Brenda Sanderson was tired. Thinking iron pills might give her energy, she went to the store but felt she could barely make it. As she drove home, she suddenly turned her car around and headed to the emergency department at Rush Copley Medical Center.
“God said to go to the ED,” she says. When she got to the hospital, she didn’t have the strength to get out of the car to walk in so she drove to the front door and was helped out of her car into a wheelchair.
In the emergency department, tests showed her blood count was 1.6, which is below the normal range of 12 to 15 for women. Her hemoglobin levels were extremely low – lower than Tarig Ahmed, MD, a hematologist and medical oncologist at RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center at Rush Copley, had ever seen.
“At such low levels, she was at risk for heart failure, severe low blood pressure, heart attack and even death,” he says.
“They couldn’t believe I was alive,” Brenda recalls. “They told me they’d never seen a blood count that low.”
Stage 4 cancer
At the hospital, Brenda began bleeding and was admitted to the intensive care unit. Doctors found she had stage 4 rectal cancer that had spread to her lungs. Bleeding from her tumor continued but was eventually controlled with radiation therapy. Over the next 10 days, she received 19 transfusions and Ahmed created a treatment plan for her that included numerous rounds of chemotherapy to control her cancer as well as two surgeries to remove the rectal cancer and tumors in her lungs.
Brenda had been told she would be on chemo for the rest of her life. But now, nearly two years later, she is “on holiday” from treatment with no evidence of disease.
“She did very well with the initial chemotherapy treatment and has been in remission for over a year,” Ahmed said. “We will continue to monitor her closely for any signs or symptoms of recurrence.”
Staying strong with support
While undergoing treatment, Brenda found support at Waterford Place Cancer Resource Center. Funded by philanthropic donations, Waterford Place offers services and support — at no cost to participants — to anyone affected by a cancer diagnosis.
“It’s such a wonderful place,” she says. “It’s so warm, it feels like I’m at home.” She credits the exercise classes and other services at Waterford Place with helping her stay strong. She advises anyone in this situation to get a good support system and surround yourself with people with positive energy.
A story of hope
Brenda’s story is one of hope and she wants to share it to encourage others to never give up. She is grateful to all of the doctors and nurses who cared for her. “They didn’t give up on me,” she says. She credits Ahmed with saving her life, saying he did everything to make sure she had the right treatment.
“Brenda is a good example that there is hope even in stage 4 cancer,” Ahmed says. “Some patients with stage 4 colorectal cancer can achieve long remission and even cure.”
Brenda stresses the importance of perseverance. “When you hear cancer, you’re in a whole other world,” she says. “You’ve just got to fight. It’s not the end. Get the courage to fight. Keep going. Don’t let cancer or stage 4 bring you down. You’ve got to fight for your life.”
