Who I Am

My Story

On May 25  2012, my life changed forever. I heard these three words: cancer, rare, and aggressive! What? Me? I ate healthy. I exercised. This had to be a mistake. My husband and I left the doctor’s office in total shock.  We were right in the middle of a yard sale fund-raiser for our charitable foundation. We were going to be in Boston from June through September. In addition, we were going on a much-anticipated summer vacation with a big group of our friends and their children to Turks and Caicos.  We had wonderful plans, and this cancer thing was about to get in the way.

I was diagnosed with a high grade sarcoma in a background of adenosarcoma in my uterus.  Now what?  Through my husband’s cousin, we found our way to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the number one cancer center at the time. I met with my doctor in the Gynecologic Oncology Department.  She confirmed the diagnosis and recommended surgery followed by chemo.  I said yes to the surgery and no to the chemo.

On June 22, 2012, I had a total hysterectomy and several lymph nodes removed by another doctor at M.D. Anderson. The good news was that the tumor had not spread to any other organs or lymph nodes and was contained in the uterus BUT, my doctor kept saying the word chemo, and I kept saying no!

My argument was that nothing had spread, and the cancer had been contained!  Her argument was that the cancer was rare and aggressive, and cells could have escaped.  She said that if I didn’t do chemo, there was an 80% chance that the cancer would return within a year.  So, in early August, my husband and I met with another doctor, a sarcoma oncologist at M.D. Anderson.

He said that I would have to do a year’s worth of chemo:  one full week of chemo followed by three weeks off.  He said I would have damage to many of my vital organs, I would be very sick, and need blood transfusions, etc!!  He continued by adding that the chemo treatment would only improve my chance of the cancer not coming back by 10%.  Certainly not a good percentage!

I decided I would take my chances and live for a year feeling healthy, rather than live a year doing chemo and being sick.  As a side note, the chemo cocktail they wanted me to do is nicknamed “Red Death” by people in the medical field. I am going to be honest; in my opinion, if I had gone the chemo route, I would not be typing this today!

Good-bye M.D. Anderson. Hello what?

I went to the Burzynski Clinic in Houston. This clinic was founded in the 1970’s by Stanislaw Burzynski.  He uses antineoplaston therapy, an alternative cancer treatment not recognized in the medical community. I went to Duke University in Durham. An oncologist at Duke recommended radiation.  I went to Nature Works Best Cancer Clinic in Tempe. This clinic practices naturopathic medicine.  I also went to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and met Dr. Martie Hensley, the uterine sarcoma specialist.  Now, I had some decisions to make.

I decided to go with a blended approach. I really liked the doctor at Nature Works Best because he gave me hope that by not doing chemo and going the natural herb and IV route, the cancer would not return. He did not offer percentages, but he offered me hope. Also, while I was visiting the clinic, I saw cancer patients who were receiving IV treatments, and I perceived that they all looked healthy!  In addition, I chose Memorial Sloan Kettering because Dr. Hensley has the same philosophy as I do—the Wait-And-See philosophy!

At Nature Works Best, I was put on two different cocktails of herbs. One is red root, phytolacca, and dandelion leaf and root for lymphatic drainage.  The other is turmeric and astragulas for an anti-cancer effect. It was recommended that I do the IV protocol which I chose to do after the CAT scans due to the scans’ radiation exposure.

At Sloan Kettering, Dr. Hensley monitors me with CAT scans.  The scans started every four months in the first year, went to every five months in year two, and to every six months in years three and four.

On June 13, 2017, I had my five-year scan which is a biggie because after five years, in some cases, a person could be considered to be cancer-free. In most cases, at least, the chance of reoccurrence greatly diminishes by the end of year five. My next scan is December 2018, a full 18 months after my five-year scan!

I have walked through cancer.