'Cancer lives with me now' Eskasoni woman who was given 18 months to live is beating the odds

ESKASONI — A year and a half ago, living to see 2024 wasn't a given for Kathy Denny of Eskasoni.

Diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer in the summer of 2022, the 59-year-old received a life expectancy estimate of six to 18 months. Fast forward to March 2024; she has surpassed the 18-month mark and is thriving.

THE DIAGNOSIS

It all began with persistent back pain, which Denny initially attributed to a case of whiplash resulting from an accident with an 18-wheeler years earlier.

However, as her condition worsened, it became evident something much more severe was at play as she required Tylenol to function through growing pain.

Denny said she knew she needed to see a doctor when her body started rejecting food.

"I started listening to my body, and my body's telling me I can't eat fat," Denny said. "By the time I got to see the doctor, as I told her my symptoms, she said. 'It sounds like you have fatty liver, we'll get you an ultrasound.'"

Upon receiving the ultrasound, Denny knew something more was wrong. She noticed that the technician was focusing the scan on a specific area of her abdomen; this was her first tip that something serious was happening.

"I went to the ultrasound, and the technician focused on only one area on my upper stomach, " she said.

"I said, 'You found a mass, eh?' She went on, 'I can't tell you anything, but I'll tell you this: If your doctor doesn't call you within a week, you call your doctor.' "

THE BATTLE

Denny received a call from her specialist that same afternoon. He told her the issue wasn't with her liver but with her pancreas, where the ultrasound showed a mass that looked like cancer. Denny immediately started researching information about the disease while waiting for further tests and an appointment with another doctor in Halifax.

"I go to Halifax, and they told me I have cancer in my lower left lung, cancer on my aorta, cancer in my liver, cancer on my stomach, cancer on my small intestine area, a lesion near my appendix area and that cancer had gone into blood vessels in my pancreas and I have a mass the size of an apricot (on her pancreas)," said Denny.

From her research, Denny knew not many cases of pancreatic cancer are caught early enough to perform surgery. In Canada, early diagnosis only happens in 10-20 per cent of cases. About 40-50 per cent of patients find out after the cancer has already spread.

Denny said once the doctor confirmed surgery wasn't an option, she had only one question.

"The doctor said, 'We can't do the surgery.' My next question was how much time I have. They told me I had six months to live, and if I take chemo, it will increase my life expectancy to 12-18 months," said Denny.

THE NUMBERS

Helen Wright is the director of marketing and communications at Craig's Cause Pancreatic Cancer Society, a national charity based in Nova Scotia and aimed at increasing survival and improving the quality of life for Canadians diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Wright said many people are unaware of the disease and how deadly it can be.

"The numbers are not high, in terms of cases, but at the same time, we have more deaths in Canada than breast cancer deaths," said Wright. "Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most diagnosed form of cancer in Canada, but the third most deadly."

"Only 10 per cent of people diagnosed will live five years after their diagnosis."

That stat is because there are no early-detection screening options available for pancreatic cancer. Wright said there are early signs and symptoms, but as Denny experienced, many of these are general and could point to several potential ailments.

"It also comes down to the early symptoms; it's people not realizing that it could be something more," said Wright. "One of the big ones is jaundice; it's really the only one that stands out. Other signs might be mid-back pain, upper abdominal pain, weight loss or digestive problems. A lot of people probably had one or two of those symptoms last week."

CHEMOTHERAPY AND TRADITIONAL MEDICINES

Upon receiving her diagnosis, Denny faced her reality with an unyielding resolve. She said she explored every available option, combining chemotherapy with traditional Mi'kmaq herbal medicines like sevenbark, goldthreads and chaga.

"I told him I'll take the chemo but that I also heard about our traditional medicines. I went and offered tobacco to the elders, and they provided me with sevenbark medication and chaga," Denny said.

"I told my doctor that I wanted to start my chemo at the end of October. I wanted to give the herbal medicines a chance to work ... and my tumour grew a little bit, and the lymph nodes by my liver. So, I started the chemo."

Denny immediately started seeing results after only her second chemotherapy treatment, no longer needing her daily Tylenol to manage her back pain. Denny said the tumour in her pancreas was shrinking, but the chemo was taking other tolls on her body, which she couldn't handle.

"Every side effect that you can get from chemo, I got it. My hands started getting sore, they would feel burning hot. I lost all my hair. It was hard on me. It was hard on my family. It looked like I was dying," she said. "Chemo was shrinking my veins. I deal with hardening of the arteries and I knew I would die of a heart attack before cancer would kill me. So, I decided to stop chemo in August and continue with my herbal medicines."

MAKING PROGRESS

After stopping the chemotherapy, most medical information would suggest the cancer would continue growing again. Yet, Denny said a few months after stopping chemo, doctors realized that the tumour continued to shrink.

"They were saying that there's like a five per cent chance of survival with this type of cancer and only in the early stages, and I was late stage. Over the progress of the whole two years, the cancer disappeared from my lungs, the cancer disappeared from this area and that area. Now the only place I have cancer is my pancreas," said Denny. "My tumour two years ago was the size of an apricot now it's the size of a strawberry."

Denny said doctors were shocked, as at each appointment, they saw the cancer recede without chemotherapy. Denny said it's rewarding to beat the expectancy doctors gave her upon diagnosis but also to hear her doctors give credence to the herbal medicine.

"It was nice to hear a doctor acknowledge that the herbal medicines are working and to keep doing what I'm doing. She said that if I were on chemo, we would have thought the chemo was still working," she said.

HOLISTIC APPROACH

Denny credits her results to her holistic approach, addressing not just the physical aspect of the disease but also nurturing her spiritual and emotional well-being. The support of her family further strengthened her resolve. She said she's happy they can stop worrying as much.

"I woke up one night, and my husband was asleep, crying for me. I was so worried for him," she said. "They're happy now to see me doing better; they seem less worried."

A year ago, Denny was preparing for her death, living only as much as possible to make sure her family was ready to go on without her. Now Denny said she's found a new mindset — one where she is in control, not cancer.

"I've been living with this cancer, my doctor says, for about 15-20 years. The only different thing was that I knew that I was living with cancer. When I decided to forget about it and not worry too much, I stopped living with cancer, and cancer started living with me," she said. "So this is now my outlook. Cancer lives with me and will live with me for the rest of my life, but it doesn't control me."

Mitchell Ferguson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cape Breton Post