MADISON, Wis. – Jessica Coppadge was diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer when she was just 47 years old.
She’d been experiencing several strange symptoms, including tiredness, gastrointestinal issues, irregular menstruation and swelling in her legs.
“I can be a procrastinator, and I always found a reason for the symptoms,” she said. “Like, maybe I was tired from work, or maybe I was experiencing symptoms from a gastric bypass surgery I’d had.”
When she saw her doctor for some of these concerns, she was referred to get a colonoscopy, which took place on Aug. 27, 2024, and led to her diagnosis of colorectal cancer that had spread to her liver.
Coppadge’s care team at UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center started her on pre-surgery chemotherapy to shrink the tumors before she could have surgery to remove them.
At the advice of Dr. Sharon Weber, surgical oncologist, Carbone Cancer Center, Coppadge ate a healthy, high-protein diet and did physical therapy to improve her strength before her February 2025 surgery with Weber.
“This prehabilitation regimen has been shown to improve well-being and can decrease a patient’s risk of complications and speed up recovery,” said Weber, who is also a professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Unfortunately, the side effects from the chemotherapy made Coppadge extremely ill and led to significant weight loss. She stopped the chemotherapy in December.
“We saw an alarming level of toxicity in Jessica’s case,” Weber said. “When someone has that level of side effects from the therapy, it can really negatively impact their quality of life.”
The good news was that Coppadge was eligible for an alternative form of treatment, called a hepatic artery infusion pump.
The titanium pump sits just below the skin in the abdomen and operates by body heat to release chemotherapy directly to the liver, where surgery was not feasible to remove the cancer. This precision method allows the patient to receive 40 times the chemotherapy than they would otherwise be able to receive, is well-tolerated by patients and helps them resume normal activities and routines during treatment.
UW Health is the only health system in Wisconsin that offers hepatic artery infusion pumps as a treatment option because of the specialized training it requires across a multidisciplinary team, according to Weber.
“It’s a specific program that requires expertise by all physicians and nurses who care for these patients, to implant it, monitor for potential complications and administer chemotherapy through it,” she said. “So, it takes a while to build up a cadre of people who are experienced enough to provide all the care surrounding this device.”
Coppadge appreciated how Weber and Dr. Noelle LoConte, her medical oncologist at Carbone, answered all of her questions and concerns about the treatment, especially given her initial experience with chemotherapy.
Coppadge, now 48, has traveled every two weeks from her home in Schofield, near Wausau, to Carbone in Madison for alternating refills of chemotherapy and a saline rinse. She experienced some fatigue and nausea but has been able to return to more of her usual activities.
Beginning in the fall, she will come to Carbone periodically for scans to measure how the chemotherapy has worked. The pump is typically left in place for a couple of years in case the patient needs it again, but it can then be removed.
Coppadge is grateful for strong support from her family, friends and employer, and advises anyone facing cancer to lean on their support system.
“My husband has been incredible, my kids have helped me out so much, I appreciate everything they’re doing for me during this process,” she said.
Spending time with loved ones, enjoying outdoor activities, and having a creative outlet in art and beading have helped her most through her cancer treatment, she said.
But beading has been more than a hobby during treatment. A friend’s mother taught her beading when she was a teen. It has connected her to her family’s Native American heritage in a manner that she has grown more appreciative of as she has gotten older, she said.
“A lot of people say beading is like medicine, so I try to put down at least a few beads a day, even if it’s just a row,” she said. “Mentally, it seems to have helped me a little bit, and the things you can create for your friends and loved ones, that’s a bonus.”
