in 2004, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her oncologist could not accurately stage the cancer because in the early 90's, she had a lumpectomy on the same breast. That surgery removed most of the lymph nodes on that side of her body to determine if the cancer could have spread. Fortunately, the lab results from the lymph node biopsies was negative. But without those lymph nodes, the oncologist, thru the lab, could not gauge her stage of cancer in 2004. But the assumption was at least stage 3, but might have been stage 4. it was a rather large tumor
now, for decades, the fairly standard protocol for a series of chemotherapy treatments was a treatment every three weeks. Keep in mind that chemotherapy is, for the most part, a fancy word for poison. Anyway, the protocol was every 3 weeks because not only do the chemicals hammer your cancer, they also hammer your blood by wiping out your red and white blood cells. So, the three week interlude between poisonings is meant to give your body time to recover your blood counts such that you are strong enough to go thru another poisoning without dying. It's the old "the cure is worse than the disease' conundrum. But the big problem was that at the same time the blood cells were rebuilding, so were the cancer cells. Two steps forward, two steps back can be a death sentence in cancer treatment
However, the University of Washington has a 1st class oncology research school. And they were able to develop two drugs that were capable of rebuilding your red and white blood cells to normal levels in 3-5 days. Thus, they developed a new protocol: dose-dense
it was a simple math equation. If a single dose of chemotherapy kills 50% of the cancer cells but the cancer cells only recover marginally in that first critical week, being able to apply another batch of chemotherapy a week later, instead of 3 weeks later, wins the battle, at least in theory on a mathematical level. Those two drugs maintain an acceptable level of blood counts allowing a blast of chemo every week instead of every 3 weeks
that's what my wife faced. First, a double mastectomy to eliminate any cancer-prone breast tissue, and the installation of a port to allow for easy chemo injections. That was pretty impactful surgery but they started he chemo treatments about a week after the surgery. Chemo every week...for 40 consecutive weeks. Even with the drugs, that's an extremely aggressive protocol. And she was wiped out after 30 weeks. After the 40 weeks of chemo, she was scheduled to undergo 10 weeks of a drug like chemo called Herceptin. She had 2 injection of that but her temperature kept spiking and falling and they couldn't get in under control so they discontinued the Herceptin for a period. And in that period new data came out questioning the effectiveness of herceptin. So they discarded that protocol
bottom line was she went into remission for 20 years. That was an excellent outcome and I'd encourage anybody who knows a woman who gets diagnosed with breast cancer to ask about dose-dense protocol.
unfortunately, during a laryngoscopy Monday, the doctor discovered a mass in my wife's esophagus he suspects is malignant. And esophageal cancer is a different, more deadly battlefield, than breast cancer. So, we are waiting for the results of biopsies of the tissue samples taken during the procedure. But chances are pretty high it will be cancer. My wife is brave for sure. Probably braver than I would be. She has already decided that she will only go a certain distance in treatment. She'll have surgery, if it's a viable option. Maybe a little radiation; maybe some mild chemo...but not both. And depending on the prognosis, maybe none of the above. That 'treatment worse than the disease' has robbed too many people of some decent weeks and months at the end of life. Somebody in their 40's or 50's has good reasons to utilize every option. Somebody in the mid-to-late 70's doesn't have the same reasons.
so, that's where she's at. I feel kind of helpless but I don't really matter right now. I just have to be what she needs me to be
