When Cancer Spreads Its Wings

Cancer insidiously spreads itself into remote corners of the body, with greedy fingers reaching out where it is most unwanted. With unmatched stealth, it manages to send pieces of itself to distant organs through avenues of lymph or blood. And strangely enough, even if the cancer originated in the lungs, any distant metastasis will always show microscopic signs of its organ of origin if a scientist or doctor cares to check. So, if a brain cancer eventually lodges itself into the femur or spine, there are cellular markers that will actually brand that metastasis as originating in the brain. It's like a postmark by the cancer post office which delivers nauseating information of its original port of entry.

As the cancer nudges its way into various body systems and organs, it chokes off blood supply lines, interrupts normal metabolic activity, and insinuates itself in places where it is wholly unwelcome. Once it invades an area, the tumor will then begin to grow its own blood vessels, co-opting a nourishing blood supply for its own devices. Deprived of adequate circulation of blood, important organs or tissues become compromised and begin to malfunction or die. Chain reactions of metabolic chaos are set off, and delicate biological balances begin to be altered. At a certain point, there is no turning back, and the body begins an inexorable decline.

If treatment is chosen, the damage done by both chemotherapy and radiation can often exacerbate previous symptoms or create new ones. Radiation can permanently damage certain tissues which happen to be in the way of the treatment, and chemotherapy is wholly nonselective in which cells it destroys. For this reason, hair and other fast-growing cells are killed, including the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Many cancer patients will say that the effects of the treatment are worse than the disease. An ironic reality.

When a patient comes to hospice, no further treatments are planned, and the disease is left to run its natural course. Left to its own devices, cancer spreads its wings and lodges in brain, bone, liver, lung---almost anywhere. And while certain cancers have a predilection for metastasizing to certain distant lands, it will also simply begin to work its way into locally adjacent sites, pushing through tissue, breaking down walls, filling up cavities, destroying connective tissue. If the cancer is in a visceral organ like the pancreas, it will choke off vital blood vessels and take up more and more space in a crowded abdominal cavity. Back pain, nausea, and radiation of pain to the flank will only add insult to injury as the cancer slowly takes over more and more bodily real estate. Running amok, symptom management and alleviation of suffering become the only goal.

As the patient nears the end, all medications are stopped which do not directly treat specific symptoms related to the cancer or its effects. Eventually, much to a family's dismay, medications for underlying chronic disorders (like thyroid diseases or diabetes, for instance) will simply be discontinued. Just as the cancer is allowed to run its course, other underlying conditions are allowed to simply coexist with the cancer, and the management of symptoms and the alleviation of pain and suffering hold sway as the laser beam focus of care.

As a clinician or a family member, this decline of the body as it is taken over by unwanted forces is difficult to witness. Family members and friends may face denial, anger, or any number of reactions as their loved one declines before their eyes. With any luck, skilled clinicians can provide the emotional, psychological and spiritual support which is so needed at this pivotal time. Clergy and other members of the care team can also provide additional support as the situation spirals inexorably towards death.

Countless patients and families experience this series of battles and maddening losses when cancer moves to a stage beyond treatment or cure. With physical illness comes loss of independence, mental decline, spiritual questioning, and psycho-emotional changes. When hope of a cure has vanished, then hope for peace and freedom from suffering become the focus, and a thoughtful hospice team will treat the family as skilfully as it treats the dying patient.

Many of us have walked this road with a loved one or known someone who has. Cancer somehow seems to touch a majority of families, either by direct experience or at least by association. In my own family, every man on my father's and mother's side seems to have died from cancer, and my step-father succumbed to pancreatic cancer less than five months ago.

I have known cancer intimately in my personal life and my professional life, and while it is an acquaintance I don't covet, it is one which has brought me deeper knowledge of the human condition beyond anything I could ever have imagined. Without a doubt, even more learning will ensue as I work in a hospice setting, but also simply from being a human being in relation to other human beings who are facing illness and the certainty of death.

To anyone who has lived through the loss of a loved one to cancer, I offer my sincerest condolences, my prayers for your healing, my prayers for your loved one's soul, and my hopes that your life and family will be further spared unnecessary suffering. In the face of loss and death, we all must face our own mortality and spiritual pain, and I wish you, dear Reader, strength and peace in your own travels down this often turbulent and troubling path of human existence. Namaste.