A valiant fight against a daunting health challenge

Feb 28, 2016 News

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“There is still life after cancer; you become such a transition person after being diagnosed. For me I know that I have changed somewhat and for the better. You simply look at life differently, because today you can have it bountifully and then tomorrow you don’t know what it would be.”

By Sharmain Grainger
Not even the persistent cramps that kept creeping up into her feet as a young child would prepare her for the health complication she was destined to experience as a young adult. Like most people, Francine Leitch didn’t readily accept her fate, but she has been soldiering on quite well with the support of her parents, Linden and Desiree, and loving siblings.

Added to this, she is convinced that she has been blessed with divine strength to make it through each day since being diagnosed with perhaps one of the rarest cancers.
It is certainly not one common in this part of the world. So rare is the cancer she was diagnosed with that it almost went undetected. But I’ll elaborate on that a little later.
Since being diagnosed with cancer, Francine has been a regular visitor to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)’s Oncology Unit to access treatment. This usually sees her, on specified days, leaving her Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, early enough in order to commence treatment by 08:30 hours. Last week Wednesday was one of the 20-year-old’s treatment days.
Reflecting on having a persistent condition over the years, Francine disclosed during a recent interview that growing up was not without excessive pains at time.  She recalled being a victim of constant shortage of breath, and muscular cramps that were bad enough to jolt her out of her sleep. Her monthly menstrual cycle was often laced with intense pain too.  The former Queen’s College student remembers her condition becoming worse while she was in fourth form.

NOTHING FOUND TO BE AMISS
By December 2014, her condition became even worse. A thorough health check was in order but, according to Francine, at that point nothing was found to be amiss. “Everything seemed to be okay, so the doctor gave me some antibiotics and pain killers,” Francine related.
But almost a year later her condition had not remotely improved.  This, however, did not dissuade the ambitious Francine from commencing the Medical Technology programme at the University of Guyana. However, October 13, 2015, when she celebrated her 20th birthday, Francine was overwhelmed with such severe menstrual pains that her mother simply wasn’t willing to simply sit by and watch her daughter suffer.

“My mother wanted to make sure that there wasn’t any underlying problem and so she wanted me to be examined by a Gynaecologist. She was worried more because I had a fever for a week, so we knew that something was really wrong,” Francine intimated.
But a number of tests and an ultrasound of her pelvic area, later, still gave no indication that anything major was wrong with an evidently ailing Francine.

CURIOSITY OF A RADIOLOGIST
However, it was eventually the curiosity of a radiologist who attended to her, that helped to give an inkling of the source of her condition.
“The radiologist checked my abdomen area and found that my lymph nodes were swollen and explained that that could either be tuberculosis or something called Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer,” related Francine.
The advice from the radiologist was to have Francine’s doctor investigate what was the cause of her swollen lymph nodes.  Of course this meant that she would be subjected to several more tests and many x-rays and ultrasounds over a period of time. This bout of investigation did however bear fruit.
A mass was detected in the area of her lung. There was, however, nothing the attending doctor could have done for her, other than refer her to the Cancer Institute. There she underwent a CT-Scan which revealed a tumour positioned behind her heart.  A biopsy was required, but because of the position of the tumour, a decision was instead taken to use a sample of her swollen lymph nodes. The sample was sent for testing at a laboratory overseas.
About two weeks later, Francine and her parents were being told that the sample tested positive for ‘dysgerminoma mediastinal’.

‘WE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE’
“We never heard of this before…but the doctor told us it was cancer. My parents didn’t want to rely on one opinion and so we went to other doctors,” Francine recounted.
But by mid-November of last year, both she and her family members had accepted her fate. She was the victim of a type of malignant cancer that usually occurs in the ovary or the gonads. However, in Francine’s case it was detected in her mid-section which is medically termed the mediastinum – the cavity that separates the lungs from the rest of the chest.
To the professionals who attended to her, it was a rather strange development that warranted even more tests before treatment was administered. “It happened all so fast; it didn’t dawn on me that I really had cancer until maybe my second cycle of chemotherapy. This was when I started to lose my hair; I hadn’t even broken down like some people do when they hear they have cancer,” a petite Francine related to me on Wednesday as she sat calmly awaiting her treatment.
Her treatment has certainly been working in her favour. According to Francine, the attending Oncologist has informed that the malignant tumour behind her heart has significantly decreased. In fact, it is expected that after three more bouts of chemotherapy, she should be in the safe zone.
But it might have been this very disclosure earlier this month that might have troubled Francine the most since being diagnosed with cancer. You see, she was led to believe that an initial three cycles would have been enough to rid her system of cancer. So being informed three cycles later that another three cycles would be necessary was not too heartening.
This was especially due to the fact that Francine could have already completed her second year of University had she not been forced to take leave because of the difficulties associated with her treatment.

