Rebecca Sawyer

From Palm Trees to PB & Back

My name is Rebecca Sawyer. About 10 years ago my husband Michael and I left America to come live on the small island of Carriacou, just north of Grenada. Many people have told me they envied my life, following our dream to live on a tropical island. Actually it’s been a very bumpy road since August of 2000 when I discovered a painless lump on my neck while making a solo trip back in New England. Tests revealed I had Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, stage IV with spleen & bone marrow involvement as well as numerous nodes in my neck, abdomen & pelvic regions. At first the pathology reports claimed that I had an intermediate grade of B-cell lymphoma. The conventional oncologist I was seeing made recommendations for getting on CHOP chemotherapy right away & would schedule the implantation of a portal catheter in my chest the next week. Woah! The news of being told I had cancer was pretty alarming, to say the least, but the idea of receiving chemotherapy was even more frightening to me. When I called my husband with the news he was full of shock and disbelief himself and wisely suggested I get a second opinion before making any decisions about therapy. This sounded like a good idea so I got one from an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

It was finally determined that I had a follicular version of this cancer meaning that it was indolent or a low grade but they couldn’t say how long I had had it nor how long I might live; maybe 10 years. Even though my type of cancer was slow to develop, in most cases it eventually reaches an aggressive stage, spreading into other organs besides the lymph system, causing very serious trouble. I was then told that there was no known cure for my type of lymphoma nor was there any treatment right now other than to “watch & wait”, get periodic check ups & CAT scans to monitor the progress of my cancer. The doctor added that perhaps I would get lucky and by the time my disease turned aggressive there would be a cure.

However, I am not the type of person to sit around and wait complacently, putting all my eggs in their basket, so to speak. It simply made more sense to me that if I was going to try to get better that now was the time to do it while I was still otherwise healthy and before the disease got any worse. I began researching alternative therapies, as I wanted to equip myself with ammunition that worked only on my cancer cells and did not harm the rest of my body. My aunt sent me an article in Dr. Julian Whittaker’s newsletter describing Dr. Burzynski’s therapy and it fit my criteria. It was just an odd feeling to know that my body was hosting this time bomb that was just waiting to go off and I had no idea when. I was now going to try to deactivate it with Dr. Burzynski’s therapy.

My husband & I decided to live with my mother for a year in Maine for easier access to medical facilities, as they are very basic in this developing country. Michael was also able to find work there. My main job was to banish the cancer from my body, although I also did volunteer work. I did lots of walking and exercise, daily yoga, meditated, and most importantly did visualizations of the goals I wanted to achieve; being free from cancer was at the top of the list. I was glad to have been surrounded by my family during this time in my life. They all were very supportive of my choice to take Dr. Burzynski’s therapy and I felt very fortunate, especially when I had lost my brother, David, to melanoma just 6 years ago. I had to be the one to make it over the hurdle for him.

The financial issue around my therapy was very difficult because we had no health insurance. We had a little saved but would have to rely on my Dad to make us a loan for some of our bills. It was very interesting convincing him that this therapy was going to help me get rid of my cancer as he is a retired medical doctor himself and loyal to his camp. However, I think he could see that I was intent on getting better and “his guys” really had nothing to offer me at that current point in my disease. I got him a copy of “The Burzynski Breakthrough” by Tom Elias, which I think helped keep his mind open. I am eternally grateful to him for all his help.

My mother accompanied me to Houston for a weeklong stay. The large multi storied glass & marble building which houses the clinic gave the impression that here was a place where people are serious about the business of getting people healed. I found the staff to be very friendly and knowledgeable about their responsibilities. I was pleasantly surprised by the offer of a session with the in-house dietitian, as I wanted to confirm some issues of my vegetarian diet. I was also pleased to be meeting with Dr. Burzynski himself, as I thought surely he was too involved now with other research to be seeing each & every patient. All of my questions were answered, except for the one that nobody really could answer. Would the therapy work for me? Dr. Burzynski, though, was very confident

My team of doctors recommended Sodium Phenybuterate (PB) together with a round or two of Rutuximab (a monoclonal antibody) to speed the process of getting rid of my cancerous B cells in my lymph system. However, to hedge my bet, I decided try the PB alone and save the Rutuximab for later, just in case I was not responsive to the PB. I was started on it immediately & over the week got my dosage up where it would remain for what turned out to be almost two years. I did very well on it and felt no side effects. We went back to Maine and I was on my way to recovery. I felt the lump in my neck periodically and sure enough it began to shrink.

When I got my first CAT scan after taking the PB for 8 weeks, the technician asked if I had any surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. “Well, not really I answered; I am just taking handfuls of PB”. When I completed the scanning process, the technician came back to the room and asked me again if I had any surgery on the lump in my neck, as there was definitely no sign of it now. Wow was I beaming! I knew that the same thing must have been happening to all my tumors.

After a second set of CAT scans, which showed further decrease in tumor masses, I switched over to having PET scans. Again, each one came out with better results than the previous one until I had two consecutive ones registering no tumor activity at all.
Late in August of 2003, after reviewing my latest tests, my Burzynski team of doctors told me that I am in remission. It was a pretty exciting moment in my life to hear those words. I am tapering therapy and will be off it by January, a good way to start 2004. We have returned to our island and I continue along with all the activities that I had before my cancer had become known to me. I will go on to have regular scans to monitor my newly found health status and count my blessings throughout each day. Thank you Dr. Burzynski and the whole staff at the clinic!

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