Category: Julie’s Blog

I’m back in Munich for a recurrence of my cancer. I nearly did not come for my check-up this year because I’ve been doing so well. I had a couple of bone scans about 6 weeks apart in the U.S. because I had a nasty...

Home for Christmas! The power of that well-worn phrase! My family arrived and all went well with no help from me. A quiet welcome to 2017, acknowledging the gift of all things known and unknown.

My tumor was trying to kill me. It has been shedding tumor stem cells and had already established metastases in my bones. My body was doing heroically to shrink it, but it was still active and aggressive. The doctors in Munich felt that the fight could not be won long term unless the tumor was removed, and they chose just the right specialist to do so. That is this chapter, Surgery Week. My trip to Siegen and my experience with a genius surgeon who is part artist, part scientist, and all optimist.

We hear about successful surgical removal of cancerous tumors. But often Stage IV patients are denied surgery because the cancer has already spread. I offer hope that our bodies can do much to shrink our cancerous tumors. My primary tumor was measured several times over the course of my cancer journey in the U.S. In two months, with NO chemotherapy, my tumor was shrunk significantly by my improved diet. With the help of immunotherapy, my body is now strong enough to have the surgery.

Many people have written to ask about the specifics of my diagnosis and staging process in the U.S. The standard of care is similar in other countries, even Germany where I chose to have treatment. How was my cancer found and diagnosed and staged? My diagnostics began on May 20 and the definitive report of Stage IV came on July 26. This post is about my life during this process, the diagnostic tools, and the characters in play. I’m not qualified to advise you, but perhaps my life can help you.

One of the first people I met in the clinic was Kevin, a Stage IV pancreatic cancer patient who was in the last few weeks of his treatment plan. He had come in with appallingly high circulating tumor stem cell numbers. Now he would be retested to find out how well he was doing after three months here.

I wanted to be part of a breast cancer clinical trial in the US. There are many exciting trials available now. But Stage IV made me ineligible for the trials I had chosen. Standard of Care for my cancer is chemo for life. NO.

To think that my own immune system, which is currently losing the war with cancer, could be trained and fortified in order to come back strong enough to win the competition. What a fantastic thought! Let’s do it!

Opening up is scary. You know you have cancer, and now you also know that it’s Stage IV. How do you tell your friends and ask them not to give up on you?