AN EXPERIENCE WITH CANCER
by Duane Preimsberger
CANCER, the big “C”. Hearing that word used in a diagnosis from a physician has life altering implications. It is a terrifying and emotionally draining experience that cannot be forgotten and it can come unexpectedly. A few short months ago our lives were changed forever by those debilitating words spoken by a City of Hope physician.
It all started when my wife Judy asked me to feel a painless, small, pea sized nodule that had appeared at the base of her neck, “I don’t know what this is, but I don’t like it,” she said.
“I don’t like it either, you need to make a doctors appointment to find out what it is. Maybe it’s the beginnings of a goiter,” I said kiddingly, basing my assessment on my medical training and education garnered from hanging around a drugstore many years ago. Unfortunately, I was very, very wrong.
The doctor’s examination and subsequent CT scan done locally didn’t provide us with a definitive diagnosis. That, coupled with the fact that Judy thought that the nodule was growing, caused us to seek a second opinion at one of the Nation’s best cancer treatment and research centers; The City of Hope, located in Duarte, CA, about 85 miles from Temecula.
Within a few days we had an accurate and terrible picture of what we were confronting; my lovely bride of almost 30 years was facing stage four ovarian cancer. This deadly women’s disease is insidious because it has little in the way of symptoms, therefore it is difficult for physicians to diagnose. It isn’t something that shows up in the annual cervical exam and pap smear that Judy and millions of other women regularly undergo. This cancer waits, growing quietly, and then late in its development it makes itself known, perhaps at a site distant from its source and often with devastating results.
We’ve asked our friends to pray for us as we learned of this disease and examined the treatment options available to us at The City of Hope. Surgery followed by chemotherapy seemed to offer the best results. Dr. Robin Fariar- Eisner M.D.: a surgeon with a PhD. in Molecular Biology and a staff member on the medical team, who treat the British Royal Family, performed the operation. Dr. George Somlo M.D., a specialist in high dosage chemotherapy, including bone marrow transplantation, is her chemo doc and both physicians seem truly concerned, interested and knowledgeable about treating and caring for Judy.
Today, our lives are changed; Judy’s treatments have stolen her hair and sapped her energy so that even a small exertion can leave her exhausted. Mysterious aches and pains in her bones, joints and muscles pop up unexpectedly. We are tied to frequent visits to the City of Hope and the chemo infusions can last for as long as eight hours, creating some long, long days. I am overwhelmed by a feeling of complete helplessness as I watch, unable to assist, as the love of my life goes through this most difficult battle. I wish I could shoulder some or all of her pain, fear and fatigue, but I can’t.
Today, looking back over the past years to identify anything we could have done differently, I can’t think of much. It was vitally important to have obtained a second opinion. Finding it early would have been a blessing, but there weren’t any symptoms. Both of our physicians believe that within the next few years there will be a simple, accurate diagnostic tool to identify ovarian cancer in its early stage when successful treatment can occur in over 90% of cases. This silent killer doesn’t get the publicity or attention that is focused upon other women’s cancers even though it is potentially more deadly.
Facing this together is not easy but together, with the support and love and prayers of family and friends and world class medical care; we’ll get through it and win this difficult battle with an insidious and deadly foe.
For more information; both the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society maintain excellent websites filled with valuable information about this disease.
