A Navy veteran thought she was having a heart attack. A trip to the emergency room found something else.

Whereas having an uncharacteristically quiet day at dwelling, Navy veteran Mary Jo Burkhard started to really feel unusual signs that she thought may very well be indicators of a coronary heart assault. 

The 71-year-old knew women and men had different symptoms for sudden cardiac events. Burkhard was decided to not ignore doable warning indicators. The ache in her again and chest had been alarming sufficient to go to an pressing care, and when she threw up the painkiller she was prescribed, she instantly went to the hospital. 

Emergency room medical doctors ran assessments, together with a CAT scan. They discovered she wasn’t having a coronary heart assault — however there was a three-inch cancerous tumor on her pancreas. After two days of anxious ready, she was identified with Stage II pancreatic cancer, one of the crucial lethal types of most cancers. 

“I used to be like, ‘Oh my god, I am gonna die,'” Burkhard stated. Her first ideas had been of her youngsters and grandchildren. 

Dr. Alexander Itskovich, a medical director of oncology providers on the Statesir Most cancers Heart in New Jersey, was fast to supply reassurance. Her most cancers was nonetheless treatable, he stated, however it might require surgical procedure to take away the mass, and radiation and chemotherapy to eradicate as many cancerous cells as doable. It could be an extended journey, and even when all went properly, Burkhard must be carefully monitored for the remainder of her life. Burkhard stated that the identical dedication that helped her in her navy profession helped her get by way of the grueling remedy schedule.   

“If you will get by way of boot camp, you will get by way of something,” Burkhard stated. “It modifications your mindset on the way you do issues, it makes you stronger and makes you right into a fighter. So I used to be a fighter. I used to be preventing.” 

Treating one of the crucial lethal cancers within the U.S.

Pancreatic most cancers is the third main explanation for most cancers demise in the USA, based on the National Cancer Institute. It is “very tough to catch this most cancers early,” stated Dr. Suneel Kamath, a GI oncologist on the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Most cancers Heart who was not concerned in Burkhard’s care. Early signs usually embrace imprecise abdomen upset, belly ache and acid reflux disease, which Kamath stated are simple to disregard or attribute to extra delicate maladies. 

Typically, the most cancers is barely discovered when an individual seeks remedy for a special problem, Itskovich stated. In Burkhard’s case, the ache she was feeling possible wasn’t even associated to the pancreatic most cancers, Itskovich stated, however her resolution to hunt medical care led to the early prognosis. Her most cancers was identified as Stage II. Most individuals with pancreatic most cancers aren’t identified till the illness is Stage IV, Kamath stated. At that time, the most cancers has unfold all through the physique and remedy is unlikely to be an choice. 

For sufferers like Burkhard who can nonetheless be handled, velocity is vital. Simply days after being identified, Burkhard started chemotherapy. The periods had been each three days for greater than 4 months. The remedy took a toll on her physique: The 71-year-old usually struggled with fatigue and generally needed to name her youngsters to assist her transfer round the home. However it labored: Scans confirmed the chemotherapy had shrunk the tumor to half its measurement. That meant Itskovich might function and take away the remaining mass. 

Throughout surgical procedure, he discovered that the mass was connected to a number of different organs in Burkhard’s physique. It took over 9 hours, practically twice the size of a typical surgical procedure, however he was in a position to take away your complete tumor. The surgical procedure was adopted by extra chemotherapy, in addition to radiation remedy. Burkhard spent a number of weeks within the hospital, and whereas the restoration from surgical procedure was tough, she was truly extra bothered by the puree weight loss plan she needed to keep.

“It was the one factor I might eat,” she stated, calling the semi-liquid meals “worse than a navy weight loss plan.” 

Having fun with life with “no proof of illness”  

After finishing remedy, Burkhard underwent one other spherical of testing to substantiate that the extraordinary routine had labored. 

“I used to be so scared all up by way of the CAT scan and ready for them, ready for the reply,” Burkhard stated. “I used to be simply apprehensive. I knew (Itskovich) caught all the pieces, minimize all the pieces out, and I knew the radiation had killed the microscopic cells. I knew all that in my head, however my coronary heart was saying ‘OK, something can occur.’ That was scary.” 

The scans got here again clear, however Burkhard’s ready is not over but. She is going to get CAT scans each three months for the subsequent three years, after which each six months for the subsequent two years. The illness can recur, Kamath stated, and Stage I and II pancreatic most cancers solely has a five-year survival fee of about 44%. As a result of it is solely been a brief interval, Burkhard cannot be described as cancer-free, however Itskovich stated she presently has “no proof of illness.” 

Whereas the coast is evident, Burkhard says she plans on having fun with her life. She’s gotten again to her neighborhood service and Veterans Affairs actions. She spoke at a particular flag-raising ceremony hosted in honor of Veterans Day on the hospital the place she was handled. Quickly, she’ll journey to Indiana for a month for an extended journey to see her grandkids. Every time she’s again on the hospital for scans, she tries to deliver positivity to the workers who she stated helped save her life. 

“I hug the medical doctors, I hug the nurses. I hug all people within the hospital,” she stated. “All people will get a hug.”