Hope After Survival
By WP BrandStudio
After treatment at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, patients are living life to the fullest.
One year ago, Gabi Gutierrez was living life at full speed. She was working as a forensic services associate, playing in a few sports leagues and traveling often. “I was having a bunch of fun,” said Gutierrez.
But then, seemingly out of nowhere, Gutierrez had a seizure at her parents’ house in Fairfax, Va., which quickly led to a diagnosis of brain cancer. Doctors told her she had diffuse astrocytoma, a type of cancer that slowly infiltrates the affected area. Her tumor was about five-by-three centimeters, and she would need surgery. Fortunately, she had age on her side — she was in her 20s and far younger than the average cancer patient, potentially improving her prognosis. With treatment, the five-year survival rate for younger people diagnosed with low-grade astrocytoma is 68 percent.
Though she’s still in treatment, Gutierrez is a part of a growing group of people in the U.S.: Cancer survivors, who are individuals “living with, through and beyond a cancer diagnosis,” according to National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. Thanks to steadily declining death rates among cancer patients, survivors now represent five percent of the national population. Within the next decade, over 15 million Americans will be able to say they’ve lived five years or more after getting a cancer diagnosis. And during National Cancer Survivors Month, a global movement to recognize and celebrate those with a history of cancer, Gutierrez and other patients share their stories.
For Gutierrez, dealing with cancer was a master class in letting go. She trusted her doctors, she said, but struggled to tame her “stubborn” independent streak. When she began chemotherapy, for example, she skipped the anti-nausea medication and ended up “vomiting most of the night.”
“Gabi is very strong and feels confident in being able to fight things off, so she wanted to minimize medications first,” said Dr. Byram Ozer, the oncologist that treated Gutierrez at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital. “When she found that it was a little too overwhelming, she started [medication] and tolerated symptoms much better.”
As treatment continued, Gutierrez relinquished some of that control and accepted more help. Her friends started a crowdfunding account to help cover her medical costs. Sibley referred her to a local acupuncturist, which she attends regularly, and she’s still getting monthly chemotherapy. Her most recent MRI showed no tumor growth, which is exactly what her doctors had hoped for.
In the meantime, Gutierrez is already working half-days, playing flag football and readying for a trip to Cuba with friends.
“The main thing that we’ve been discussing [with Gabbi] is how we return her to normalcy,” said Dr. Ozer; this includes figuring out how to get her back to work and which athletic activities it’s safe for her to jump back into.
Gutierrez also made time to enjoy “the small things in life” more than she used to, from walks with her cocker spaniel, Wolfgang, to her everyday surroundings.
“I was always very futuristic-thinking. Now, when I get off the Metro, I like looking at the architecture in D.C.,” she said. By sharing her story, Gutierrez hopes to encourage others to “try something new, or do something more.”
Silver linings after a breast cancer diagnosis
When Juliet Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer in June of 2018, her life was already in a state of flux. She was recently divorced after 20 years of marriage and had begun a master’s degree program in health-care administration when an annual mammogram found malignant cells, upending things even more for her.
“I was getting my new normal [started], and then got hit with cancer,” she said.
Smith’s friends and family quickly rallied around her, bringing her to doctor appointments and making sure that her two sons, ages 11 and 14, were looked after. After Smith had a preventive double-mastectomy in July, her brother flew in from Miami to help care for her, cooking meals and taking calls with the plastic surgeon. All of her other family members live in Trinidad, making his stay all the more meaningful.
In August, she met with Dr. Karen Smith (who coincidentally has the same last name), a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital. They talked about chemotherapy options, and about how to manage everyday life during treatment. It was all terrifying and confusing for Smith. Typically outgoing and outspoken, she recalls going silent when she first found out what was ahead of her.
But, along with her friends and family, the staff and programs at Sibley got her through it, from her therapist, Jacqueline Buschmann, who helped Smith deal with her depression, to a chemotherapy class that motivated her to focus on nutrition. At Sibley, “It’s not just a doctor [that treats you,] it’s a unified movement,” Smith said. “I’m very grateful for that staff.”
Since finishing chemotherapy, Smith has undergone reconstructive breast surgery, which she calls a “silver lining” amid all of the difficult parts of her cancer treatment. She’ll take daily hormonal treatment for the next five years, and she’s resumed her studies at the University of Maryland University College. Another silver lining, she said, was getting to spend a month observing the operations manager at Sibley, as part of her master’s degree. “The patients were so ecstatic that they had someone who’s been through cancer on the floor,” Smith said.
And, while the risk of recurrence never goes away completely, Smith’s doctors are optimistic.“With our great therapies, the vast majority of breast cancer survivors never have a recurrence,” said Dr. Smith.
A relapse followed by surprising solace
In winter 2018, William Pinkett started losing weight.
“I couldn’t keep an appetite,” he said. The 53-year-old resident of Southeast D.C. quickly learned that he had lymphoma—a type of immune system cancer he had survived several years prior. Hearing the news again “was rough,” he said. “I cried at the drop of a dime when I heard the word cancer.”
But then he met Dr. Khaled El-Shami, an assistant professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Kimmel Cancer Center, who specializes in treating blood cancers. “He calmed my nerves and assured me that he would take good care of me and everything would be all right,” said Pinkett.
Most patients who go through a relapse, including Pinkett, need extensive counseling and support “to understand that while the disease is back, there are still options, and that we need to continue to be positive and continue to fight,” said Dr. El-Shami. For Pinkett, the fight meant three rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant.
Despite such difficult treatments, Pinkett said he felt confident and loved throughout, thanks to Dr. El-Shami and nurse practitioner Florence Odubayo, who first told him about the doctors at Sibley and continually checked in on him while he was in the hospital. “She’s the one that helped to find the angels to save my life.”
Pinkett is disease-free now, but Dr. El-Shami stressed that “the remission needs to stand the test of time.” Pinkett will continue with quarterly visits to Sibley for the next two years, followed by up to five years of less-intensive testing. For now, though, Pinkett feels good. This summer he’s taking a cruise to the Bahamas with his wife, twin son and daughter and baby granddaughter. When he returns home, he’ll be looking forward to seeing the doctors and nurses at Sibley who’ve become “like family.”
His impact is also being felt across the Sibley community, said Dr. El-Shami. “Stories like Mr. Pinkett’s are revealing of the beautiful nature of ourselves.” Moreover, his recovery reveals just how far medicine has come — and can give other patients hope, Dr. El-Shami added. “The therapeutic landscape is changing now at an unprecedented pace, so I think it’s a story that people should know and should learn from.”
Learn more about the resources offered at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
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