Survivors

Breast cancer - Stage IIIB

  When I found out that I had cancer, I decided that I was going to make cancer the best thing that ever happened to me, not the worst. At 39 years old I was diagnosed with stage IIIB breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. I’d been told the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes and bloodstream, and I had a 49 percent survival rate. I was not about to accept those odds! My first day at CTCA at Midwestern Regional Medical Center, I knew I was in the right place. They offered me so much more than my local doctors had. I underwent a variety of diagnostic tests to help my care team determine where the cancer was in my body and how we needed to treat it. When I met my oncologist, Dr. Citrin, he told me we were going to attack my cancer from every direction possible. My treatment plan consisted of three different chemotherapy drugs delivered in fractionated doses every three weeks, eight weeks of radiation that included TomoTherapy^® radiation (given by another one of my favorites, Dr. Eden), and two final doses of chemo. A complete hysterectomy was recommended and performed by Dr. Williams once these treatments were completed.Not only was my treatment program designed to kill the cancer, it also nurtured me and prepared me for life after cancer, with things like nutrition support, massage, and acupuncture to fight my disease on all fronts. Sharon Day, my nutritionist, re-educated my family and me about how to eat and what to eat. She even grocery-shopped for us and told us what to look for in our foods. My naturopathic clinician, Lise, recommended supplements to help me cope with the side effects of chemo and radiation, and helped me establish a long-term supplemental regimen to stay healthy.Being away from my family and friends during treatment was hard at times, but a blessing as well. I missed them and worried about them, but it gave me time to reflect and heal. The time I spent alone really put things into perspective and I addressed some anxiety issues I had struggled with long before my cancer. I felt strongly that my stress and negative thoughts had contributed to my getting sick. I wanted to take responsibility for how I got this sick, and then change course. I also appreciated the support of my family and friends. Today, I still travel more than 2,000 miles for my yearly checkups at CTCA. Each visit, I see my entire care team and get the full deal, from a massage, to physical therapy, acupuncture, nutrition, naturopathic medicine, and of course my primary care doctors.  During my last visit, it was wonderful to hear Dr. Eden tell me he never needed to see me again! Of course, I will stop by every year to say “hi” but I am happy to no longer be his patient. I have never been happier. I have faith in myself to be and do more. I find new ways every day to remind myself to live. From the beautiful surroundings I call home, being blessed with the opportunity to be treated at CTCA, and the love of my family and friends…it’s all just one big hug from the universe for me! Thank you!

Colorectal cancer - Stage IV

  I had been feeling discomfort for about a year before having the colonoscopy that would lead to a diagnosis of cancer in December 2010. When I was first diagnosed, I was worried about who would take care of my daughter, and I thought it was the end of my world. But then I began to see things differently. “It’s the beginning of my world,” I thought. “My world is just going to be a little bit different than how I had it planned.” With the help of Cancer Treatment Centers of America^® (CTCA), my world after cancer has turned out to be a better than I’d planned.After a family trip to Italy, I knew I needed to see a doctor to address the symptoms I’d been feeling—abdominal pain, a feeling of fullness, some blood in my stools. I had a colonoscopy in Denver, and my doctor, seeing evidence of cancer in my colon, recommended that I see an oncologist immediately. My husband and I knew from the start that no matter what the first oncologist told us, we would seek a second opinion. We were very interested in finding a facility where I could receive complementary medicine approaches, not only conventional treatment. My husband came across CTCA^®, and we called the toll-free number to inquire about obtaining a second opinion. Even from that first phone call, I felt well cared for. There were no voice prompts to wade through or shuttling from one person to the next. Within two weeks of my diagnosis, my husband and I were on our way to Phoenix for a second opinion at CTCA’s Western Regional Medical Center (Western). From the very start, the services were superior to anything I’d experienced prior. Someone was waiting for us at the airport, and everything was arranged for us. A schedule was left under the door to my room telling us each doctor I would be meeting with, there was even food provided in the refrigerator in the room. It was like checking into a hotel, but with exceptional medical care. The day after we arrived, a whole team of healthcare professionals was waiting to answer questions I had about my diagnosis and treatment. I had an oncologist, a surgeon, a naturopathic clinician and a nutritionist. One of the more challenging aspects of my cancer was that there were cancer cells in both lobes of my liver. No one I had spoken with at that point had addressed what could be done to remove cancer from my liver. My surgeon, Dr. Litvack, told me that he thought he could perform the necessary colon and liver surgeries together. He said this procedure could be done laparoscopically, which would shorten my healing time. It gave me so much hope to be told that. oday, I am feeling great. My health is good, and I feel fabulous mentally and physically. I return to CTCA every three months. And the truth is, I get excited to go and see everyone there. When I tell this to friends, they ask me how I can look forward to going back to a hospital. But the caregivers there are my family now. They are the people who carried me through so many difficult moments. I wish I could be there for them as they were there for me. The truth is, I was afraid to complete my care. I wasn’t sure how to step away from the warm, safe environment of CTCA and back into the routine of my life. And my support network at CTCA paid attention to this concern and reassured me. “You can do this,” they told me. “This is what you’ve been waiting for.” 

