DESCRIPTION
Rebecca Esparza is a survivor. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and thyroid cancer, and she is still with us, advocating for others diagnosed with cancer. In 2001, when she appeared bloated, she sought medical attention, thinking the problem was tied to fibroid tumors. However, she was diagnosed with Stage 2B mixed yolk sac ovarian cancer, a rare form of the disease. While she was undergoing surgery, doctors made the decision to perform a “life-saving” radical hysterectomy. The operation was a success, but she needed to go on a chemotherapy regimen involving cisplatin, bleomycin and etiopicide. Rebecca achieved survivorship, but in 2008, she was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. Treated with radioactive iodine, she again survived. These days, Rebecca, in her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, is an energetic cancer patient advocate on an individual and legislative level.
Rebecca Esparza was leading an active lifestyle in 2001, one which included running and aerobics. However, she started to experience fatigue and back pain, feeling bloated all the time. She had had fibroid tumors in the past and thought they might be the problem, but her doctor ordered a transvaginal ultrasound. Surgery was performed. It removed the tumors, but also revealed a rare form of ovarian cancer.
Rebecca called this the darkest time of her life. Not only had she been diagnosed with cancer at age 30, but during the surgery, doctors felt in order to save her life, they would have to perform a radical hysterectomy. Furthermore, because of work situation, Rebecca did not have health insurance or $20,000 for a deposit on the cost of her treatment. She was eventually able to proceed with the next step of her treatment, chemotherapy, thanks to indigent care aid from her county.
That regimen included three drugs. They were cisplatin, bleomycin and etopicide. The four-month regimen was very toxic, very difficult, but Rebecca survived. She ate little and when she did eat, she could rarely keep anything down. As a result, she lost 40 pounds, leaving her with a weight of 80 pounds. The drugs damaged her nervous system and to this day, she has neuropathy, resulting in numbness and tingling in her arms, hands, feet and legs.
Unfortunately for Rebecca Esparza, her cancer journey was not over. In 2008, she was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. A few months after her diagnosis, she underwent a left neck dissection in which they removed the entire thyroid and 15 lymph nodes. She was prepared to on a regimen of radioactive iodine, consumed in pill form; however, a body scan revealed that wouldn’t be necessary because the surgery removed all the cancer, and once again, Rebecca was in remission.
Today Rebecca endures the complications from her treatment for both cancers, but feels blessed she is still around to experience those complications. She advocates for individuals diagnosed with cancer and she goes before state legislatures in an attempt to increase funding for cancer research.
TRANSCRIPT
Bruce Morton: Our guest has had to show a great deal of strength to get through her journey, but that is exactly what she has done. This is the Cancer Interviews podcast, and I am your host, Bruce Morton. What began as fatigue and a bloated feeling, accompanied by normal blood work, became a diagnosis of thyroid cancer. But we are happy to report that she is with us, and here to share her story. She is Rebecca Esparza of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Rebecca, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
Rebecca Esparza: Thanks for having me.
BM: Before we get to your story, Rebecca, we would like to learn more about you and your life, exclusive of cancer. If you would, tell us about where you are from, what you have done for work, and what you do for fun.
RE: Born and raised in Corpus Christi, then worked in San Antonio in public relations at Sea World. My first week in the job there, I traveled with penguins. We would them up and down the aisle on the plane. That was a lot of fun. I moved to Houston, then Washington, DC, then back to Corpus Christi. I now do a mix of marketing and public relations. I also train small businesses and how to utilize social media for their businesses. For fun, I like to travel. I have two nephews, and I love hanging out with them. I am having a blast living, I love to live each day a day at a time. Each day is a new adventure and a new blessing.
BM: Each of us who has survived cancer has gone through that stage when something with out health became abnormal. For you, how did that happen?
