Share in Michele’s healing journey

Michele Christie is one of the most beautiful, genuine souls that I have had the pleasure of having our journeys intertwine and I am grateful to call her my friend.

Michele spends her days supporting others and is an incredible light in so many hard moments that the people she supports experience. Michele has the most beautiful energy and always shares such amazing kindness and wisdom with the world.

I am asking you to share what you can; both financially, and social networking as well as your healing energy, so that Michele can continue sharing her legacy of love and healing with the world.

Michele’s Health Journey:

I consider myself to be quite healthy: I was brought up in a home where my parents were aware of the importance of good nutrition.

It was a shock to discover in September 2020 that after a weekend of nausea and vomiting for no particular reason, I had ampullary carcinoma – a rare form of cancer – sometimes called Bile Duct Cancer, and sometimes called Pancreatic Cancer.

A series of tests were performed over the next few days: Ultra Sound, CT scan, and a procedure called an ERCP where a camera was put down my throat and up into the area where my bile duct is. The pictures revealed a strictured (closed) bile duct opening. So the bile was not flowing properly hence the nausea and vomiting. A tissue sample was taken in the area and a stent placed in the bile duct to allow bile to flow. The tissue sample is where the cancer cells were discovered.

I was scared and emotionally crushed to say the least. An appointment was made immediately with a surgeon who would tell me if I was a candidate for an extensive and complicated surgery called Whipple surgery. I was very relieved to hear I was a candidate for surgery. November 20 was my surgery date. I utilized the few weeks I had before surgery, to up my daily Yoga and Meditation practice as well as walking each day to prepare.

I was fortunate to have an awesome surgeon who informed me afterwards that things went very well during the long operation. I was in hospital recovering for about 13 days, getting used to the major rearrangement that Whipple surgery entails. As my surgeon said, she cut out lots of parts, then plumbed things back together in a totally different configuration with my digestive tract.

I spent about 4 months at home recovering, then was able to slowly integrate back to work mostly working from home. Of course, this was right in the middle of the Covid lockdowns.

I visited my Oncologist once a month for blood work and for the first 10 months, readings came back within ranges that were considered normal – until my last blood work in November 2021. This test showed one tumour cancer marker level was elevated and in fact had been slowly going up for a few months.

I was sent for a PET scan and, a small “nodule” was discovered in the surgical bed right near where the original growth was. Recurrence is not unusual with this type of cancer, and quite often when it reappears, it has spread around to multiple locations. In my case, it is just showing up in one spot, which is very good news.

Treatment options offered to me right away were Chemotherapy and Radiation – the typical offers in our Western medical system. Both of these treatments were described to me as not curative, but palliative or maintenance therapies, offering a few extra months to live. I was very disheartened to hear about the side effects and the quality of life I would possibly have.

I have used Naturopathic Health Care a fair bit over the years so I started researching alternative therapies that might be available. Through my good friend Tricia Bowler, I discovered a treatment called Targeted Photodynamic Therapy which uses light directed through a fibre optic needle to target the tumour.

I found out I am a candidate to have Targeted Photodynamic Therapy. I will be travelling to Germany to be treated by Dr. Weber at his clinic near Frankfurt. Dr. Weber is the original developer of this therapy.

None of this is covered financially through our provincial medical coverage or extended benefits.

I’m appealing to you - my friends and connections - to assist me with expenses through this fund raising campaign. There will likely be a couple of trips to Germany required as well as follow up treatments with Dr. Lemmo, my Naturopathic Oncologist in Vancouver. As well, there will be travel, accommodation, and on-going costs for various scans, supportive vitamin supplements and IV therapies.