Lung cancer - Stage IV

  When I was 63 years old, I began experiencing a persistent cough that was worsening. At one point, I was going through a bag of cough drops every day. Nothing was helping. At the VA hospital in Houston, Texas, where I live, I had some tests done. The doctors determined I had stage IV lung cancer. I decided to get a second opinion at another regional hospital. There, the doctor did a biopsy, which had not been done at my first examination. The conclusion was the same. Then I received an e-mail from a friend mentioning Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). I had never heard of CTCA, but after receiving a second e-mail mentioning CTCA from another friend a week later, I took the initiative to call. Chemotherapy was very difficult at first. I had a lot of side effects (pain, nausea, diarrhea, appetite issues, sleep issues and hiccups), and I had no idea how to deal with them. But for the symptoms I encountered, my care team gave me medication or would recommend some other strategy. But it’s not necessarily reassuring to be told there’s something to help you through the side effects. I had to focus on every little movement. I was fearful and I lost a great deal of weight in about a week’s time. My care team also taught me how to manage the side effects. A few days after I returned home from a treatment, someone from the hospital called to ask if I was having any issues. They kept me from panicking. Gradually I was able to handle the treatments better. I learned how to avoid dehydration, how to watch my blood and how to get rid of the metallic taste in my mouth. Sometimes when you’re on your own, it’s easy to think your situation is worse than anyone else’s. But as I learned how to manage the side effects, I realized I could get through this. As I went through treatment at CTCA, cancer changed from being a death sentence to being something to survive. And I have been surviving. I have had several bouts with new tumors appearing, but I’ve learned to understand the disease better and to be realistic. There are ups and downs, but that is what happens with surviving. There are always highs and lows. Along the way, my oncologist has always told me my options. She tells me what she recommends and all the pros and cons. She speaks in plain language. She doesn’t use big medical terms I don’t understand. It’s like being cared for by a relative. My message to anyone with cancer, especially with advanced lung cancer, is: Don’t let anyone tell you how long you have to live. The truth is no one really knows. You have to believe it’s not the end. I encourage anyone who has cancer to listen to what the doctors at CTCA have to say. Since my diagnosis, I have seen my daughter graduate from junior college. I made it to 66 years old, and I’m looking forward to 67.