RE: I was 30 years old at the time and was very active. I used to do a lot of running, a lot of aerobics, but started to experience fatigue and back pain, feeling bloated all the time. I just didn’t feel myself. I was very in tune with my body because I had previous surgeries to remove fibroid tumors. It felt like I might have more fibroid tumors. I went back to the doctor, and got it checked out. He said he had seen me in April, I was just fine, but now in September, he said I looked like I was four months pregnant, and thought it was pretty serious because the only thing that grew this fast was cancer.
BM: Was the doctor able to pinpoint what kind of cancer this might be?
RE: We did transvaginal ultrasounds. The doctor mentioned ovarian cancer, but I didn’t take it seriously because I thought only older women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer. He thought it was probably just fibroid tumors because I had had them before. He said they just do surgery, and remove the tumors. Unfortunately, at the time I was a freelancer. I work commitments in September and October, so I penciled in the surgery around Thanksgiving. The procedure was performed, and incredibly it revealed ovarian cancer. This was in 2001.
BM: Once you got that diagnosis, it would seem to be a real haymaker. With ovarian cancer, not only are you hit the news you have cancer, but there are also implications regarding childbearing.
RE: Yes. Unfortunately, the worst news was not that I had ovarian cancer. The worst news was multi-leveled. The next piece of bad news of was that in order to save my life, that went ahead and performed a radical hysterectomy when I had not yet had children. The third piece of bad news was that I had no health insurance. Because of the way I had left my previous job, I opted not to have insurance through COBRA because it was so expensive. If I had just taken COBRA for one month, I could have had continued coverage and insurance companies would have covered me as a freelancer; but because I didn’t take COBRA, they considered my fibroid tumors a pre-existing conditions, and wouldn’t cover anything OBGYN-related.
BM: We’re confident you’ll be able to learn some tips and tools to help you through your personal cancer journey, but first we’d like to invite you to please give us a ‘like,’ leave a comment or review below and share this story with your friends. Kindly click on the Subscribe button below and click on the bell icon, so you will be notified when we release our next cancer interview. And if you or a loved one are facing a cancer diagnosis, please click on the link and Show Notes below to check out our free guide, “The Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I First Got Cancer.” We also want to remind you we are not purveyors of medical advice. If you seek medical advice, please contact a licensed healthcare professional.
Now, Rebecca, let’s get back to your situation, not only in terms of your diagnosis, but your lack of health insurance. You had some formidable weights on your shoulder. Mentally and emotionally, how did you handle all this?
RE: That was probably the darkest moment of my life. It was super dark because not only did the decision of the radical hysterectomy get taken away from me, but I now had cancer, and I had no insurance. I had no way to get the chemo that was going to save my life. So, what was I going to do? How was going to get my treatment? I had health care systems close their door in my face, and I didn’t have $20,000 for the treatment that I was going to have to have. I didn’t know what to do. I just kind of languished for a couple months until I found out about indigent care in my county. The first thing I thought when I heard ‘indigent care’ was substandard care, but it was quite the opposite. It was life-saving care.
BM: So, if you would, describe your treatment regimen.
RE: I did not have radiation or anything like that. It was all chemotherapy, but it was three specific drugs. They were cisplatin, bleomycin and etopicide. Ovarian cancer is already rare, but I had a rare type of ovarian cancer. It was Stage 2B germ cell ovarian cancer with a mixed yolk sac. Because of that, I had a chemo regimen that thanks to ladies before me who had been diagnosed and had been through clinical trials and research, our doctors figured out the same chemo that men got for testicular cancer worked on germ cell ovarian cancer. So, I was fortunate to have a line of treatment that had proven results for germ cell ovarian. It was a very tough regimen, extremely toxic, and I got two drugs every day for a week for eight hours a day for two straight weeks, and for a third week was only one drug for four hours a day. This whole thing I did for about four months.
BM: All chemotherapy regimens are tough. What was the toughest part for you?
