what it feels like: overcoming endometrial cancer and finding 'some joy every day'
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joan and her husband, colin, love to travel, and she never let endometrial cancer steal that from her.
joan low
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before joan low was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2017, she spent her life cultivating a fulfilling career and exploring the world with her husband, colin. when she noticed the first sign of her cancer, spotting in november of 2016, she was sent for an ultrasound to investigate the cause.
her medical team found a polyp, and her endometrial lining was enlarged, which led to the suspicion of cancer. at the time, joan had a trip booked for new zealand, so the timing couldn’t have been worse. to add insult to injury, the first doctors she saw kept joan waiting for the biopsy she needed to confirm her diagnosis.
“i’m waiting, waiting, waiting, and finally they said, ‘i’m sorry. it’s cancelled,’” said joan. “so, i had to go back three weeks later.”
her second appointment was also cancelled just six days before her trip while she grappled with the decision to stay and wait some more for her biopsy or go experience new zealand.
“i went back to the office and tried to leave a message for the surgeon because i wanted to cancel this trip, and she never phoned me back,” said joan. “then, the gynecologist said, ‘oh, there’s nothing much wrong with you,’ so i flipped a coin and went to new zealand for two months.”
by the time joan returned from her overseas adventure, she was still on the list but ended up waiting yet another month. three days after she finally got in for her biopsy, the surgeon called joan and told her she had endometrial cancer.
“it wasn’t a big surprise,” said joan, who was ready to get the ball rolling, knowing that something was wrong, even if her care team had initially dismissed it.
healthcare errors and fast-track treatment
once the surgeons realized joan’s condition, they knew time was of the essence. joan went to vancouver, british columbia, to see a group of gynecologists who would organize her surgery. not long after the biopsy, joan was booked in for surgery.
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by that time, though, joan’s cancer had reached stage four, and even though the “doctors and nurses were so very kind,” the wait for her biopsy led to her cancer progressing from stage 3, in which she would have required less treatment.
unfortunately, due to the wait, she was started on an extensive chemotherapy treatment plan less than four weeks after her surgery in an effort to rid joan of the cancer that was now spreading throughout her body.
“i regularly went in for chemo every three weeks from june until the end of october,” joan said.
after her last treatment, she saw her oncologist to see how the therapy had worked and what would be required next.
“she told me there was no sign of cancer,” she said. “so, that was amazing, and that was on halloween, so halloween is pretty special to me.”
coping with anger from being left behind
the entire ordeal, from start to finish, was a high level of stress on joan—especially since she was told there wasn’t anything to be worried about, only to later find out that she had cancer that had progressed to the worst stage possible.
“for a long time, i was angry at that gynecologist because she said there wasn’t much wrong with me, yet when the surgeon looked at my slides before the biopsy, she came back three times, and she apologized to me because it had taken so long,” she said.
joan felt so angry that she enrolled herself in courses to help her cope with the rage of being left behind by the healthcare system. these courses helped her understand a bit more of where the gynecologist was coming from, even though the approach was less than adequate.
“maybe she just didn’t have the experience, or she didn’t want to say because, without the test, she couldn’t verify that i had cancer. she didn’t want to say that i did, and then the test turned out that i didn’t,” said joan. “i can understand her reasoning, but my gp said it could be cancer; he was pretty honest.”
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while waiting for her biopsies, she also admitted to feeling emotionally affected by the stress, so much so that she cancelled christmas that year.
“i didn’t even put up a christmas tree,” she said. “i didn’t want to entertain people and have my family over.”
luckily for joan, that trip to new zealand ended up being a good distraction from all the anger and uncertainty she faced while waiting for a diagnostic confirmation and treatment.
working her life around the effects of chemotherapy
while joan’s chemotherapy did leave her free of disease, the journey through it was a challenging one. the sheer exhaustion was the biggest hurdle for joan, as it left her feeling as though she couldn’t live her life, even in the smallest of ways, because after each chemo session, she was forced by her body to do “less and less.”
she contended with being unable to walk, cook, or do laundry after each session, which improved only slightly as she got further away from her treatment date.
still, even when she started to feel a bit better, going out for an hour to have lunch or coffee with a friend still ate up all of her energy.
joan recalls one particularly bad time when she could barely make it up the stairs to shower.
“this was after about the fourth or fifth treatment, and he (her husband) came in the bedroom and he said, ‘are you okay?’ i didn’t want to admit to him that i was so tired, so i just laid down for 20 minutes and then went and had a shower. i just couldn’t believe how it hit me so hard.”
because of her debilitating fatigue, joan’s very last treatment was delayed for a week because she simply couldn’t take it physically. while her oncologist didn’t necessarily agree with joan’s decision to delay treatment, she did understand.
when it was time to go for her last session, she also took it at 80 per cent because of how awful the full dose had left her feeling.
