discharge nurse located a free bariatric hospital bed for us to set up at the house. Also, my mother came to stay with us again, to help with nursing duties and with the house and kids.
In February of 2020, we were told Matt was cancer free. By May, he could take baby steps without his walker, his hair was starting to return, and when he made it to the car he could sit and drive. In June, he started having back pain, and a bit of sleep apnea and insomnia. In addition, a strange bulge appeared on his stomach, and the left side of chest and face became swollen.
By the end of July, he had spent a total of 12 more days in the hospital (5 one time, 7 another) and on the second stay there was 8.9 liters of fluid taken from his stomach (previously the fluid had been on his lungs). August passed. September and October was filled with more wheezing and more, major fluid retention. Also in October, large skin ulcers appeared that would never completely heal, no matter what we did. He completed a sleep apnea test which we had been working on getting since (approximately) July and did not get the results to until (approximately) December.
In November, a large bump appeared on his neck which was passed off as a tension headache (but it wasn’t). In December, a list of pains and inconveniences developed, including a terrible cough, gagging, etc. along with difficulty swallowing and increased shoulder and other pains. The cough, gagging, and the swallowing issue went away after some medicine from his primary doctor. Starting on December 24th and leading to sometime in January, Matt began walking between 40 and 90 steps per day. Things were starting to look up, despite the various pains and the lump on his neck.
In January of 2021, the terrible cough returned, his face began drooping again, his speech became very slurred, and he began to lose the ability to control food in his mouth. He eventually stopped eating anything other than popsicles (we did protein shake popsicles, apple juice, and regular) because everything else was too difficult to swallow. Since he was not able to drink anything, he became dehydrated and ended up back in the hospital. During January and February 2021, he spent a total of 32 days in 3 different hospitals.
We were told the bump on his neck was Lymphoma. They tried to shrink it with radiation, but it was too late and he was too weak for chemo. There was also a growth on his nasopharynx which they suspected was cancerous, but to do a biopsy would have been too risky. In order for him to be able to get some nutrition, they tried a feeding tube. It was at this point that Matt began to refuse treatment. He would agree to the feeding tube but then he would pull it out. This happened a few times.
He was released and sent home for hospice care on February 13, 2021. A few weeks prior, Matt communicated to me that he still desperately wanted to live but if it came down to it he wanted to be home with his family, and not in some facility, when the time came.
On the night of February 16, 2021, Matt went home to be with the Lord after a long day of goodbyes and an encounter with some angels.
We mourn our loss but we must remember to rejoice in Matt's gain. If you would like to transition from the sad tears this blog has probably caused to happy tears and hopeful thoughts, I encourage you to read the story of his departure. As I mentioned earlier, it's a testimony to eternity itself.
Matt would tell us to dry our eyes. He would tell us to keep moving forward, to be faithful to the Lord, and to not worry about trials of this life, including physical pain and traumatic experiences, because all that matters in the end is spending eternity with Jesus. May we all be encouraged by Matt's faithfulness in times of trial and by knowing we can be blessed to see him again one day as we follow the narrow way. AMEN.
Links:
Get the “How” Out of It (by Matt, published 8/16/21 )
Eat Through the Menu (by Matt, published 10/27/21)
Matt’s Obituary by Sarah M. Hylton
Matt’s Public Figure Facebook Page (last updated by Matt)
Matt’s Memorial Facebook Page (memorial videos, etc.)
Clip from Matt’s appearance on Skin Tight Season 2, Episode 10
I just want to say that I only found this clip this morning and was amazed that there are 2,623 comments on it, and many more have liked it and viewed it. Matt, your story is still out there! May it continue to help people with their weight loss journeys and lead many to the Lord. I know that is what you desired most! Amen!
Season 2, Episode 10 of Skin Tight
Depending on your TV provider, you may be able to watch the entire episode at the above link.
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