Experimental cancer surgery gives Florence woman hope By: Vanessa S. Holt, Staff Writer June 28, 2001 ©Register-News 2001 FLORENCE — Terri Cranmer appreciates every minute of the beautiful summer days we've had this year. She did not think she would be alive to see them. Last September, she was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and given about nine months to live. Today, she is active and busy with the Shih Tzu dogs she breeds and shows, doing everything she can to stay healthy and optimistic. After her diagnosis last fall, doctors told Ms. Cranmer, 51, traditional lung cancer surgery would be of little benefit because her cancer was so far advanced. She tried radiation therapy last year, but stopped when the side effects became too severe. Chemotherapy, she said, was not the treatment route she wanted to take either. "I got my affairs in order and I figured, everyone will die eventually," said Ms. Cranmer. "I researched what I could find out about it, and knew that it was a terminal disease." However, Ms. Cranmer is alive today and credits this fact to the experimental surgery she had in February to kill her tumor. The operation, called radiofrequency (RF) ablation, was developed and performed by Dr. Patrick Sewell of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. Now she wants to let other people know that the treatment exists, and that it seems to be working for her. During an RF ablation surgery, radiofrequency energy is used to destroy the cancerous tissue by effectively heating the tumor to kill the cancerous cells. The operation is performed during a real-time CT scan (computerized tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), so the surgeon can find and destroy each tumor. After surgery, the patient undergoes regular CT scan tests to make sure that a new tumor doesn't develop, and to ensure that the tumor was, in fact, killed. Dr. Sewell began utilizing this experimental procedure when it was approved by the FDA in 1997. Criticisms levied against the treatment include the possibility that patients may have to have the procedure performed several times if new tumors develop, Ms. Cranmer said. However, she said she would be willing to go to Mississippi for repeated surgeries if necessary. The operation took two and a half hours and did not require a long hospital stay or any time on a ventilator, unlike traditional lung cancer surgery. Ms. Cranmer did not know she had lung cancer until a CT scan revealed the tumor last fall. "I had pain in one armpit, but no coughing, no bleeding," she said. Puzzled by the persistent pain, she finally underwent a CT scan and found out that a large tumor was causing her pain. Because the cancer was in stage three or four, Ms. Cranmer said the best that doctors could give her was the possibility of alleviating her pain and slightly prolonging her life. Ms. Cranmer investigated natural methods of cancer control and tried a diet and vitamin regimen that she believes may have contributed to a significant shrinkage in the tumor. It shrank so much over the course of several months, in fact, that her doctor said she might be a candidate for traditional surgery earlier this year. However, traditional surgery would have required several ribs to be broken, extensive recovery time and the removal of a portion of the lung. Two days after her RF ablation, she said she was able to rent a car and go shopping while she passed the time in Mississippi awaiting her flight home later in the week. Today Ms. Cranmer is able to lead nearly the same life she led before she discovered she had cancer. She continues to watch her health, taking vitamins, drinking green tea and eliminating most red meat and sugar from her diet. The total cost of the experimental surgery was $12,000, but Ms. Cranmer said "you can't put a price on your life," and would gladly undergo the procedure again if she developed another tumor. For Ms. Cranmer, cultivating the right attitude is the most important thing that cancer patients can do for themselves in addition to finding the right doctor and taking care of themselves. That includes cutting down on stress, and "listening to your body," she said. "You can't go into it thinking that you're dying," she said. Her philosophy is that if you know you have a disease like cancer, at least you can try to do something to fight it to make sure that your time is well spent. As presented in the newspaper Her choices, reasons and advice Article About Dr. Sewell and RFA Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 5/03 Am Roentgen Ray Soc, 8/04 Thermal Ablation Improves Lung Ca SURVIVAL Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.