Celebrating Survivors

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Fourth Annual Gynecologic Oncology Conference
April 18, 2009 ■ Karmanos Cancer Institute ■ Detroit, Michigan

Left to right… Carol Kudron, Community & Supportive Services, Mary Jo Pilat, Ph.D, PA-C,
I’m next-Chris Bledy and Adrice Wiper, RN, Patient Educator

A Day Of Celebration!

What a day it was! Thanks to the support and generosity of the Aetna Foundation, this conference was an event to remember.

As soon as I was invited to speak, I went to the Internet to see what I could learn about The Karmanos Cancer Institute. I learned that the Karmanos Cancer Institute is the only hospital in Michigan to focus solely on cancer. The hospital provides world-class treatment and emphasizes compassionate care, including weekly meetings with families.

In the education category, Karmanos Survivorship University is all about living – with – through – and beyond cancer. The Survivorship University offers free community lectures that cover issues and concerns about cancer, including healing and coping strategies. Along with cutting-edge research, Karmanos offers a number of ongoing clinical trials, too.

There's a lot going on at the Karmanos Cancer Institute and it's all about cancer. It was both an honor and a privilege to have been invited to be a guest speaker at this prestigious center of helping and healing.

My trip to Detroit was exciting and fun. What a great city, filled with wonderful and authentic people. When I checked into my hotel, one of the guests in line gave me a great music CD of an artist he was promoting. (I think they were in town to perform or maybe record). Everyone seemed happy. The lobby buzzed with laughter and smiles. It was a good sign. I'd finally made it to Motown! Unfortunately, my delayed flight resulted in a late arrival. Considering the time difference and my early morning schedule, I missed out on seeing the city that night.

I thought Detroit would be cold in April, but it wasn't. In fact, the weather was beautiful, like spring, and the temperature was in the 70's. The welcomed weather had everyone in Detroit relishing the day – including me!

I arrived at the Karmanos Cancer Center, where we started the day early, socializing over a continental breakfast as more people arrived. Some people ate and chatted in the hall, while others found seats in the auditorium. After we finished breakfast, the conference began.

Mary Jo Pilat, Ph. D., PA-C

Clinical Trials

Mary Jo spoke about clinical trials – what they are and why they're important. She explained each phase of a clinical trial; clarified how they are done, what they hope to accomplish in each phase and how one qualifies to participate in a clinical trial. She was a fascinating speaker and kept everyone's interest. Several people in the audience had participated in clinical trials, but most of us had not. We learned that very few people take part in these studies, although the clinical trials are crucial when it comes to developing new drugs. While we learned about each phase of clinical studies, Mary Jo spent more time on phase I studies, as it's her area of expertise.

It was frightening to hear about the struggles people go through with their insurance companies in trying to get into a clinical study. Often, this becomes a major hurdle for the patient. I'm sure just hearing some of these stories were enough to discourage anyone from participating. Mary Jo explained that they work very closely with the patient, the family and the insurance company to avoid these complications.

I think most cancer patients hear about clinical trials, but few ever learn about the process. I was really taken aback at how much paperwork and effort it takes to get into a clinical trial. We learned so much from Mary Jo and everyone appreciated her advice and expertise in this area.

After Mary Jo spoke, we took a long break before returning to the conference.

Survivor Talk

Then it was my turn to speak. I am always grateful for every opportunity to talk about ovarian cancer from a survivor's perspective. It is vitally important for women to see long-term survivors, particularly when the person is a survivor of advanced and recurring ovarian cancer, as in my case.

It was wonderful to have this chance to speak without time constraints. I wanted people to hear just how severe my cancer had been and what radical procedures were necessary in my surgeries. Once I revealed this information, people were intensely interested in the specific actions I used to survive. It was obvious that not only am I surviving – I am thriving and living life to the fullest.

I told the audience how my doctors were doing everything they could do; yet my cancer returned with full vengeance. The question I had to ask myself with brutal honesty was, “Am I doing everything I can do to help my doctors”? I answered this question by taking a close look at everything I put in my mouth and on my body. We discussed everything from organic foods to chemical-free cleaning products. There was plenty to talk about when it came to cosmetics, hair products, dyes and lotions.

Healing your life can be done, but it's important to know that you must heal your body, your mind and your spirit. Healing your body with proper nutrition and by eliminating toxins is critical. That was my starting point. However, healing involves more than that. I explained that even when I thought I was using my mind in a positive manner, I discovered I had actually been sabotaging my healing with my thoughts.

While positive thinking is good, there's more to it than that. When I was focused on doing lots of healthy things, I was doing those things so the cancer wouldn't come back. My exercise was so the cancer wouldn't come back. My food choices were so the cancer wouldn't come back. Everything I did was so the cancer wouldn't come back. Guess what? My cancer came back. You see, my focus had actually been on the cancer coming back.

Once I realized I was probably going to die from this disease, I made a different choice. I decided I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I didn't know how much time I had left – a year, maybe two. Whatever it was, I didn't want to live the rest of my life in this pathetic manner. That's when I decided to get as healthy as possible. For whatever time was left, I wanted to be as strong and healthy as I could. That's when I starting to focus on health. I focused on my exercise, food choices and so on because I wanted to be healthy. Guess what? I got healthy.

You see, positive thinking can be tricky. I had to heal my mind and start thinking right in order to truly heal my life. It's such a journey!

I also discussed healing our spirits. Nothing will drive you quicker into the dark night of the soul than having a life-threatening disease. I talked about the long dark night that lasts for months, maybe even years...how we search our life, judge our actions and the actions of others...how we wonder if we made the right choices and if we lived authentically. While we must take this journey, we're also obligated to look at the beautiful side of life. I talked how to do this and how to come to terms with our lives.

All in all...it's about a total healing. It's about the health of our bodies, our minds and our spirits. Of course, this is only a brief summary of our discussion that day. There was a lot of interest and participation during the Q & A session. I enjoyed the questions and the discussion was wonderful.

After the conference, I did a book signing. This gave me a chance to meet many people individually and hear their stories. I met husbands, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and friends. It was an enriching experience. For all of you in Detroit who were at the conference, thank you... thank you so much. I'd always heard the people in Detroit were something special. Now I know why. I look forward to visiting Detroit again. Next time I'm there, I'll spend more time seeing the sights.

If you want to learn more about the Karmanos Cancer Institute, you can visit their web site at www.Karmanos.org

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