Weekly Interview, Kathleen Eldrid - by Amanda Estes
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Faithful readers of the Leader may remember that Lucas Knowles interviewed Kathleen Eldrid for the Jan. 28, 2005 issue of the paper. Recently, we caught up with Eldrid as she approaches her fourteenth year living with terminal cancer.
April Fools Day will mark Kathleen Eldrid’s fourteenth celebration of a day she refers to as her second birthday. Just as she would on her real birthday, Eldrid plans to celebrate the day with family, friends, and acquaintances. What is this occasion that Eldrid is commemorating? On April 1, 1993 Eldrid underwent surgery and was soon after diagnosed with primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), which is a rare sarcoma cancer. Sarcoma cancers affect connective tissues in the body, including blood vessels, bone, and muscle. Eldrid chooses to recognize the day her cancer was identified because getting a correct diagnosis was half of the battle.
Eldrid first learned something was wrong with her body on November 30, 1992. She was at the hospital that day, but not for a doctor’s appointment. It was Eldrid’s first day on the job at Westbrook Community Hospital, which is now Mercy Westbrook Hospital. Eldrid, an R.N., specializes in the field of chemical dependency and substance abuse, and lifestyle addictions. In her first hour of orientation, hospital staff offered to give Eldrid a chest x-ray.
“I was 41 years old. I was the epitome of health,” she said. “At first I thought, no, I don’t need a chest x-ray because I had stopped smoking five years earlier and I had stopped drinking. Also I stopped doing sugar (and) my food was all in order. Then my second thought was Kathy go ahead and have this chest x-ray because if anything it will show you what great shape your lungs are in since you stopped smoking five years ago.”
Although she was asymptomatic, Eldrid’s x-ray showed a seven-centimeter tumor that appeared to be in her lung. Eldrid went to three different doctors, who all told her that she had small cell lung carcinoma.
“I refused to believe them, even though I didn’t know anything about cancer,” she said. She said most people with small cell carcinoma are on “death’s doorstep.” When she went to visit the fourth doctor, a surgeon, she told him about her doubts. “I don’t think this is small cell carcinoma. I don’t fit that picture.”
Eldrid found a surgeon who was willing to remove the tumor, although she said that is not regular procedure for that type of cancer. The tumor was attached to her fourth and fifth ribs and it had been growing in toward her lung. The surgeon determined that Eldrid had been right. After some research, he diagnosed her with PNET. The surgeon referred Eldrid to the National Cancer Institute for more information. After doing her own research, Eldrid discovered that she still didn’t “fit the picture.” PNET is usually found in tall, slender, Caucasian adolescent boys. Adult cases are very rare. The treatment for PNET consists of six months to one year of intensive in-patient chemotherapy and possibly radiation.
In May of 1993, Eldrid expressed her doubts to an oncologist and pressed him to provide her with information about PNET patients who had gone through the prescribed treatment and survived.
“The oncologist was very uncomfortable with all of this,” Eldrid said. Despite his misgivings, he sent Eldrid’s slides to the National Cancer Institute. The results affirmed her second diagnosis. Eldrid said she opposed chemotherapy from the beginning because there were no survivors.
Eldrid decided to follow alternative forms of cancer treatment. She was determined to “stimulate” her immune system so it would be better equipped to fight the cancer cells. As part of her treatment, she also started seeing a doctor of orthomolecular medicine. He tested her for food allergies, chemical sensitivities, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Eldrid also revamped her diet, cutting out white flour products and focusing on fish, organic vegetables, and plenty of water.
In 1995, Eldrid was told she had a second tumor. Eldrid sent a biopsy of the tumor to a cancer immunologist, Dr. James McCoy, who was operating out of his own lab in Louisiana. The immunologist developed a “tumor specific vaccine” that he would make in his lab and ship to Maine. Eldrid said she followed this program, when she could afford to do it, from 1996 to 1999. The tumor started shrinking. Unfortunately, Eldrid’s immunologist passed away in 2000.
Eldrid didn’t give up, but instead forced herself to overcome her “Internet phobia” in order to find open clinical trials. She also began researching the possible connections between viruses and cancer after her orthomolecular doctor told her that in many cases viruses cause cancer. Eldrid stressed that she only reads information from scientific peer reviewed medical journals. In fact, for the last three years, she has voluntarily contributed abstracts and articles to an electronic email list newsletter, OncoNews.
“It’s scary. I understand half of what I’m reading,” Eldrid joked. In 2005, her research led her to a clinical trial at the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center in Dallas, Texas. Eldrid had written to 40 doctors all over the world and Dr. John Nemunaitis, Mary Crowley’s executive director, was the only researcher who was not going to require Eldrid to undergo chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery before the trial. By that time, the second tumor had grown to eight centimeters.
She began a “massive” fundraising effort to procure the funds to live in Dallas during the trial. Through her efforts she was even able to buy a used car in which to make the trip. In June of 2006, however, Eldrid received an email from Nemunaitis stating the trial was over.
“I was devastated,” she said. “I was going to have to start all over again.” All hope was not lost, however, because a chest x-ray done that month showed her tumor had shrunk by a whole centimeter. Eldrid said the decrease might be due to n-acetyl-l-cysteine or NAC, an amino acid and antioxidant she started taking in late 2005. From her research, Eldrid believes NAC may be improving the function of her p53 gene, which is a tumor suppressor gene.
Whatever factors may be causing her tumor to shrink, Eldrid said in the last seven months, “cancer has been taking a secondary seat to getting in shape.” She continues to be mindful of her diet and cholesterol. For her spiritual health, she attends the Mindful Meditation class, conducted at the Cancer Community Center in South Portland. On June 4, Eldrid will teach a class at the center, entitled You Can Do Your Own Cancer Research.
“You don’t have to be a nurse,” she said. “If people do their own research they will be less afraid of their cancer.” She encouraged people to listen to their intuition and not be afraid to voice their concerns. Eldrid said being a “difficult patient” helped her survive.
Staff Writer
Faithful readers of the Leader may remember that Lucas Knowles interviewed Kathleen Eldrid for the Jan. 28, 2005 issue of the paper. Recently, we caught up with Eldrid as she approaches her fourteenth year living with terminal cancer.
April Fools Day will mark Kathleen Eldrid’s fourteenth celebration of a day she refers to as her second birthday. Just as she would on her real birthday, Eldrid plans to celebrate the day with family, friends, and acquaintances. What is this occasion that Eldrid is commemorating? On April 1, 1993 Eldrid underwent surgery and was soon after diagnosed with primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), which is a rare sarcoma cancer. Sarcoma cancers affect connective tissues in the body, including blood vessels, bone, and muscle. Eldrid chooses to recognize the day her cancer was identified because getting a correct diagnosis was half of the battle.
Eldrid first learned something was wrong with her body on November 30, 1992. She was at the hospital that day, but not for a doctor’s appointment. It was Eldrid’s first day on the job at Westbrook Community Hospital, which is now Mercy Westbrook Hospital. Eldrid, an R.N., specializes in the field of chemical dependency and substance abuse, and lifestyle addictions. In her first hour of orientation, hospital staff offered to give Eldrid a chest x-ray.
“I was 41 years old. I was the epitome of health,” she said. “At first I thought, no, I don’t need a chest x-ray because I had stopped smoking five years earlier and I had stopped drinking. Also I stopped doing sugar (and) my food was all in order. Then my second thought was Kathy go ahead and have this chest x-ray because if anything it will show you what great shape your lungs are in since you stopped smoking five years ago.”
Although she was asymptomatic, Eldrid’s x-ray showed a seven-centimeter tumor that appeared to be in her lung. Eldrid went to three different doctors, who all told her that she had small cell lung carcinoma.
“I refused to believe them, even though I didn’t know anything about cancer,” she said. She said most people with small cell carcinoma are on “death’s doorstep.” When she went to visit the fourth doctor, a surgeon, she told him about her doubts. “I don’t think this is small cell carcinoma. I don’t fit that picture.”
Eldrid found a surgeon who was willing to remove the tumor, although she said that is not regular procedure for that type of cancer. The tumor was attached to her fourth and fifth ribs and it had been growing in toward her lung. The surgeon determined that Eldrid had been right. After some research, he diagnosed her with PNET. The surgeon referred Eldrid to the National Cancer Institute for more information. After doing her own research, Eldrid discovered that she still didn’t “fit the picture.” PNET is usually found in tall, slender, Caucasian adolescent boys. Adult cases are very rare. The treatment for PNET consists of six months to one year of intensive in-patient chemotherapy and possibly radiation.
In May of 1993, Eldrid expressed her doubts to an oncologist and pressed him to provide her with information about PNET patients who had gone through the prescribed treatment and survived.
“The oncologist was very uncomfortable with all of this,” Eldrid said. Despite his misgivings, he sent Eldrid’s slides to the National Cancer Institute. The results affirmed her second diagnosis. Eldrid said she opposed chemotherapy from the beginning because there were no survivors.
Eldrid decided to follow alternative forms of cancer treatment. She was determined to “stimulate” her immune system so it would be better equipped to fight the cancer cells. As part of her treatment, she also started seeing a doctor of orthomolecular medicine. He tested her for food allergies, chemical sensitivities, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Eldrid also revamped her diet, cutting out white flour products and focusing on fish, organic vegetables, and plenty of water.
In 1995, Eldrid was told she had a second tumor. Eldrid sent a biopsy of the tumor to a cancer immunologist, Dr. James McCoy, who was operating out of his own lab in Louisiana. The immunologist developed a “tumor specific vaccine” that he would make in his lab and ship to Maine. Eldrid said she followed this program, when she could afford to do it, from 1996 to 1999. The tumor started shrinking. Unfortunately, Eldrid’s immunologist passed away in 2000.
Eldrid didn’t give up, but instead forced herself to overcome her “Internet phobia” in order to find open clinical trials. She also began researching the possible connections between viruses and cancer after her orthomolecular doctor told her that in many cases viruses cause cancer. Eldrid stressed that she only reads information from scientific peer reviewed medical journals. In fact, for the last three years, she has voluntarily contributed abstracts and articles to an electronic email list newsletter, OncoNews.
“It’s scary. I understand half of what I’m reading,” Eldrid joked. In 2005, her research led her to a clinical trial at the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center in Dallas, Texas. Eldrid had written to 40 doctors all over the world and Dr. John Nemunaitis, Mary Crowley’s executive director, was the only researcher who was not going to require Eldrid to undergo chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery before the trial. By that time, the second tumor had grown to eight centimeters.
She began a “massive” fundraising effort to procure the funds to live in Dallas during the trial. Through her efforts she was even able to buy a used car in which to make the trip. In June of 2006, however, Eldrid received an email from Nemunaitis stating the trial was over.
“I was devastated,” she said. “I was going to have to start all over again.” All hope was not lost, however, because a chest x-ray done that month showed her tumor had shrunk by a whole centimeter. Eldrid said the decrease might be due to n-acetyl-l-cysteine or NAC, an amino acid and antioxidant she started taking in late 2005. From her research, Eldrid believes NAC may be improving the function of her p53 gene, which is a tumor suppressor gene.
Whatever factors may be causing her tumor to shrink, Eldrid said in the last seven months, “cancer has been taking a secondary seat to getting in shape.” She continues to be mindful of her diet and cholesterol. For her spiritual health, she attends the Mindful Meditation class, conducted at the Cancer Community Center in South Portland. On June 4, Eldrid will teach a class at the center, entitled You Can Do Your Own Cancer Research.
“You don’t have to be a nurse,” she said. “If people do their own research they will be less afraid of their cancer.” She encouraged people to listen to their intuition and not be afraid to voice their concerns. Eldrid said being a “difficult patient” helped her survive.
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