Marcel D’Allende survived Stage 4 Lung Cancer | carboplatin | pemetrexed | durvalumab | immunotherapy
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- 3 days ago
- 12 min read
DESCRIPTION
Marcel D'Allende was in outstanding health, an avid hiker in the mountains overlooking her hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. However, in October 2021, she began to experience shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. That led to a diagnosis of Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma, or lung cancer. Determined not to let cancer define her, she underwent a treatment regimen of radiotherapy, then chemotherapy with carboplatin and pemetrexed, and immunotherapy with durvalumab. In September 2022, a PET scan revealed Marcel was cancer-free. It took a little while for her to get back up to speed, but has returned to an active lifestyle, and every weekend, you can find her hiking the mountains.
Marcel thought she was in terrific health, but in the fall of 2021, suddenly she found herself out of breath on a recurring basis. Her difficulty with breathing became so acute that shortly after beginning a weekend hike with friends, she had no choice but to turn around and return to the base of the mountain. Things worsened when she had frequent coughing spells.
She was seen by her general practitioner, who recommended she see a pulmonologist. The pulmonologist called for a CT scan, which revealed a tumor on a lung, and a diagnosis of Stage IV lung cancer in January 2022.
Marcel, who during her adult life smoked cigarettes off and on, immediately thought of her father, who passed away from lung cancer in 2000. She was afraid she would suffer the same fate. However, her doctor said that her father’s fate didn’t have to be hers because of major advances in medicines and technologies in the past twenty years.
She was determined to not let her life be defined by cancer, saying at all times, one on a cancer journey must have hope. At the same time, she says one can be hopeful without being delusional.
Her diagnosis was difficult enough, but she soon felt the sting of the stigma that often accompanies a lung cancer diagnosis. When informing friends about her diagnosis, many of them told her should not have smoked.
Marcel’s treatment begins with six weeks of radiotherapy treatment, which she thought wasn’t so difficult.
Next was six cycles of chemotherapy, specifically carboplatin and pemetrexed. The worst side effects she experienced were nausea and fatigue.
Then, Marcel’s oncologist introduced her to a newly-approved form of immunotherapy called durvalumab. It is usually prescribed for a duration of twelve months, but she was taken off the immunotherapy at the nine-month mark because spots were detected on her lung. The spots cleared in March.
In September, Marcel D’Allende underwent a PET scan that showed she was cancer-free, which she has been to this day.
She had to start slowly, but Marcel’s health is back to normal, and she has returned to her weekend home, hiking trails outside Cape Town.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Cancer Association of South Africa https://www.cansa.org.za
Marcel’s Written Account of her Cancer Journey:
TRANSCRIPT:
Bruce Morton: This is the Cancer Interviews podcast. I’m your host, Bruce Morton. Our guest on this episode survived Stage IV lung cancer. In so doing, she learned that a lung cancer is not just physical in nature, but has a mental and emotional component, in addition to the stigma that wrongfully accompanies the diagnosis. She is Marcel D’Allende of Cape Town, South Africa. Now let’s hear her story, and Marcel, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
Marcel D’Allende: Thank you.
BM: It is our custom to learn more about our guest before we hear about the cancer journey. Marcel, tell us about your life away from cancer, where you are from, what you have done for work and what you like to do for fun.
MD: I used to work in the corporate environment as an IT consultant most of my career. I got a bit tired of that and started to become a life coach and consciousness coach, I had my own company established, I did that for about seven years, mostly empowering women to become the greatest version of themselves. Then I went back into the corporate space as a change and transformation manager. I am still doing change management, but there is also an aspect of life coach that is still with change management. What do I like to do? Just be around nature. I am a nature girl. I love hiking, I have done the big ones like Kilimanjaro. Literally every weekend, everybody knows they can find me on the mountain.
BM: For all of us who have been diagnosed with cancer, it all started when something with our health didn’t seem right. For you, what were the unusual symptoms that got your attention?
MD: I was preparing for a four-day hike that I was going in do in early December 2021. I was going to do this with three friends. It was going to be quite strenuous, 80km over four days. I would say in the latter part of October, I would have difficulty breath as I would ascend the mountain. For the first time in my life, I could not complete a hike. I actually had to turn around, and that for me was something new. So, the breathing just became more labored. Lots of coughing and then it just became worse. I would literally be sitting there doing nothing and would absolutely have a coughing fit. That’s when I knew something was really awry. I went to my general practitioner, and my GP sent me for an x-ray, and when she saw the results, she suggested I should see a pulmonologist. He had a look at the x-rays and recommended a CT scan. He had his suspicions after seeing the x-rays. Then after the CT scan, that’s when he confirmed that there is definitely something on the lung. He then diagnosed me with non-small cell adenocarcinoma, lung cancer.
BM: Quite obviously, the day we are diagnosed with cancer is a horrific day; but each of us is different and our diagnoses are different. Given the particulars of you and your diagnosis, how did you handle this news?