RE: There were so many aspects. At first it was the fact that I was going to lose my hair. My hair was really thick and long. It ran down my back and was super thick, and as a 30-year-old, I was really heartbroken that I was going to lose my hair. Another tough part of it was the fatigue. I had really severe fatigue and it was not just from the chemo drugs, but it was also shots you were given to keep your white blood cell count and red blood cell count up. Those drugs were extremely hard on me, and I felt the pain in my bones. Sometimes those shots were worse than the chemo. So, I slept a lot. I hardly ate. I lost a lot of weight, going from 120 pounds to 80 pounds. I was skeletal and it was really hard for me to see that. I loved being a Size Four for a while, but I didn’t like how I became a Size Four. I didn’t eat hardly anything. I couldn’t keep anything down, so being so tired, not being able to eat and just the emotional part of going through something so tough and watching my parents take care of me, knowing that they were grappling with the idea of possibly burying their oldest child, that was really tough on me. There were so many aspects were all equally bad and tough.
BM: And yet, things turned a corner at some point, and you found yourself moving toward survivorship. What was that like?
RE: It was a shock, and you would think that I would have been so thrilled and happy. I didn’t accept it right away because at some point during my treatment, it wasn’t working and my doctor started talking about stem cell replacement, about getting my affairs in order, about saying my goodbyes, spending as much time as possible with my family. My doctors were preparing me for the end and in my mind, I was prepared for the end. Six months later they told me I was in remission, and to go live my life, and it was a shock, and I didn’t know what to do with that. For a good year and a half, I wallowed in my own self-pity, and didn’t know how to process the fact that I was fine. Thankfully, my dad who is no longer with us, gave me some great advice and that was to pursue a Master’s Degree, and that was the smartest thing that he ever recommended to me because that really got me out of my doldrums and I was able to restart my career.
BM: And at that point, could you do anything you could do prior to your diagnosis?
RE: That was a really long road. That chemo, especially one of the drugs called bleomycin, it really damaged my lungs severely. Then the other drugs damaged my nervous system, so I still have neuropathy to this day, which is numbness and tingling in my arms, hands, feet and legs. It feels bolts of electricity going through. If I stand for too long, I feel like I have sand in my feet. It is a really weird feeling. But I try not to complain, because I am blessed to be around, and the fatigue, I still have fatigue to this very day. There are complications of drugs that ended up saving my life, so I am very thankful for that, but there are things I have to consider when I do work and when I do things I have to give myself a little grace because my body has been through a lot.
BM: You were able to survive ovarian cancer, a massive blessing in itself; but then you were diagnosed with cancer again, thyroid cancer. What led to that diagnosis?
RE: In 2008, I had found out about cancer advocacy, so I had become a really champion for sharing my story, helping others through their own cancer journeys, doing fundraising, doing policy work on Capitol Hill, too. I was at an event for the American Cancer Society, the venue went dark, I didn’t see a stake in the ground, I tripped over it and I fell and I passed out. When I came to, EMTs were cutting my shirt open and hooked me up to IVs, sent me in traction to the ER. They did a head CT and said nodules in my thyroid. As an aside, one of the nurses in the ER printed out information about thyroid cancer. She suggested I get the nodules checked out, so I decided to tell my oncologist about this. The oncologist checked me out and sure enough, I had papillary thyroid cancer, and it was a total shock.
BM: And what procedure did you go through to survive papillary thyroid cancer?
RE: We started off with surgery. A few months after my diagnosis, I had a left neck dissection, in which they remove the entire thyroid and 15 lymph nodes throughout the area as well as my parathyroids. Those are close by the thyroid, and they regulate your calcium. So, now I have lifelong calcium issues because I lost a couple of those parathyroids. You get severe numbness and tingling. Now, I already have that because of the neuropathy, but I get it on my lips, and if it is really, really bad, I start seizing up, like my arms, I won’t be able to bend them. They get really stiff. That’s what happens, and lately, if I miss one dose of calcium, I will start to feel those side effects of low calcium.
BM: But, as the case with the ovarian cancer, with the thyroid cancer, you again reached survivorship.
