Our Favorite Survivor: Susan Slyter

She's been knocked down, but she gets up again.  And, again.  And, again.  And, now, what is clinically her sixth cancer occurrence, Susan Slyter, is in need of support after a long 10-year battle with small intestine cancer.   Small intestine cancer is rare and what we didn't know when we started this journey, is that different cancers respond differently to different medications and treatments.  Makes sense, right?  Because small intestine cancer is that rare, however, there is still an uncertain chemotherapy regimen for these patients.  There aren't enough patients to generate research!  This cancer is typically aggressive and relentless.  Surgical treatments are the best hope for long-term survival.  Unfortunately, we are at the point where surgery seems impossible.  Exactly how do you cut out all of this cancer?


The cancer has metastasized and covers a good portion of the peritoneal, or inner cavity of Susan's abdomen.  The surgeon described it as rice being sprinkled over the belly and the rice represents cancerous tumors.  The technical term is "peritoneal carcinomatosis."  Mom's small intestine cancer has taken on a whole new cancer inside her abdomen.  There is cancer on the liver and tumors between the chest wall and liver.  There are multiple tumors in the abdominal area, not attached to an organ, but within the abdominal fascia.    Despite having so much cancer in her, Susan has been, remarkably, feeling okay!  She still continues to work part-time as a cashier!!!  She is still chasing around these grand babies several days  week!  However, she is tired.  She does have chronic pain and the pain on her right side continues to persist, as it will.  As the ones closest to her, we can all see a slight fade in her over the weeks.  Much similar to her history over the decade.


Over the last ten years doctors have removed tumors from her small intestine, one in her abdominal tissue,  one on her spleen and pancreas in which the entire spleen was removed.  One surgery required removal of part of her rectum and colon and what doctors called a 'vaginectomy', as the tumor had anchored itself so deeply in Sue's pelvic floor.  One tumor turned out to be an inflamed appendix, so we got that sucker taken out!  She has had one surgery where just a few tumors were removed, and lastly in October of 2014 she had nine tumors plucked off of her liver and abdomen.  Here we are.  Countless tumors.

Idaho doctors have reached the maximum surgical help they can give her.  They've sent us out on our own to find a doctor.  A place.  There is still hope.  There is another procedure that involves cytoreductive surgery (debulking tumors), peritoneal stripping, and a hyperthermic chemotherapy procedure.  Patients are critically assessed on whether they are eligible for the surgery with a favorable outcome.  On average, this procedure adds 22.2 months to life in prime patients.  It is not without risk.  It is a 10-20 hour surgery in which the empty spaces in the abdomen are stripped of the layer of tissue that holds the cancer cells.  Following the surgery to strip and slice down tumors to their smallest, heated chemotherapy will be poured directly into the abdomen and doctors will gently (we hope!) rock mom back and forth allowing the heated medicine to penetrate into her abdominal tissues.  

After doing brief research, I immediately tried for this procedure at  MD Anderson in Texas only to be rejected, yesterday. They are ranked as the #1 cancer facility in the United States, so we thought, why not there?  They are unable to offer this procedure to Susan until late April and feel she needs to find another treatment sooner.  They suggested going local.  I love my Weiser, Idaho doctors, but I am not sure this is the case for them!

We had a friend of a friend mention the name of a doctor in San Diego and we kept the information as our back up.  As soon as I hung up with Texas, I called to UCSD and my first phone call I spoke with the surgeon's personal assistant!  Like, SHE answered the phone.  Real answers.  A real person.   Things seems to be progressing quickly and I am hopeful that this turns into something viable.

The first step in this process is getting the records and referrals from two facilities to UCSD.  She will be specifically treated at the Moores Cancer Center.  One is done, the other should be on the way shortly.  We also have completed the patient medical record number process so they should be in the works of authorizing procedures, etc..  It's way faster than I expected.  They said there are openings on the 23rd of this month!  What?



We believe we have someone willing to pay for a portion of the flight, hotel, and travel expenses.  We are creating this account as most immediately, we need $450 for the phone consult with UCSD.  This is not covered by insurance.  This would replace the initial consult that they require of all patients.  The initial consult does not involved any physical evaluations or testing, that is step two.  In order to save us a trip, they are willing to evaluate Susan's records and discuss with us over the phone if we are eligible for the surgery, what they prognosis is, and how quickly they feel she needs to have the procedure.  The surgeon's assistant seemed to think that the surgery could be bumped ahead of others if needed.

We were pressed by friends and family to create a 'gofundme' account as an easy way for them to express love and support to Susan across the miles.  Thank you, in advance, for blessing her and our family this way.  As her representative with this matter, I am humbled to ask and accept.  I wanted to be the one to take care of my mom.  If you want to avoid the fees, the account is at Columbia Bank in Weiser, ID under Dana Clary.

Depending on how this all hashes out, we might use this money to make a big memory together!  We are absolutely uncertain how much time mom has left.  We would like to take care of her in the best possible way.  She does need a better mode of transportation and I would like her to not stress about month to month bills, prescriptions, and more.  I will be attending the procedure with her, wherever she goes, and the money raised would help with my expenses, too.  It may seem silly, but I just want to put it out there what our intention is with this money.  And, please, before you consider contributing to our cause, make sure it is right with your heart.  Pray on it.  Thanks for helping us through this journey!  We don't have the right words to articulate our gratitude right now.  Be blessed.