MD: So, initially, I think before the buildup to it, I kind of had my suspicions that it was going to be the ‘C’ word, and that was because it was like nothing I had experienced before. The fitness level was ther and I am pretty much a healthy eater and all of the stuff. When he told me the news, I thought of my father who had died of long cancer in the year 2000. So, I had first-hand experience with what his end looked like. That’s what came back to me in the that moment. That is where my world shattered. I just had this memory of him, and I thought this was going to be my life now.
BM: In addition to this devastating news, those who are diagnosed with lung cancer have to deal with the stigma that is attached to the disease. For you, what was that like?
MD: Actually, the first stigma was me against myself, because I was a smoker off and on during my adult life, so after the whole image of my dad, the first thing that came to mind for me was, “You deserve it.” That was the first judgment I actually experienced was my judgment against myself. Then obviously, engaging other people and sharing the news, in which there was judgment. Some people would say I never should have smoked, which was the last thing I wanted to hear. I had just been diagnosed. Yes, there is definitely stigma around. I subsequently learned that twenty percent of those diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked in their lives.
BM: By the way, we hope you will find time to like and subscribe to our channel. If you hit the bell icon, you will be notified any time we post a new interview. We also want to remind you that on Cancer Interviews, we do not provide medical advice. If you seek medical advice, please contact a licensed health care professional.
You have said that you were determined to not be defined by your diagnosis. Could you elaborate on that?
MD: I have to keep referring back to my father, but when I met with my oncologist, she said this was the story of my father and it didn’t have to be my story because in twenty years, things obviously have progressed. Technology, medicines, everything. When she said that, it landed for me. So, I was still the person that I was before I was diagnosed. With that, I am still a wife, but knowing all of that, I still have dreams, aspirations, they are still there. So, for me personally, I had to see myself beyond the diagnosis first. Then I had to educate people around me, to see me beyond the cancer to remind them of the passionate person I am, the good friend, the good sister. Whatever role they play in my life, I played in theirs. Some people could not see beyond my diagnosis because of whatever is happening in their life and they would rather concentrate on the drama of their journey. I concluded there was no space in their life for me if they cannot see beyond the diagnosis. I was very clear about this, that is so much more than this diagnosis.
BM: Now let’s get to your treatment regimen. It was lengthy and the first part of it was radiotherapy. If you would, describe what you went through with radiotherapy.
MD: I was diagnosed in December 2021 and because in Cape Town, everything shuts down in December, because that is our festive period, and it is summer so everybody is having parties, so I couldn’t start my radiotherapy until January of 2022. What that was like was 30 sessions over six weeks, so I had to go in Monday through Friday, each session was 15 to 20 minutes of radiotherapy. I honestly don’t think that my body felt it that much. I didn’t have the major fatigue that others experienced, so for me, the easy part was the radiotherapy.
BM: It was followed by chemotherapy, which is never easy. What was your chemo regimen like?
MD: That was a transfusion with six cycles of chemotherapy, which started in February 2022. I would have to go in every second week. That would be a transfusion for 90 minutes, plus setup time and post-transfusion recovery, so pretty much, half your day is gone. The transfusion part wasn’t bad, but the side effects were another story. The first or second session wasn’t so bad. I would go home, I would fall asleep, but that was about it. I thought this wasn’t going to be so bad. However, by the third session, it kicked my bunny. Then I started getting the side effects, which was mostly the nausea, even though I was on anti-nausea medication. Then there was the normal stuff. I was very sensitive to sound, I don’t know why that was. I just allowed myself the time to rest. My chemotherapy was scheduled on a Thursday, which would mean that I would be in bed for Thursday and Friday, then start surfacing on Saturday.
BM: In terms of your chemotherapy regimen, what medications were you on?
MD: So, the chemotherapy itself was a combination of carboplatin and pemetrexed. That is typically what they use for non-small cell lung cancer, for the first treatment. I was told itn was quite successful. I was told because the side effects were not as extreme as other chemotherapies, I was deemed a good candidate because of how my body reacted to it.
BM: Then after the chemotherapy came immunotherapy. What did that entail?
MD: The combination of the radiotherapy and the chemotherapy, one could see it was definitely diminishing the tumor in the lung, and the care team felt very positive. My oncologist introduced me to the concept of immunotherapy instead of continuing with chemo at a later stage. She had found this drug which was not yet available in South Africa yet because it was still seen as a test trial, but while she was making inquiries, the drug had just received FDA approval. I was actually one of the first in South Africa to get this drug via our medical insurance, and this drug was called durvalumab. It was rated highly successful. That again became a transfusion. I had to go into the chemotherapy lab again for the transfusion. I was on this for a total of nine months. Typically one would stay on it for a period of 12 months, but unfortunately I had to stop the immunotherapy because of what they thought was a side effect of it. I was getting small spots on the lung. With the immunotherapy, there were no side effects I could talk about. It was not the same as the chemotherapy. I would go in for my transfusion and I would come home and go on with my day. So, that was definitely easier to handle than the chemotherapy. Then I had a PET scan in December of 2022. At that point, they literally gave me the all-clear, there were no cancer cells in my body. We had deemed the treatment a huge success. The systemic treatment of the radiotherapy, the chemotherapy, then adding on the immunotherapy.