RE: I did! By November of 2008, it was time to do the radiation treatment called RAI, which stands for radioactive iodine. They give you a little pill and you have to be sequestered from everybody. Everybody that visits you has to be in a hazmat suit. You become radioactive for at least a week, depending upon how much they give you. But before I was going to be admitted to the hospital for that, they gave me a full body scan to determine how much radioactive iodine they were going to give me to see where the cancer was. I went through that procedure and saw my doctor the next day to find out how much radioactive iodine they were going to give me, and he said there was nothing to radiate, you don’t need the radioactive iodine, the surgery took everything, go live your life. I was in complete and utter shock at the end.
BM: Well, Rebecca, that is a good way to be shocked, and in the end, how does it feel to know you have clashed swords with ovarian cancer and thyroid cancer, and yet, here you are.
RE: It is a tremendous blessing. It is something that I don’t take very lightly. I am cognizant of the fact that this doesn’t happen to everybody. I have lost so many friends along the way because as I told you earlier, after I went into remission around 2003, I started doing cancer advocacy work and I have lost hundreds of friends along the way, from not just ovarian cancer but all sorts of types of cancer. At some point I think it is just luck of the draw. I think I am more special than anybody else. I think it is just one of those lottery type things in that I am still here. I don’t think it is clean living or anything like that. I will always remember those who have gone before me.
BM: Rebecca, we are going to wrap up now, but I do want to circle back to something you had mentioned earlier, and that is what you are doing these days to advocate for those stricken with cancer, and those who in the future may be stricken with cancer. Just what do those activities consist of?
RE: It goes all the way back to 2003 when I started doing work with the American Cancer Society. Thankfully, I got some really good training doing policy work and learning to tell my story succinctly with an end goal in mind in terms of making changes with our legislators and making cancer a national priority. From there, I started working with researchers and organizations for studies regarding clinical trials, especially where they are asking survivors for their input. We want to make sure that the research helps survivors longterm.
BM: Outstanding, Rebecca. Thanks so much for your time and the sharing of your story, which has to be a source of massive inspiration for anyone on a cancer journey or the loved one of somebody on a cancer journey. Rebecca, thanks for being with us on Cancer Interviews.
RE: Thank you for having me.
BM: And that will conclude this edition of Cancer Interviews. As we always say as we wrap up, if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone. There are people out there just like Rebecca, who have information and/or inspiration that can ease the journey. So, until next time, we will see you on down the road.
Additional Resources:
SHOW NOTES
TITLE: Rebecca Esparza, Survivor of Ovarian and Thyroid Cancer – Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
What Rebecca Esparza thought was fibroid tumors led to a diagnosis of ovarian cancer at age 30. Unbeknownst to her until after her surgical procedure, doctors performed a radical hysterectomy. In addition to a difficult chemotherapy regimen, Rebecca had to deal with all of the above with no health insurance. Rebecca made it to survivorship only to learn years later, she had papillary thyroid cancer. However, she again made it to survivorship and is a tireless cancer advocate.
Additional Resources:
Time Stamps:
02:45 Rebecca started to experience fatigue and back pain, but a doctor thought she might have cancer.
03:35 A transvaginal ultrasound was performed, and the procedure revealed ovarian cancer.
04:45 Diagnosis included a radical hysterectomy.
06:56 Having to deal with her diagnosis and a lack of health insurance.
08:18 Describes treatment regimen.
12:05 Rebecca said she was shocked to learn she had survived ovarian cancer.
14:06 Side effects of chemotherapy.
15:26 What led to her diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer.
17:28 Thyroid cancer treatment.
20:14 Rebecca marvels at how she twice survived cancer.
22:23 Describes how she advocates for other cancer patients.
KEYWORDS (tags):
papillary thyroid cancer
cisplatin
bleomycin
etopicide
radical hysterectomy
germ cell ovarian cancer
transvaginal ultrasound
fibroid tumors
indigent care
mixed yoke sac
neuropathy
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