Mila's Cancer Fight

Life can be a yo-yo, with ups and downs, so you just never know what's coming...In October of 2016, having been diagnosed with uterine cancer I had surgery which removed one small, contained tumor and my lymph nodes were clean. My pathology results were stage 1, with no spreading and no further treatment was called for. I was so grateful to have dodged the bullet, so to speak! However, in mid-December I started having abdominal pains and in late January, after exploratory surgery, I was diagnosed with metastasized endometrial cancer that had spread throughout my abdominal cavity. The surgery revealed numerous cancer nodules less than 1 cm in size, similar to grains of sand, called ‘miliary’ disease, and a few that were 1-2 cm in size.  My doctor gave me a death sentence (2-3 months to live or perhaps 12 at best with palliative chemo). My family and I went to Houston to MD Anderson for a second opinion and were told that this serious disease would require immediate treatment and that there was no point in predicting my chances of survival until we saw how I responded to chemo therapy.

After intense family discussion, we researched cancer treatments and settled on EuroMed, a cancer clinic in Northern Phoenix, which specializes in low-dose chemo delivered through insulin potentiated therapy (IPT), along with other therapies that support the immune system, and I started treatment in late February. We made this alternative health care choice because of the huge difference in side effects and because of my existing systemic lupus condition (an auto-immune disease), as well as the large number of intransigent cancer patient success stories.

After almost two months of intensive chemo every week, I’m thrilled to say that the treatments have been working and my pain level has gone down significantly, while my energy level has gone up! Unfortunately, this type of integrative treatment is not covered by insurance, as it is an alternative method and not the ‘standard of care’. I will be travelling back to Colorado in late April and the plan going forward will require travelling back and forth twice a month to keep up the intensive treatment required to hit the cancer hard and early. This journey will definitely be a long one however, since the miliary nature of my metastasized cancer is challenging. My doctors tell me that this is at best a chronic condition and that I will require some level of treatment on an ongoing basis for life, even if the cancer goes into remission. Given this prognosis, I will remain unable to work for the foreseeable future.  Fortunately, the clinic has seen great results, even with people who were sent to hospice by their oncologists, so I’m very encouraged about beating this disease! I’m so grateful that we have found such an amazing place and that I’m responding well.

Obviously, my health situation is causing my family to make sacrifices and we are going to have to work out how to manage financially, but we are positive and focused, with our eye on the prize. My friends have encouraged me to ask for help and we certainly need it to cover costs of treatment, airfare for my travel back and forth to Arizona, car rental and lodging costs for these trips (our monthly expenses for at least the next few months are increased by $12,000/month!). Hopefully, the chemo treatments will eventually be spaced further and further apart, once I transition to a “maintenance plan” if my tumor markers and PET scans show low enough cancer activity. Given this, the financial strain on the family resources has been extreme and we are looking at a long-term situation of reduced income, increased costs not covered by health insurance, as well as the need for continuing treatment.

Cancer is a huge teacher (like all hardship in life) and I’m just beginning the process of realizing how much I still have to learn. Thankfully, I feel armed with the spirit and heart to fight the good fight and so grateful to have this opportunity to deepen whatever marginal wisdom I may have. In this new world where everything is groundless, the need to be present “in the now” has become a critical survival tool. I must say a huge thank you to my family and friends for their love and support, without which, I can honestly say, I wouldn’t be alive today. It’s been quite an intense journey so far and right now it feels like a new chapter where I’ve seen good results, and am working out life changes and mustering all my positive energy. Thank you all so much for your support and good wishes – I deeply value the connections we all have as for me, it is this love which is the most powerful magic of life!