BM: What was it like when you determined after all this treatment, that you were trending toward survivorship?
MD: Oh, it was great, absolutely awesome. I will say, Bruce, I had a very different attitude. I didn’t waste thinking about the next step and what my life was going to look like. I think one of the biggest thing for me was, how do I make the most of this day? How much life do I get to live in this day? Before each scan, of course, the anxiety steps in and you start question whether it worked or didn’t work, but I do listen to my body and my body felt solid. It felt good. No, I couldn’t scale the high mountains just yet, but I felt solid again, I felt like me again. I felt like the treatment was working. I just wanted to live my life.
BM: As for the here and now, can you resume your active lifestyle?
MD: Oh, I am back on the mountains. I busy training for a major hike in Portugal.
BM: Anybody on a cancer journey needs support, and along the way, you have gotten from an external source, the Cancer Association of South Africa, or CANSA. If you would, tell us what CANSA has done for you and what it can do for others.
MD: CANSA is an amazing organization as in they are able to help people who have been diagnosed, give them an idea of what their journey is going to look like, they have support groups, whether it is face-to-face, whether it is regional support groups, they have a varied amount of information and resources available to people. When I tapped in, I was able to get a one-on-one with a nutritionist aligned with cancer. One thing I knew was that the nutrients in my body are medicine and I wanted somebody to guide me through, and she did an amazing job of guiding me through, as to what the process would look like. She said sometimes you are not going to be able to eat, you literally cannot get anything down, but you can get nutrients in your body with just a couple of teaspoons of soup or whatever. So, that was really the part I tapped into with CANSA, but I have been involved with them ever since. Just a phenomenal organization and very, very helpful.
BM: Part of that overall presentation for CANSA is its vast website. Do you know their web address.
MD: Yes, it’s https://www.cansa.org.za.
BM: Marcel, we are going to conclude now, but before we do, I want you to put on your coach hat. Imagine your speaking to someone who has just been diagnosed with lung cancer or any type of cancer. You might have a lot of advice, but if there is one thing you would want to make sure the other person took away with them, what would it be?
MD: Define your boundaries. So, I think that is really, really important because your energy is extremely important to you, so you need to define your boundaries.
BM: Excellent. Marcel D’Allende, Cape Town, South Africa, thank you so much for a wealth of information that should be of importance to anyone on a cancer journey. Thanks for being with us on Cancer Interviews.
MD: Thank you very much for having me.
BM: And we want to remind you as we always do when we conclude, if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone. There are people out there like Marcel, organizations like CANSA, that can ease the cancer journey. So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Cancer Association of South Africa https://www.cansa.org.za
Marcel’s Account of her cancer journey:
SHOW NOTES
TITLE: Marcel D’Allende, Stage IV Lung Cancer Survivor – Cape Town, South Africa
Marcel D'Allende was in outstanding, an avid hiker in the mountains overlooking her hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. However, in October 2021, she began to experience shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. That led to a diagnosis of Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma, or lung cancer. Determined not to let cancer define, she underwent a treatment regimen of radiotherapy, then chemotherapy with carboplatin and pemetrexed, and immunotherapy with durvalumab. In September 2022, a PET scan revealed Marcel was cancer-free. It took a little while for her to get back up to speed, but has returned to an active lifestyle, and every weekend, you can find her hiking the mountains.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Cancer Association of South Africa https://www.cansa.org.za
Time Stamps:
03:09 In late 2021, Marcel experienced shortness of breath.
04:23 A pulmonologist recommended a CT scan, which led to a diagnosis of lung cancer.
05:09 Her diagnosis made her think of her father, who died from lung cancer.
06:37 Says there is definitely a stigma tied to lung cancer.
08:49 Was determined not to let her diagnosis define her life.
11:07 Marcel explains the difference between being hopeful and delusional.
12:43 Says the radiotherapy was the easy part of her treatment.
13:58 Recalls her chemotherapy regimen.
17:05 Says her chemo medications were carboplatin and pemetrexed.
18:40 Describes her oncologist introducing her to a new form of immunotherapy.
20:46 Marcel said it was fantastic to learn that a PET indicated she was cancer-free.
21:35 Recalls the excitement of attaining survivorship.
KEYWORDS (tags):
lung cancer
radiotherapy
carboplatin
pemetrexed
marcel d’allende
immunotherapy
durvalumab
non-small cell adenocarcinoma
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