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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 1,427
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Re: Cancer and Trauma
An update:
I tried to talk about cancer and trauma in my in-person support group yesterday. To my very great surprise, the facilitator interrupted me twice to deflect what I was saying. I didn't get the hint the first time, so she was more direct the second time, saying that while what I was saying was "interesting" it was "beside the point." Clearly, I was being silenced. She's the boss, and I'm sure she had her reasons, and I obeyed her.
In four years I've never seen her do that to anyone. I could have been talking about horse racing or a soup recipe or a fight with my sister or how one of my friends never calls anymore, and she would have let me drone on awhile, and then might have gently redirected the conversation or asked someone else for suggestions on whatever my issue was. I've never seen her just silence someone.
Maybe she thought I was saying childhood trauma "causes" cancer. I wasn't saying that. But it is an established scientific fact that trauma and stress suppress the immune system. It's also known that survivors of "complex developmental trauma" are more likely to engage in risky or unhealthy behaviors and also to suffer major illnesses. Epidemiologically, there is an empirically-validated link between harmful childhoods and early death. It's like the link between cancer and smoking. That was noticed and people finally said, "Hey, people shouldn't smoke; it's killing them!" Then they said, "Hey, second hand smoke is bad for nonsmokers; it's killing them." Smoking rates declined dramatically and so did smoking-related illnesses. But we know that trauma kills (and costs billions of dollars to mop up after), but it's almost completely absent from medical practice and public health policy.
I think it should be addressed upfront in standard cancer care. But since it isn't, and I have Stage IV cancer, I'm working on it on my own.
The things she prevented me from saying are, 1) A human mind, body, and emotions are an integrated system. Make any one aspect of the system function better and everything will improve and, 2) It is possible right now with tested interventions to heal from trauma. Van der Kolk's and Siegel's books both have wonderful stories of people finding peace, love, and happiness with appropriate therapy, even people who were very, very damaged. Since cancer treatment is traumatic in and of itself, we are all unquestionably experiencing trauma.
David Servan-Schreiber dealt with this to some extent in his book, Anti-Cancer; A New Way of Life. He talked about diet and exercise, but he also talked about getting a healthier mind and nervous system. He speculated that there might be a "cancer personality." There isn't, but there are behaviors that can increase inflammation and suppress immune response. Likewise, there are behavioral modifications that can repair the damage caused by stress and trauma.
I'm not selling anything. And I'm not oversimplifying or sprinkling fairy dust. But I think this is important.
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Amy
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4/19/11 Diagnosed invasive ductal carcinoma in left breast; 2.3 cm tumor, 1 axillary lymph node, weakly ER+, HER2+++
4/29/11 CT scan shows suspicious lesions on liver and lungs
5/17/11 liver biopsy
5/24/11 liver met confirmed--Stage IV at diagnosis
5/27/11 Begin weekly Taxol & Herceptin for 3 months (standard of care at the time of my DX)
7/18/11 Switch to weekly Abraxane & Herceptin due to Taxol allergy
8/29/11 CT scan shows no new lesions & old lesions shrinking
9/27/11 Finish Abraxane. Start Herceptin every 3 weeks. Begin taking Arimidex
10/17/11--Brain MRI--No Brain mets
12/5/11 PET scan--Almost NED
5/15/12 PET scan shows progression-breast/chest/spine (one vertebra)
5/22/12 Stop taking Arimidex; stay on Herceptin
6/11/12 Started Tykerb and Herceptin on clinical trial (w/no chemo)
9/24/12 CT scan--No new mets. Everything stable.
3/11/13 CT Scan--two small new possible mets and odd looking area in left lung getting larger.
4/2/13--Biopsy of suspicious area in lower left lung. Mets to lung confirmed.
4/30/13 Begin Kadcyla/TDM-1
8/16/13 PET scan "mixed," with some areas of increased uptake, but also some definite improvement, so I'll stay on TDM-1/Kadcyla.
11/11/13 Finally get hormone receptor results from lung biopsy of 4/2/13. My cancer is no longer ER positive.
11/13/13 PET scan mixed results again. We're calling it "stable." Problems breathing on exertion.
2/18/14 PET scan shows a new lesion and newly active lymph node in chest, other progression. Bye bye TDM-1.
2/28/14 Begin Herceptin/Perjeta every 3 weeks.
6/8/14 PET "mixed," with no new lesions, and everything but lower lungs improving. My breathing is better.
8/18/14 PET "mixed" again. Upper lungs & one spine met stable, lower lungs less FDG avid, original tumor more avid, one lymph node in mediastinum more avid.
9/1/14 Begin taking Xeloda one week on, one week off. Will also stay on Herceptin and Perjeta every three weeks.
12/11/14 PET Scan--no new lesions, and everything looks better than it did.
3/20/15 PET Scan--no new lesions, but lower lung lesions larger and a bit more avid.
4/13/15 Increasing Xeloda dose to 10 days on, one week off.
7/1/15 Scan "mixed" again, but suggests continuing progression. Stop Xeloda. Substitute Abraxane every 3 weeks starting 7/13.
10/28/15 PET scan shows dramatic improvement everywhere. All lesions except lower lungs have resolved; lower lungs noticeably improved.
12/18/15 Last Abraxane. Continue on Herceptin and Perjeta alone beginning 1/8/16.
1/27/16 PET scan shows cancer is stable.
5/11/16 PET scan shows uptake in some areas that were resolved on the last two scans.
6/3/16 Begin Kadcyla and Tykerb combination
6/5 - 6/23 Horrible diarrhea from K&T together. Got pneumonia.
7/15/16 Begin Kadcyla only every 3 weeks.
9/6/16 Begin radiation therapy on right lung lesion that caused the pneumonia.
10/3/16 Last of 12 radiation treatments to right lung.
11/4/16 Huffing and puffing, low O2, high heart rate, on tiniest bit of exertion. Diagnosed as radiation pneumonitis. Treated with Prednisone.
11/11/16 PET scan shows significant improvement to radiated part of right lung BUT a bunch of new lung lesions, and the bone met is getting worse.
11/22/16 Begin Eribulin and Herceptin. H every 3 weeks. E two weeks on, one week off.
3/6/17 Scan shows progression in lungs. Bone met a little better.
3/23/17 Lung biopsy. Tumor sampled is ER-, PR+ (5%), HER2+++. Getting Herceptin and Perjeta as a maintenance treatment.
5/31/17 Port placement
6/1/17 Start Navelbine & Tykerb
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