Ovarian cancer - Stage IIIC

  In December 2010, when I was 54 years old, I began experiencing symptoms that I tried to ignore—bloating, diarrhea, vomiting. I figured it was a virus that I’d get over. But one morning that next February I became extremely sick. I felt a horrible pain in my stomach that would not go away. That night I went to the emergency room near my home in Orlando, Florida. The next thing I know, I’m being transferred to a regional cancer center. But no one told me that I had cancer. I was shocked. At the cancer center, the doctors wanted to perform emergency surgery, but I developed an infection. I was in the hospital for several days while the infection was treated, and then underwent a complete hysterectomy, and removal of my appendix. I learned that there was one large mass and one small mass in my stomach, along with over a gallon of water. The doctor scraped cells from my lymph nodes to check for cancer. I remained in the hospital for three or four days after surgery. Two weeks later, I was back for a consultation with the doctor who’d performed the surgery. He told me that cancer was still in my body and that I would need chemotherapy. He wanted to put a port in my stomach and in my chest to speed the delivery of the drug directly to the affected areas. He told me that I would need many rounds of chemotherapy.  had six cycles of chemotherapy. Going through that treatment was not as rough as I thought it could be. At first the hair loss was difficult, but a colleague of mine called and said the words I needed to hear: “If your hair was all you had going for you, I’d tell you to fight for it. But you have a lot more going for you than just your hair. Let it go. It will grow back.” A nurse at CTCA told me that an important part of getting through chemotherapy was eating correctly. I followed that advice carefully. I also had massages, Reiki, participated in QiGong, the worship services, and spent time with a chaplain at the facility. That spiritual support was invaluable. She would sit with me for hours, and it was a comfort to know that there were people concerned not only about the health of my body, but about me as a person. I never regret the choice of going to CTCA. The travel was easy, and there is no distance in miles that should stop a person from getting the care that is best for their life. I never dreamed I’d travel so much, but in the end it worked out for me just fine—better than fine. I have a new found family at CTCA.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)

  My cancer diagnosis happened almost by accident. In the early months of 2011, I was considering leaving my job and going to work for my son. We’d started a business four or five years earlier, and I was thinking about joining him full time. But one of my concerns with making the change was health insurance, because I would need different coverage and I wasn’t sure what the cost would be. At the time, I had a small lump in the groin area and I went to the doctor to have it evaluated. I wanted to know if it was anything serious before I tried to switch insurance plans. My doctor said I had a swollen lymph node. He said sometimes lymph nodes can swell and then return to normal, but I wanted to be certain there was nothing to be concerned about. I arranged to have the lymph node removed and examined. On April 29, the report from the analysis of the lymph node came back with the diagnosis of lymphoma. In the weeks following my diagnosis, I visited four cancer treatment facilities for an evaluation. I also visited a training hospital near our home in Westminster, Maryland, but my sense was training came first and patients came second. One day, one of my wife’s clients told her about Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). I’d never heard of it, but we decided to call. I ended up traveling to the CTCA hospital in Philadelphia for a three-day consultation in June. The doctors there recommended a monoclonal antibody called rituximab plus combination chemotherapy, a treatment regimen known as R-CHOP. It was the same treatment some of the other doctors I met with had recommended, however the difference was when I walked into CTCA, I felt comfortable. It was the kind of place where I wanted to be for cancer treatment. In late June, I underwent my first round of R-CHOP there. During most of my treatment, I felt well. I wasn’t very sick from the drugs, and I felt good about the care I was receiving at CTCA. Yet, I almost postponed the sixth cycle of treatment because by that point, I was wiped out. Dr. Shayma Kazmi, my oncologist, encouraged me to stick with it. I did, and I’m glad for that decision. However, that last month was rough. I wasn’t bedridden, but I couldn’t do very much. I also became sick with pneumonia and bronchitis. s far as I’m concerned, I’m a success story. My experience at CTCA was excellent and I am on the other side of this diagnosis. But going through cancer has been far more than just a medical experience. It’s changed me. I’m able to appreciate the small moments in life, day by day. I’m slower, not just because of recovering from treatment, but because I’m more laid back. I’m able to enjoy life a little bit more each day. I knew I had to push through my treatment, but now that I’m on the other side, I’m savoring life so much more. That’s a success of its own.

Commentary : These cancer stories were very interesting and inspiring . Cancer seems like a scary thing and it seems like a lot to handle but with the right treatment and a good support team by your side , it gets better . Most of these people thought that they weren't going to make it , but they did . They had their loving families by their side and the care of CTAC . Many of these people loved CTAC and they said that their ( CTAC ) main priority was the care of their patients and their health .