When I turned 60, I knew something wasn’t right. I lost weight. I felt drained. I had no appetite. I had a gut feeling — literally, abdominal discomfort — and a sense that something serious was going on beneath the surface. So I asked my doctors to test everything.

Full body scans. Colonoscopy. Endoscopy. Cardiac function tests. Every lab test I could get approved.

The gastroenterologist removed a couple of polyps but said nothing was wrong other than mild gastritis. The cardiologist suggested that maybe I was stressed or depressed. Then the Palisades fire destroyed our Los Angeles house, and my wife and I were displaced to Palm Desert, Calif. A few weeks later, I was suddenly in severe pain that lasted a weekend. Nothing stayed down.

By Monday morning, I was a patient in the emergency

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