Shaken, she tried to push the vision out of her mind, but it haunted her even though regular visits to her gynecologist showed nothing. Then 14 months after her dream, at age 45, she was diagnosed with an advanced and aggressive form of endometrial cancer. Instead, today, I am alive and in remission because of advances in cancer research. After Pannier had a hysterectomy, her doctors at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia urged her to participate in an experimental treatment to check the cancer's spread. The treatment consisted of unusually high doses of chemotherapy drugs supported by peripheral blood, the source of stem cells.
Stem cells are raw material needed to make new blood cells.
But first she decided to explore other options. After alternative medicine practitioners told her that there was little they could do for her late-stage cancer, she contacted the Cancer Information Service, a telephone referral center funded by the National Cancer Institute. The service sent Pannier information about ongoing clinical trials at cancer centers nationwide. When you have cancer, you feel like many aspects of your life are out of control. The Cancer Information Service helped me feel as if I still had a hand in my own destiny.