It took a bite from a copperhead snake for Robert Kim to learn he had cancer.
It was 2021 and he and his wife Torrey had just moved into their dream house, a log cabin on nine wooded acres in Moncure, North Carolina. A longtime runner, Kim had noticed his stamina had dropped significantly. He felt short of breath and easily fatigued, but he thought it was just part of getting older.
Kim was picking blueberries in the yard when he saw a baby bunny that was badly injured. He bent down to try to help and was bit by a copperhead snake.
He went to the emergency department, where doctors determined he didn’t get much venom (the poor bunny got it all) and sent him home. Two days later, he noticed unusual swelling in his ankles. Thinking it was related to the bite, he went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor suggested a chest X-ray.
The image was concerning, and a biopsy quickly confirmed it: “They said I had a huge cancerous mass in my chest, and I needed to have it removed,” says Kim, now 62.
It was a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare cancer that can happen anywhere in the body. For Kim, it happened on the thymus, a gland behind the sternum that helps regulate the immune system.
Days later, he was in surgery. When he woke up, doctors told him incredible news: The tumor was a whopping 7 pounds, but it was not attached to his lungs as they had feared. He still had both lungs, and he could instantly breathe better.
“I was exuberant,” he says.
But a year later, a scan revealed that the cancer was back and metastatic, meaning it had spread to other parts of his body and was no longer curable.
More Quality and Quantity of Life
Kim saw UNC Health oncologist Jared Weiss, MD, to make a treatment plan that would slow the growth of tumors in his neck, chest and pelvis without making him miserable from harsh drugs.
“My goal is to have a patient living well,” Dr. Weiss says. “We want to maximize total quality of life.”
In 2022, Kim started on a series of targeted therapies, first via injection and then in pill form, to slow the growth of cancer cells. He tolerated it well, though his side effects included painful mouth sores and body aches that would wake him at night. He was diagnosed with diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, common side effects of these particular cancer drugs because they increase blood sugar.
Every three months, Kim travels about 40 minutes to the NC Basnight Cancer Hospital in Chapel Hill for a full body scan to see if the tumors have grown. For more than two years on his regimen, there was minimal growth of the tumors—the slow pace he and Dr. Weiss were hoping for.
Recently, his scan revealed a bit more growth, and his mouth sores got so severe that Kim and Dr. Weiss decided to change their approach. First, he’ll get a special PET scan to see if he’s eligible for a clinical trial that combines antibody drug therapy with radiation as a sort of “smart bomb” to the tumors.
If he’s not a candidate for that, Dr. Weiss will prescribe a different targeted therapy pill that modifies blood supply to the tumors. The goal will be to find the lowest possible effective dose for him, to minimize side effects, Dr. Weiss says.
It’s a doctor’s responsibility with every patient to explain their options, to make sure they understand the information, and to listen to their needs and wants. Kim makes that easy, Dr. Weiss says.
“He listens, he’s highly educated, and he asks good questions,” he says. “Once we make a decision together, I’m always confident he understands and it’s consistent with his values.”
Enjoying What Matters
Through all the uncertainty, Kim’s wife has kept him steady.
“It’s a cliché, but Torrey is my rock. We don’t sit around wringing our hands saying, ‘oh my God, what are we going to do?’ We’re going to do everything recommended by Dr. Weiss, and we’re going to enjoy life.”
Kim has always been a man with hobbies. When his three adult children were kids, he started a Star Wars toy collection and never stopped; he likes to work in his garage on a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle.
He still enjoys those pursuits, but his cancer experience gave him more perspective on how he spends his time.
“All this stuff is pretty useless when you’re gone,” he says. “I want to spend as much time as possible with my wife and my kids. They are the greatest people I have ever met. I want to make sure they know it and that I experience as much of life as possible with them.”
Some of his favorite days are spent walking the wooded, half-mile trail on the family property with Torrey and their three rescue dogs: Arya the part-border collie “supermutt”, Cha Cha the chow chow and Kylo, a 95-pound Australian shepherd mix.
Kim knows it might sound crazy to some, but he talks to Kylo like he’s a person and gets a lot of comfort from their relationship.
“He taught me that dwelling on the cancer is something he’d never do,” he says. “After hearing I had the metastasis, I thought, am I going to die? I realized quickly, after spending time with Kylo, we’re the only animals who do that. He just lives in the present. I’m sick, but I’m here now, and I love life.”
If you have questions about your cancer risk, talk to your doctor or find one near you.