52 Year-Old Woman Diagnosed with both Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma Seeks Dr. Robert Taub. South Lake Tahoe, CA
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| Susan Huff - 2005 |
Deborah Sue Huff was born in 1954, the youngest of three daughters. She met the love of her life, Curtis Huff, in high school. Soon after they graduated, the high school sweethearts married and moved to California. In beautiful South Lake Tahoe, California, Sue and Curt raised their son, Dustin, and daughter, Jennifer.
Sue loves their home in California, it allows her to be outdoors all the time. Sue is an avid outdoorswoman, who prefers to be hiking up long mountain trails and climbing stone-age glaciers to sitting in traffic.
During the summer of 2005 while on a family vacation in Alaska, Sue noticed that something wasn't quite right. By November she developed back pain under her right rib cage, and she decided to see a local physician for treatment. But months later, in January 2006, she began having a very heavy menstrual cycle with abdominal bloating. On top of that, she also noticed it was getting harder to breathe.
Typing a Treatment Plan
Sue has never woken up to a day where she felt she couldn't go on a hiking trip, but she was growing more concerned about the rapid onset of health problems. She decided to seek help from gynecologist/oncologist Dr. Peter Lim at the Women's Cancer Center in Reno, Nevada. Dr. Lim was concerned that Sue might have cancer and decided to run several tests including an ultrasound and CT scan of her abdomen and chest. Chest films revealed a pleural effusion and in March, Sue underwent a thoracentesis to drain the fluid. Although the cytology from the extracted fluid was negative for malignancy, Dr. Lim was convinced Sue was suffering from some kind of cancer.
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| Jennifer, Susan, Dustin and Curtis Huff 2005 |
On April 6, 2006, Sue underwent exploratory surgery at the Women's Cancer Center. Dr. Lim performed a complete hysterectomy and removed part of the omentum-a thin tissue that surrounds the stomach and other organs in the abdomen, performed a second thoracentesis, along with a talc pleurodesis to prevent further fluid accumulation, and lung tissue biopsy.
A Double-Edged Sword
Dr. Lim's concerns were later confirmed by immunohistochemical staining that returned a diagnosis of epithelial mesothelioma of the peritoneum, with metastatic disease to Sue's pleura. Also, the right pleural biopsy showed atypical infiltrative mesothelioma. This meant that Sue had both malignant pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. Additionally, Dr. Lim informed Sue that her mesothelioma was highly advanced at stage IV.
Despite this news and some post-operative pain from her exploratory surgery, Sue remained in relatively good spirits following surgery. She took pain medication in the evening and during the day as needed. Sue still wanted to obtain the best medical options available, and her doctors agreed to help facilitate.
Dr. Taub's Expertise - Trimodal Approach
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| Dustin, Curtis, Jennifer and Susan Huff hiking in Alaska, 2005 |
Together, Sue, her family, and her doctors agreed that it was best to treat her pleural mesothelioma first. Sue's older sister, Sharon Johnson, referred her to Dr. Robert Taub of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, New York. Sue lost no time. She flew in to see Dr. Taub and has been under his guidance since May 23, 2006. Dr. Taub suggested Sue undergo trimodal therapy for her mesothelioma, beginning with chemotherapy treatment first, then surgery, and finally radiation.
Dr. Taub recommended Sue see Dr. Joshua Sonnet, surgical oncologist at Columbia University Medical Center, to administer an interpleural catheter to prepare her for chemotherapy. On June 26, 2006, Sue began her first of three chemotherapy treatments on Cisplatin IV and Interferon IP with rounds scheduled for every three weeks. Sue finished this treatment on August 3. On July 13, 2006, during the middle of her initial chemotherapy treatment, Sue began taking Adriamycin and Cisplatin. Like her initial chemotherapy, these doses were administered every three weeks. Sue finished all her chemotherapy treatment by August 31.
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| Susan Huff on an Alaska glacier June 2005 |
After a few days of recovery, on October 3, 2006, Sue underwent the second phase of treatment-surgery with Dr. Taub for her pleural mesothelioma. Dr. Taub performed a pleurectomy with decortication (P/D) where he was able to debulk much of the tumor from Sue's lung while leaving the lung intact. Dr. Taub also installed a port in her chest for further treatments. This type of surgery is difficult for anyone to recover from and it took Sue several weeks before she began to feel "half normal" again.
After a few days of recovery, on October 3, 2006, Sue underwent the second phase of treatment-surgery with Dr. Taub for her pleural mesothelioma. Dr. Taub performed a pleurectomy with decortication (P/D) where he was able to debulk much of the tumor from Sue's lung while leaving the lung intact. Dr. Taub also installed a port in her chest for further treatments. This type of surgery is difficult for anyone to recover from and it took Sue several weeks before she began to feel "half normal" again.
By late October, Sue was ready to begin phase three of her treatment for her pleural mesothelioma. All of her chest scans revealed that the treatment she had received so far was working. Sue had been more susceptible to chemotherapy than most and both of the surgeries she underwent with Dr. Lim and Dr. Taub appeared successful. Curt remarked that her progress "was the best news since January of this year." The Huffs feel so "fortunate" about getting their doctors in New York; "we are in competent hands."
On Sunday, October 29, 2006, Sue returned to New York with her daughter for her first and only radiation treatment on her right lung. She hopes this will be the final therapy for her pleural mesothelioma. But on November 12, Sue begins chemotherapy treatment on her abdomen (for her peritoneal mesothelioma). She will return home on November 15, 2006, for some much needed rest and recuperation.
A Family Affected
Curt worries about how he will pay for everything. But he will not let something like that stand in the way of her medical treatment. He says, "If I have to sell my house to keep her alive, I will do it." His first priority is getting Sue better, no matter what it takes.
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| Susan and Curtis Huff June 2006 |
*** POSTED JANUARY 30, 2007 ***
It is been nearly three years since her diagnosis. A year ago, Sue and Curt Huff discovered the ITL Alternative Cancer Clinic clinic in Freeport, Bahamas. At the ITL clinic patients are provided a immune therapies to train the patient's own immune system to recognize and destroy tumor tissue. Sue travels to the clinic for two weeks, every four months.
Sue says, “Going to the clinic in the Bahamas has definitely affected my health in a positive way. I feel very strongly that if I wasn’t going there I would be back in treatment. (chemo/radiation/surgery) and not feel as well as I do today. It has been 3 years since my diagnosis. Most of the people who were diagnosed with Meso around the same time I was have passed away already. I feel like I am doing everything I can to fight this (meso) and by going to the clinic for two weeks, every four months, I feel I am giving myself a fighting chance.”
Sue and Curt get more than just care at the ITL, Sue reports, “There is a great community of people, who have all kinds of cancers, remarkable people, some coming back for over 17 years. These people are uplifting and give me hope.”