‘GOD YOU ARE IN CONTROL’
Her passion is her studies. “I was hoping to return to my normal activities. I took one year off and when I return (to UG) it will be like starting second year all over again…so when I heard there was still signs of cancer, that was when I broke down for the first time. I actually cried…I thought it would have been over and I would be better and I could have just returned to my studies; treatment for me has not been easy but it is much harder for some people,” said Francine.
Francine was accompanied by her mother when she received her last treatment. And according to Mrs. Leitch, while for some people dealing with a family member with cancer could be difficult, it hasn’t been for her. “I am a very spiritual person and I said ‘God you are in control’.”
“Every day I would sit with her (Francine) and late into the night we would pray and read the Bible about how God healed the blind and sick and these different things, and I kept telling her I still believe he can still do that, but it is left upon her to believe too,” Mrs. Leitch asserted.
But Francine is definitely a believer and has faith that the Supreme Being has been ensuring that her treatment works.

TREATMENT
Treatment is administered based on a person’s stage of cancer. The stage of cancer is in essence the extent of the cancer when it is detected. According to cancer literature, Stage One suggests that the cancer is localised but further local spread may take it to Stage Two. This could include spread to the nearest lymph nodes and Stage Three usually indicates more extensive lymph node involvement while Stage Four indicates that the spread is well advanced.
Fortunately for Francine, her cancer was detected at a very early stage. She explained that chemotherapy treatment is administered to her intravenously and lasts for at least four hours on each occasion.
“Some days it is so hard. The thing about chemotherapy is that it doesn’t only root out the bad cells but it carries some good cells with it, and that is why people lose their hair and stuff, and it makes you nauseous,” related Francine, who has experienced all the possible side effects of chemotherapy including a persistent loss of appetite.
“Eating is the hardest thing. It’s like as soon as you eat at times you ‘bring up’ (vomit). Sometimes you see food and you just don’t want to eat…but it is your health and you have to try,” said Francine.
And according to her, after treatment she is often left in a weakened state, both physically and emotionally.
Added to this, being exposed to the stories of some cancer patients is not always helpful, related Francine, as she disclosed that “sometimes you come in and see people at their wits’ end or sometimes you come here and you hear somebody you saw the day before has passed away.”
But according to her, the support of her family and her belief in God has been the source of her mental stability. She is saddened by the fact that some cancer victims do not have a fraction of the support she has been blessed with.
“I have had my parents coming with me, but some people are the breadwinners of their own homes and have to stop working so that they can get treatment, and some people don’t have a choice but have to try working while getting treatment…so for me I know it must have been easier than it is for a lot of people,” a grateful Francine said.

GENES
But Francine’s parents might have been more than prepared to tackle the cancer challenge. This is in light of the fact that her maternal grandfather died from cancer of the gonads and a number of her aunts have been inflicted with cancer too.
She, however, hasn’t given much thought about cancer being passed on to her children when the time comes. This is in spite of the fact that based on her readings, chemotherapy could cause an individual to become sterile.
Francine has nevertheless wondered if she could have called such a fate upon herself by vowing in the past to remain in the care of her parents.
But with divine intervention she is convinced that even the most daunting of circumstances could be dispelled.
And according to Francine, although a person might be destined for a fate such as cancer, “they just have to be strong. All I can say to persons face with such a fate is fight on; be strong. Some days you don’t have a choice but to be strong and that is what really defines your strength.”
Beaming with confidence, though the loss of her hair to chemotherapy is hidden by a head wrap, Francine insisted that “there is still life after cancer. You become such a transition person after being diagnosed…for me I know that I have changed and for the better. You simply look at life differently, because today you can have it bountifully and then tomorrow you don’t know what it would be.”
It is for this reason Francine has cautioned that people should not seek to be defined by merely their appearance or possessions, but there should always be a much deeper meaning to life in order to triumph even over cancer.

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