I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. Tom Marsilje in person.  I always spoke of traveling to California to meet him, however my health condition always prevented this from happening.  Even though we never met in person he has had a HUGE impact on me personally.  Over the past several years, I have followed posts he has made on multiple Social Media sites, his blog page and speaking engagements.  Yes, I was a Dr. Tom stalker!

Tom was not only a brilliant scientist, he too was battling Stage IV colon cancer.  He turned this negative into a positive and while fighting for his own life he had a relentless pursuit of advocating to the Colorectal Cancer world both as a scientist and a patient.  This selfless pursuit landed him in the national spotlight with a cover on Newsweek Magazine and several nationally broadcast events.  He very quickly became a “Cancer Celebrity”.  Tom’s message reached around the globe impacting the lives of thousands of people.  Tom lost his five year battle with Stage IV Colon Cancer at the young age of 45.

When I was first diagnosed with Colon Cancer, I very quickly turned to the internet for research.  It was then, that I ran across Tom’s posts on social media sites.  I was very quickly drawn to his ability to communicate some of the very technical medical jargon into words that layman could understand.  I then started following his Blog that he published so frequently.  I was awed by this great man.  He had such a passion to help others.  His optimistic attitude to find a cure as well as push through all the difficulty that  living with cancer presents was absolutely incredible.

I do not think I would be alive today if it were not for Tom.  There have been several times on this Journey that I did think I could continue on.  Probably the most challenging time was January, February and March of 2017.  My body had become so weak from all the treatments that it was taking a toll on me physically and more importantly mentally.   Although Tom was struggling and fighting for his life, he was never short of encouragement.  I received encouragement through his writings as well as one on one through facebook and facebook messenger.  This incredible human being was my rock during the toughest battle of my life.  Tom’s passing has left a huge void in my life.  I am at a total loss of thought right now.  I am very scared for the future as my cancer condition deteriorates and the one person I could always count on for words of encouragement is no longer around.

I am eternally grateful for everything you have done Tom!  May you rest in peace my friend.

As you would always say