Larry Brennan can look you in the eye and tell you being diagnosed with cancer ". . . is a scary thing. The hairs start standing up on the back of your head."
With equal conviction, Brennan can tell you that being cancer free, he said he ". . . feels as good as I've ever felt."
Brennan caught his prostate cancer early–during an annual physical when his PSA (prostate specific antigen) was elevated. Brennan made an appointment with Bernard Fallon, MD, a prostate cancer specialist with the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. Fallon confirmed the cancer diagnosis and gave Brennan four options:
As a good candidate for robotic surgery, Brennan opted for prostate removal surgery hoping it would give him peace of mind for the long haul. Fadi Joudi, MD, a urologist who frequently uses the daVinci® robotic surgery system, performed the procedure.
"The robotic surgery option was pretty reassuring," he says. "They told me the incisions are much smaller (than the traditional prostate removal surgery) and for most patients, there is less pain, reduced blood loss, and faster recovery." Brennan has had two follow–up appointments confirming he is cancer–free.
"I'm very happy with the outcome and the advantages of robotic surgery. In fact, I told them I'd be happy to speak with other prostate cancer patients if they needed me to."
After a gym workout, the upper part of Alex Foell's left arm felt "different"–like a pulled muscle but with no pain. "By late summer my upper left arm seemed to be swelling and it was hard to the touch," he says. "It hurt if I bumped it."
An X–ray, showed that an aggressive mass was growing on his left humerus, the long bone of his arm. Alex was referred to UI Hospitals and Clinics and orthopaedic surgeon Joseph Buckwalter, MD. who ordered a biopsy. The diagnosis: osteosarcoma, or bone cancer.
Buckwalter conferred with Mohammed Milhem, MD, a UI oncologist specializing in sarcoma and melanoma to develop a treatment plan that included chemotherapy before and after surgery. The UI team's goal was to save Alex's arm but that would depend entirely on the condition of the tumor and Alex's humerus.
During surgery, Buckwalter replaced the upper two–thirds of Alex’s left humerus with a steel humerus and removed his deltoid muscle.
"Amazingly, they were able to save the nerve in my upper arm, which allows me to move and control my hand and fingers," Alex says.
"This is a tough situation and they were there for us, answering all our questions and concerns. Dr. Buckwalter and his clinic staff were so very helpful. They were very professional, caring people with amazing medical abilities."
One of the risks of farm life is skin cancer from too much exposure to the sun.
Carolyn Schneider, who helps her husband run the family farm, was aware of the risks. "I’ve always worn sunscreen. You really have to be careful."
So Schneider was surprised and apprehensive when a lesion developed at a mole on her back.
She immediately made an appointment with her local physician who said as soon as he saw it, "Yep, that's melanoma." He removed as much of the lesion as he could, and referred her to the Pappajohn Clinical Cancer Center, in the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Iowa.
During her initial visit with UI surgical oncologist James Howe, MD, Schneider underwent a P.E.T. (positron emission tomography ) scan that showed cancer in a lymph node, under her right arm, in her right breast, and in her thyroid.
Schneider underwent a four–hour surgery performed by Howe and fellow UI surgical oncologist Carol Scott–Conner, MD, PhD.. Howe removed the melanoma while Scott–Conner removed the right breast and armpit lymph nodes.
After completing chemotherapy with UI breast medical oncologist Mark Karwal, MD, Schneider underwent a second procedure in March (performed by Howe) for removal of her thyroid, which also revealed cancer.
There has been no further evidence of cancer and Schneider has resumed her busy life.
"I thought I had beaten it," says Dale Kueter when he was diagnosed with cancer for the second time.
Kueter overcame colon cancer in 2002. As part of a physical two years later, his physician sent his blood out for tests. Low platelet levels led to further testing at UI Hospitals and Clinics. It was cancer–again. This time mantle cell lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.
A key component in Kueter's treatment plan was an autologous stem cell transplant at the UI's Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. The transplant involved removing his stem cells, treating him with cancer–destroying levels of chemotherapy, and returning the stem cells–cleansed to remove possibly contaminating cancer cells–to his body.
His care team included Roger Gingrich, MD, PhD, director of the UI's Adult Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation Program; and specialists at Iowa Blood and Cancer Care in Cedar Rapids.
"I thought UI Hospitals and Clinics would be sterile, non–caring. It sounds cliché, but I thought I would be just another number," Kueter says. "I couldn't have been more wrong. I met so many wonderful people. Having such a warm, loving environment was so important to the healing process."
Yes, there were warning signs. But when you're 34 years old and seemingly healthy, they were easy to ignore. Internal gassiness and blood in the stool were perhaps explainable by hemorrhoids related to a previous pregnancy, and by everyday stress.
That's what school counselor Jessica Gerst thought at the time. Then her sister insisted she see a doctor.
A gastroenterologist scheduled a colonoscopy, suggesting it might be gluten intolerance. When Jessica awoke from the anesthesia, her husband was sitting at her bedside with his head in his hands.
"What's going on?" Jessica asked.
The answer was shocking: Colorectal cancer.
Stunned, Jessica tried to absorb the news. Her daughter quickly came to mind. "I thought, 'She's only two! What will happen to her if I'm gone?'"
Everything from that point forward happened in a whirlwind.
Jessica was referred to a surgeon who wanted to operate right away. "Fortunately, I had my family thinking for me," Jessica says. "You really need other people in a situation like this because you tend to accept everything you're told. There was never any mention of seeing an oncologist (a cancer specialist)."
Jessica's father finally asked about a second opinion.
That's how Jessica met James Howe, MD, a surgical oncologist within the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at UI Hospitals and Clinics.
"This was the best thing we could have done," Jessica says. "Dr. Howe was so friendly and confident that they could take care of it. I felt a huge sigh of relief! At an academic medical center, everything is taken care of under one roof by one team of expert doctors."
Surgery would not be the first order of business, Howe explained. Instead, the UI cancer team would start by shrinking the tumor with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Jessica could join a UI research trial in which she would randomly receive these treatments either by traditional infusion therapy or in pill form (happily, she says, she received the pill).
Surgery was the last step. Besides Howe, Jessica's team included John Buatti, MD, a world-renowned expert in radiation oncology.
"Drs. Howe and Buatti were always on the same page, communicating back and forth," Jessica says. "I was very impressed with the lengths they went to in making sure that all cancer patients are treated in this manner."
Jessica completed her treatment regimen four years ago. Today she is cancer-free. Her daughter is now six years old and happy to have a mom at her side. Jessica is enjoying life more than ever.
Tears well in her eyes when she talks about all the family, friends, and health care providers who helped her survive. "A lot of great people made this possible, from the receptionists in the radiation center, the techs that draw blood, and the valets, all the way to the doctors and nurses who oversaw the treatment," she says. "Everyone worked together to make a challenging experience tolerable."