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Help Suzanne Aucoin
Nov. 8, 2006 - The St. Catharines Standard
Guarded hope for Suzanne
Three years after surgery was first ruled out, a Toronto physician tells St.
Catharines woman he may be able to remove her tumours
By PETER DOWNS
St. Catharines Standard
She's been at this point once before.
That's why she won't allow herself to get too excited or think too far
ahead.
She wants to be hopeful. She wants to see the promise. But at the same time,
if her spirits are going to fall, she doesn't want it to be from too great a
height.
When she was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer three years ago, Suzanne
Aucoin was told surgery wasn't an option.
A Hamilton surgeon initially thought it may be possible to cut out the
cancer that had migrated to Suzanne's liver from her colon, where the
disease had first been found nearly five years earlier.
But further testing showed cancerous cells had taken root in several spots
in her lungs.
Suzanne's doctor ruled out surgery. She was told chemotherapy drugs were her
best chance at slowing the disease's inevitable progression.
The St. Catharines resident has been treated since then with a battery of
intravenous medications - some in Hamilton and others in New York state,
which aren't available in Ontario.
The treatment regimen has helped Suzanne outlive the two-year prognosis she
was given in November 2003.
But even with all of the anti-cancer drugs, the two tumours in Suzanne's
liver have grown and the handful of cancerous spots in her lungs have
increased in number to 15.
Three years after surgery was first ruled out, a Toronto physician told
Suzanne two weeks ago he may be able to remove her tumours by taking out a
large portion of her liver along with sections of both lungs.
Suzanne, 36, will undergo a colonoscopy Wednesday and a CT scan Friday that
will determine whether she can have the procedures.
If the diagnostic tests show cancer has spread outside her liver and lungs,
surgery will not be viable.
Suzanne is hopeful surgery may help prolong her life, but she won't allow
herself to dwell on the prospect.
"I'm sort of expecting the elevator to drop and to be told no. Because
that's what happened last time," says Suzanne, who is on a leave of absence
from her position as a chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
"Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, that's when they found the
spots in my lungs."
If surgery is deemed an option, Dr. Steven Gallinger at Princess Margaret
Hospital will remove nearly half of Suzanne's liver and the lower lobes of
both lungs.
Doctors would also attempt to destroy cancerous spots higher up in Suzanne's
lungs with high-frequency electrical currents in a procedure called radio
frequency ablation.
The two treatment options are not considered an outright cure, but they have
the potential of eliminating a large percentage of the cancerous cells in
Suzanne's body.
"I look at it as debulking the disease and taking a break from chemo," she
says.
"I could be disease-free for a little while, but there's a good chance it
will grow back."
Suzanne will learn whether surgery is a go Nov. 9, when she receives results
from this week's diagnostic tests.
And as she waits, she can't help wondering how her health may have been
improved had doctors proceeded with surgery when it was initially considered
three years ago.
"No one ever referred me to a thoracic surgeon. I had no idea that lungs
were resectable," she says.
"I was really strong three years ago. Somebody should have looked at me and
said, 'Yeah, you're not the typical Stage 4 colon cancer patient. Maybe we
should try something different with you.' "
If surgery is ruled out, it's likely Suzanne will have to begin looking at
some form of alternative medical treatment soon.
The intravenous drug she's been receiving on a weekly basis since last
December appears to be losing its effectiveness for her.
Suzanne spent tens of thousands of dollars out of her own pocket to receive
the drug - called Erbitux - in New York before she was approved to receive
out-of-country coverage from OHIP to pay for it.
Over the past few months, CT scans have shown minimal growth in Suzanne's
tumours, indicating Erbitux may no longer be holding them in check.
"I'm actually pretty calm for the big kind of transition I'm in right now,"
Suzanne says.
"You can only panic so much about things and then you just have to get used
to it after a while."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca
Guarded hope for Suzanne
Three years after surgery was first ruled out, a Toronto physician tells St.
Catharines woman he may be able to remove her tumours
By PETER DOWNS
St. Catharines Standard
She's been at this point once before.
That's why she won't allow herself to get too excited or think too far
ahead.
She wants to be hopeful. She wants to see the promise. But at the same time,
if her spirits are going to fall, she doesn't want it to be from too great a
height.
When she was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer three years ago, Suzanne
Aucoin was told surgery wasn't an option.
A Hamilton surgeon initially thought it may be possible to cut out the
cancer that had migrated to Suzanne's liver from her colon, where the
disease had first been found nearly five years earlier.
But further testing showed cancerous cells had taken root in several spots
in her lungs.
Suzanne's doctor ruled out surgery. She was told chemotherapy drugs were her
best chance at slowing the disease's inevitable progression.
The St. Catharines resident has been treated since then with a battery of
intravenous medications - some in Hamilton and others in New York state,
which aren't available in Ontario.
The treatment regimen has helped Suzanne outlive the two-year prognosis she
was given in November 2003.
But even with all of the anti-cancer drugs, the two tumours in Suzanne's
liver have grown and the handful of cancerous spots in her lungs have
increased in number to 15.
Three years after surgery was first ruled out, a Toronto physician told
Suzanne two weeks ago he may be able to remove her tumours by taking out a
large portion of her liver along with sections of both lungs.
Suzanne, 36, will undergo a colonoscopy Wednesday and a CT scan Friday that
will determine whether she can have the procedures.
If the diagnostic tests show cancer has spread outside her liver and lungs,
surgery will not be viable.
Suzanne is hopeful surgery may help prolong her life, but she won't allow
herself to dwell on the prospect.
"I'm sort of expecting the elevator to drop and to be told no. Because
that's what happened last time," says Suzanne, who is on a leave of absence
from her position as a chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
"Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, that's when they found the
spots in my lungs."
If surgery is deemed an option, Dr. Steven Gallinger at Princess Margaret
Hospital will remove nearly half of Suzanne's liver and the lower lobes of
both lungs.
Doctors would also attempt to destroy cancerous spots higher up in Suzanne's
lungs with high-frequency electrical currents in a procedure called radio
frequency ablation.
The two treatment options are not considered an outright cure, but they have
the potential of eliminating a large percentage of the cancerous cells in
Suzanne's body.
"I look at it as debulking the disease and taking a break from chemo," she
says.
"I could be disease-free for a little while, but there's a good chance it
will grow back."
Suzanne will learn whether surgery is a go Nov. 9, when she receives results
from this week's diagnostic tests.
And as she waits, she can't help wondering how her health may have been
improved had doctors proceeded with surgery when it was initially considered
three years ago.
"No one ever referred me to a thoracic surgeon. I had no idea that lungs
were resectable," she says.
"I was really strong three years ago. Somebody should have looked at me and
said, 'Yeah, you're not the typical Stage 4 colon cancer patient. Maybe we
should try something different with you.' "
If surgery is ruled out, it's likely Suzanne will have to begin looking at
some form of alternative medical treatment soon.
The intravenous drug she's been receiving on a weekly basis since last
December appears to be losing its effectiveness for her.
Suzanne spent tens of thousands of dollars out of her own pocket to receive
the drug - called Erbitux - in New York before she was approved to receive
out-of-country coverage from OHIP to pay for it.
Over the past few months, CT scans have shown minimal growth in Suzanne's
tumours, indicating Erbitux may no longer be holding them in check.
"I'm actually pretty calm for the big kind of transition I'm in right now,"
Suzanne says.
"You can only panic so much about things and then you just have to get used
to it after a while."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca