Editor’s Note: Cindy Wiese passed away Friday, June 12, 2020 at home.
BY CINDY WIESE
My mesothelioma journey started in April 2010 when I was 53. I felt a lump in my left abdomen just below the ribs. The lump was biopsied as a sarcoma with an unknown origin, and then a surgical pathology determined it to be peritoneal sarcomatous mesothelioma.
The tumor was completely encapsulated on the bottom side of my diaphragm, so the diaphragm was removed and rebuilt with my left abdominal muscle. Because the initial pathology was sarcoma, the source was thought to be uterine, which required a complete hysterectomy at the same time as my mesothelioma surgery.
I went through four cycles every three weeks with cisplatin and Alimta at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I was then followed with CT and MRI for almost 6 years without reoccurrence. I was released from oncology by Dr. Julian Molina, my oncologist at Mayo Clinic, and considered to be in complete remission in 2016.
In March 2017, my husband, Steve, and I were in a single-car, rollover accident. While Steve walked away, I suffered a L1 burst fracture, which required emergency back surgery involving two rods and nine screws. Incidentally, when the CT was performed to determine my injury, a nodule was noted in my left lung. When I was well enough, an MRI and PET scan was performed. The nodule showed no activity, so the doctors felt it may have been there for a while. Because I had peritoneal mesothelioma, my previous scans had all been focused on my diaphragm and not my lungs.
I had another scan in December 2017, which showed the nodule had tripled in size and was red hot on the PET scan. It was completely excised with clean margins laparoscopically in January 2018, and no lymph nodes were involved. Again, the surgical pathology came back as pleural sarcomatous mesothelioma that had metastasized from the original diaphragm site.
Dr. Molina was completely perplexed and told me that there was no treatment and to follow-up with more scans. Six months later, in June 2018, I had an MRI that was negative. However, a few months later, in October 2018, an MRI and PET scan showed multiple hot spots in the pleura of my left lung.
In November 2018, I had an open thoracotomy with left lung pleurectomy with decortication by Dr. Shanda Blackmon. The left pericardium was replaced with a mesh, and my diaphragm was removed for the second time and replaced with a mesh. Finally, I spent another two-to-three hours on the table having intraoperative heated chemotherapy. I entered the surgical suite at 7:30 AM and entered the ICU at 9:30 PM.
The recovery was difficult with a few complications and two readmissions to the hospital before I felt well enough to travel to Tucson, Arizona. I spent three weeks there to escape the horrible Minnesota winter.
On the return, my MRI showed multiple tumors in the periphery of the left lung and one larger tumor on my left side in the peritoneum of my abdomen. A tumor DNA study shows the tumor may be responsive to Keytruda.
Following a remote second consultation with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, it was agreed upon to give Keytruda a try and radiate the two larger tumors. It may be a last ditched effort, but I remained optimistic. I had a series of five radiation sessions to two tumor spots.
Upon subsequent scans, and further tumor progression, Alimta and carboplatin have been added to the infusion regiment. Currently, I am dealing with pain issues associated with rib destruction as a result of the tumors and radiation.
During my ongoing treatments, my husband’s heart failure progressed to the point of receiving a heart transplant in October 2016. While life has definitely been challenging, we have been so blessed. I’m now 62 and retired from a 42-year long medical laboratory career. Steve and I have been married 43 years, and we have two married daughters, Abby (39) and Allison (36), and two wonderful sons-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren, Sylvia (12), Flynn (9), and Georgia (2).
I used to run marathons, but now I am happy to walk my dogs and enjoy each beautiful day, including family vacations.
I recently returned from an 11-day RV trip from Minnesota to Kalispell, Montana and Glacier National Park with my husband and one of our daughters and her family.
Above: Cindy and Steve with their daughters and families on trips to Ireland and Glacier National Park.
