Chemotherapy Treatment: One Woman’s Experience A Mother’s Brave Fight Through Colon Cancer Treatment

How do you fight a disease that threatens three major organs and saps your strength? You just don’t quit. In an exclusive Lifescript interview, a 41-year-old mother of two describes how colon cancer spread to her liver and then lungs. She underwent three rounds of chemo treatment, a painful ordeal, she says – but she’s happy she stuck it out. Read on to learn her brave story of survival... Tracy Canery has been battling cancer for five years. By the time the 41-year-old single mother began colon cancer treatment in 2006, the disease had progressed to stage 3, meaning it had already started to spread to other organs. She knew she’d be fighting for survival. She just didn’t know how hard – or for how long. “It was the saddest day of my life,” she says. “I thought to myself, Why me? I was afraid I was [going to die].” She didn’t. But since that diagnosis, Canery faced two more cancers and three surgeries, along with several rounds of chemotherapy treatment. And it was chemotherapy, a powerful mix of drugs that kills rapidly dividing cells, that became her biggest challenge. “There wasn’t a day where I was [pain]-free,” she says. Now in remission, Canery is remarkably optimistic – even though she’s certain she hasn’t fought her last war with the illness. “During the five years I’ve been in and out of cancer centers, I’ve seen a lot of people give up,” she says. “But you can beat it.” In an exclusive interview with Lifescript, Canery takes us from her diagnosis to her darkest days, and describes how her children kept her pushing forward through the pain. By the time you started colon cancer treatment in 2006, it had already progressed. Why did it take so long to get a diagnosis? For a year and a half, I’d been suffering with what I [was] told was ulcers. Then doctors told me it was irritable bowel syndrome [IBS, a usually harmless gastrointestinal disorder], and they gave me medicine for that, but it wasn’t working. All the while, it was cancer. Why did it take more than a year to find out what was going on? I was in and out of the hospital, telling [doctors] that there was something wrong – but they [had already decided] what they thought it was. Not having insurance played a role too. How did it affect your diagnosis? It delayed my diagnosis for a year. I had to get Medicaid. When I found out what was going on, I applied for disability. What went through your mind when you were first diagnosed? A doctor’s assistant told me I had stage 3 colon cancer, and I went numb. I don’t know what happened after that. The doctors [mostly talked] to my mother about it. You underwent surgery to remove the cancerous parts of your colon. How long afterward did you start chemotherapy treatment? I had the surgery in December, and in January I began chemotherapy because I still had some cancer cells. [Chemotherapy treatment] could kill the bit of cancer that [surgeons] couldn’t get out. How long did the chemo treatment last? Eight months. I went in for chemotherapy treatment once a month, then I [also] took chemo pills for 14 days after that. I would have a week free, and then the following week I had to go in and have chemotherapy again. What did it feel like? It was bad. I hurt from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I tried to stop the pain by lying down. I cried and just rocked and prayed. That’s all I could do while waiting for the pain to pass. The pain would last for five days, and by the sixth day I was feeling better again. But even then, anything that touched my skin hurt. My mouth [and] tongue hurt. I just had to get up and deal with it. Were you working? No. I had to quit my job. What kept you from giving up? My kids. How old were your sons at the time? My oldest, Rinaldo, was 16, and my baby, Chris, was 13. Did they help when you were laid up? Yes, but I didn’t want them to see me in pain. I [tried] to live a normal life with them. I was trying to show them that even though I had cancer, I wasn’t going to let it get me down. They [also] knew that I wanted them to just focus on school and not worry about me. Did they worry anyway? Yeah, they did. When did the second cancer strike? After I had chemotherapy treatment for the colon cancer, I was getting regular CAT [computed tomography] and PET [positron emission tomography] scans. In April 2008, we found out it had spread to my liver. It was already stage 2. Had the doctors told you the colon cancer could spread? No, they didn’t. What was the prognosis? The only thing [the doctors] said was that they didn’t really know how it [would] turn out after the treatment. I guess it depends on the person’s body. Did you have surgery to remove the liver? Yes, they took out a section of my liver, [which] grows back, and it came back normal. Did you have to undergo chemotherapy treatment again? I went for six months after the surgery. Did you have different side effects from the chemo treatment this time? The first time, with the colon cancer treatment, my hair grew everywhere – on my face, arms, legs, underarms, chest. The second time, my hair fell out in the middle [of my head]. So I just went ahead and cut [all] my hair. When did the third cancer strike? In April 2010, I learned I had cancer in both lungs. It was [a result] of the other cancers. Did they remove part of your lungs? Yes. They did my left side first, and then my right side two months later. After that, I took another 6-month round of chemo. My last chemo treatment was in February of 2011. Is breathing difficult for you? About one-third of my lungs was removed. After surgery, I had to breathe hard and heavy into a plastic pump for a week to rebuild my air capacity to its normal range. Today, I'm breathing regularly without any assistance. Were the side effects of chemotherapy treatment different the third time? It was worse than the other rounds. I had really bad nausea and diarrhea, and my bones ached horribly. My tongue felt like it was about to fall out, and I could hardly eat. I felt like my eyes were about to pop out of my head. Were there times when you wanted to give up? At times, I wanted to commit suicide. I’d lie in bed and think about killing myself. One day I even decided how I’d do it – and then my baby boy walked into the room, and it snapped me back. I couldn’t give up like that. I had to show my sons not to let anything get them to that point – that you might be sick, but you have to keep going. It made me realize that I just had to beat it. Now that you’re in remission, do you take any preventive medications? No, now they’re just doing a lot of testing. What type of tests? I have colonoscopies done, and every three months I go to a cancer center and they draw blood. I also go to my primary care doctor [for checkups]. I get a CAT and PET scan every 3-4 months, and they give me a full body MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] every three months. Are you optimistic that you’ll stay cancer-free? I don’t think I’m through. I think it’s going to come back. But I’m prepared for it. If it comes back, then I’ll just have to beat it again. If it doesn’t, then I’m fine with that. Why are you going public with your story? [People should know that] chemo hurts your whole body, but it’ll pass. Just go through it and have a positive mind. Every day that I had to have the treatments, I thought, It’s going to get better. What should other women know about stage 3 colon cancer treatment? It might sound scary once you find out, but there’s a 50-50 chance that you can beat it. That’s my message. You can beat it. For more information and advice, visit our Chemotherapy Health Center. What Really Causes Cancer? Myths vs. Facts Cell phones, makeup, bug spray, and even fresh produce all have been rumored to cause cancer. But should you believe every cancer myth you hear? When it comes to protecting yourself from cancer, you need to separate fact from fiction.