Author’s health is ‘the talk of Harvard’
I’m the talk of Harvard University. At least that is what my oncologist, Dr. Philip Dy of Crossroads Cancer Center in Effingham, tells me.
Let me explain that statement. I’m the talk of a group of 23 Harvard doctors specializing in the study and treatment of breast cancer. Their names are unknown to me, and my name is unknown to them. However, I’m sure my patient profile number reads something like BR-549.
The reason Dr. Dy, a medical oncologist and teacher in the treatment of breast cancer, consulted with the Harvard physicians about my case is that I asked him if I could stop treatment.
As one can imagine, he was slightly taken aback.
This past November, after nine years of weekly treatment with Herceptin (trastuzumab) for stage-3 metastatic breast cancer, Dr. Dy allowed me to begin receiving a double treatment twice monthly. Shortly after beginning this new regimen, I developed what I describe as neuropathy in my fingers and thumbs, a side effect not seen in Herceptin patients before.
My inquiry about the neuropathy triggered the startling statement that most patients with my diagnosis and same treatment make it five years after diagnosis, a few make it seven years, but I had lived nine years since beginning treatment.
I knew from the moment that I asked Dr. Dy about the possibility of stopping the treatments that he would begin networking. This man lives his work and cares very deeply about his patients, not only at the Vandalia clinic, but also in Effingham, Flora and Centralia.
In 2006, Dr. Dy was elected by his peers to be among the 4 percent of doctors in the U.S. to have a listing in the medical referral guide to the top physicians in the country, titled "Best Doctors in America." Dr. Dy’s listing, based on peer evaluations, points to the respect with which he is held in his profession.
The Harvard physicians were split in their opinion about cessation of the cancer treatment, with about half feeling that I am alive today because of the Herceptin, and the others believing, as I do, that much rests on the outlook of the patient.
Dr. Dy, being the thorough doctor that he is, next took my question to a conference attended by only oncologists who administer Herceptin, a monoclonal antibody that destroys the food the HER2 gene-type cancer needs to thrive. This panel concluded that if I stopped treatment, the cancer would return within a year and I would be back on chemotherapy.
A teacher in addition to practicing oncology, Dr. Dy has been invited to speak at national events on adjuvant hormonal therapy for breast cancer. His affiliation with M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston and his role as investigator for Central Illinois Community Clinical Oncology Program assists him to tap into the best and most up-to-date resources with which to help his patients.
I know that Dr. Dy has not let my question lie. There will be more panels and more discussion, but for now I’ll rest on my laurels with being the talk of Harvard.