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“they said it would give me the same results. it just wasn’t as strong a medication,” she said.
listening to her heart throughout treatment
during her chemo treatments, joan was asked to refrain from taking any other medications or supplements to ensure that they worked as they should without interference. she had been working with a naturopath for a lot of her adult life up until that point to keep her health up to par, and when she was told to stop doing that, she had to choose whether to listen to her medical doctors or go with her gut.
in the end, joan decided to do the latter because, in her heart, she knew that her homeopathic medicine would be a positive help in the treatment of her cancer. her oncologist was also against the use of a homeopathic naturopath to treat cancer, so not only did joan continue to do what she felt was right, but she also kept it to herself in the name of survival, which for stage 4 endometrial cancer is relatively low at only 20 per cent.
“at the end of my treatment, she wanted to know what i did. but she was totally against acupuncture. she was against homeopathic naturopaths,” joan said. “so, what was the point of telling her?”
joan knew her body and how well homeopathic medicine had helped her throughout her life. still, she admits to “walking a fine line” with her doctor, going against the recommendations of both them and the canadian cancer society.
joan has also taken a good look at her life to see what might be more harmful than helpful since being diagnosed with endometrial cancer, researching everything from cleaning products to clothing to avoid adding any more fuel to a potentially deadly fire.
“i spent a lot of time on finding out what foods are better for me. i’ve gotten rid of a lot of products that i used to use,” she said. “i’ve looked at things in my house and gotten rid of maybe some clothes that have too much plastics in them. i think it’s important.”
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she’s also taken the time to incorporate other healthier living aspects into her life, like enjoying music, doing some exercise that she enjoys, and getting out in nature whenever she can.
leaning on her husband and other supports during a trying time
colin, the oldest of three children, was taught how to cook and clean and take care of a home by his mother, and when joan was diagnosed with cancer, it was all those maternal lessons that helped keep them afloat.
“he was great,” she said. “he just did everything, and he used to sit and talk to me, and we’d talk about some of our adventures and things that we’ve done.”
colin became a pillar of light for joan, making her laugh on the down days and taking care of everything he could to ensure that joan never had to feel guilty about being down for the count during her treatment.
“we both knew my chances were pretty low,” she said, later continuing, “we were hopeful that i would survive, and he was really supportive.”
he was even there for her on their travels, which they did not stop doing, even while joan was contending with the after-effects of having cancer and treatments.
they were hopeful for the best but also preparing for the worst, and when colin wanted to go to scotland to visit family in case joan’s clock was running out faster than expected, they did so. all the while, her husband considered her physical state, and they worked together to adjust to it, even when halfway across the world.
“i was pretty tired, but i used to just sleep until 11 in the morning, and then we’d go off and go visit somebody or go on a little jaunt,” she said. “he was always very mindful that i needed to sleep a long time and that i had a window of time to do things every day. so, we just worked around that.”
joan also took the time to take full advantage of the supports available to her and others living with various types of cancer.
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“there’s so much research going on; i think it’s important to take the time to speak to a counsellor. there are some good programs offered for cancer survivors through wellspring,” she said. “you can do them online or in person.”
finding the silver lining through familial inspiration
even with the low survival rate of late-stage endometrial cancer, joan never lost hope that she would make it through, and she attributes her strength through it all to how inspiring her father’s journey with colon cancer was.
“my dad had cancer at 45 when i was ten years old, and then he had cancer again at 85,” she said. “he lived to be 97, so that really inspired me.”
her goal was to get better, and she says that watching her dad go through something similar is what inspired her because of “the way he handled his cancer.”
she also went through hereditary cancer testing to look for any other cancer risk, testing 17 different genes known to be associated with the onset of various types. when the tests all came back negative, that was another beacon of hope for joan through it all.
free of disease and ready to “live my life”
now that joan is on the other side of her cancer diagnosis, with the free and clear from her oncologist, she is ready to take her life back. that said, the way she views the world now is a bit different.
“i try to find some joy every day. i pay more attention to nature and flowers when we go for walks, and i actually do some mentoring, so that has really helped me.”
joan has also decided to turn her journey into something that truly helps others. by becoming a mentor for others living with cancer or those who have beaten cancer and are now getting back to their lives, joan hopes to inspire positivity in those who may be facing the same thing.
“i mentor some cancer patients on the canadian cancer site, and i’m also involved with the local chapter of the gynecological cancer group, bc cancer,” she said. “i enjoy doing these things.”
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when asked what she’s looking forward to most, joan says she’s grateful she’s still able to enjoy her life, and her days of jet-setting are nowhere near over.
“next year, we’ll do some travelling again,” she said, later continuing, “it’s given me a different perspective on life, and i don’t take things so much for granted anymore.”
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