Every cancer patient needs a cheerleader to say, 'You can do this,' says uterine cancer survivor

As Debra Morin was reeling from the shock of a uterine cancer diagnosis, she sat down and wrote a list of five things that she would keep in mind each day:

• Maintain a positive mindset.
  
  
• Surround herself with positive people.
  
  
• Reject negative commentary.
  
  
• Don’t think about the cancer unless absolutely necessary.
  
  
• Give herself permission to rest and go slower than she was used to.

Those five tenets, along with the steadfast caregiving of her husband, Tom, kept her moving forward during a bumpy cancer journey filled with setbacks and unexpected twists. Now, after surgery at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and chemotherapy at Tidelands Health, a member of the Hollings Cancer Network, she is finally beginning to feel like she’s getting back to being herself.

“It's been very, very challenging,” she said. “You need to surround yourself with strong people. My husband – I wouldn’t have been able to get through it without him. He's basically been my cheerleader. And you need that when you're going through something like this; you need a cheerleader. You need someone to say, ‘You can do this’ for those moments when you’re having a bad day. You need someone to pick you up off the floor, dust you off and say, ‘OK. We can do this.’ And that’s what he did for me.”

Maintain a positive mindset

Morin readily acknowledges that her determination to maintain a positive mindset was challenged along the way.

She developed sepsis after surgery and had to be re-admitted. In addition, fluid continued to drain into her belly long after doctors expected it to stop, causing swelling in her abdomen that made her look six months pregnant. Altogether, she was in and out of the hospital for two months and had to have a home health aide for months afterward to help to drain the fluid.

 

But she found pockets of positivity. Her insurance company was in her corner when it came to paying for the home health aide. And the surgery went well.

Justin Harold, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist at Hollings, used a rarely performed procedure called a laterally extended endopelvic resection (LEER) due to the extent of the cancer, which had wrapped around a ureter, the tube that connects a kidney to the bladder, as well as nerves, major arteries and veins, and her intestines.

“Dr. Harold did an amazing, amazing job with the surgery, and the surgery was a success,” she said. “Dr. Matthew Kohler even came after the surgery and was praising Dr. Harold. He actually called the surgery heroic.”

Surround yourself with positive people

Morin knew she needed to surround herself with people who would love, support and comfort her. Naturally, her husband and two adult children, Christopher and Breanna, were her main supports, but she also found unexpected community support.

“I'm kind of a private person – but my husband is not,” she said. “So he enlisted the help of all of our friends and family and put something on Facebook, and the amount of support that we received was absolutely unbelievable.”

She said that positive comments and prayers coming in from across the country lifted her up.

Reject negative commentary

For Moran, part of surrounding herself with positive people and rejecting negative commentary included having her husband shield her from well-meaning people making thoughtless observations.

Comments about “That’s what so-and-so died from,” or “Did you get the COVID shot?” are completely unhelpful to people going through treatment, she noted.

“I didn't want to hear anyone's advice because everyone's situation is different – every single one. Everyone knows someone who had something, but no one knows my exact, particular situation. And so I felt it very important to listen to my doctors only,” she said.

Don’t think about cancer all the time

It’s not easy not to think about cancer when you have cancer. Morin did her best to keep thoughts about cancer to times when it was necessary to think about it, like when visiting the doctor.

Outside of that, she tried to ensure she had plenty of downtime. And she could sometimes fill her time with joyful activities – like going wedding dress shopping with her daughter.

Give yourself permission to go slower than usual

“I've always been very active, very big on keeping everything perfect in my house with cleaning and everything,” Morin said. “I knew I needed to put the brakes on, take care of myself and stop if I felt a little tired.”

She allowed herself to rest and even to nap when she felt she needed to.

Uterine cancer diagnosis

A cancer diagnosis almost always comes as a shock. Morin was especially surprised because the cancer was caught only because her primary care doctor ordered a CT scan in the course of tracking down another issue.

“Less than an hour after I had the CT scan, he called, and my life changed at that point,” she said.

Morin lives in Horry County, north of Myrtle Beach and not far from the state border with North Carolina, but due to the complexity of the tumor that was already apparent from the scan, she was referred to Hollings, where she met Harold.

“He was absolutely amazing. My husband and I cannot say enough about him. Just from the first time that I met with him, he calmed my nerves, and he explained everything, all the possible scenarios. And he gave me hope.

“And I needed it at that point because my situation was dire. So that was another positive,” she said.

The cancer turned out to be stage 4. A LEER procedure is a radical surgery that must be performed by an experienced surgeon, for it is intended in cases where the tumor has spread to the pelvic sidewall and the potential for massive bleeding is high. During Morin’s surgery, the last 8 inches of her small intestine had to be removed in addition to the uterus, ureter and major arteries, veins and nerves.

The tumor had destroyed a large vein at the top of her right leg, which led to complications with the leg, which swelled to twice its size.

Family caregivers’ outsized role in cancer care

 

Often, family members find that their support must extend beyond the emotional into physical caregiving, and that was the case for Morin’s husband, who, she said, “basically became a nurse.”

He had to monitor her medications, including a strong antibiotic, and help her to move around.

“When I was discharged from the hospital in January, I was using a walker for a couple of days. I couldn't lift my leg at all. My husband had to lift my leg into bed. He had to lift my leg into the car. He had to dress me, and he had to bathe me. I was pretty reliant on him for pretty much everything,” she said.

It took months for the swelling to go down.

“I woke up one morning, and I was elated because I was able to lift my leg,” she said. “Just being able to lift my leg and put it into my leggings on my own without needing my husband was quite an event. It was something to be celebrated.”

Hollings Cancer Network

During this time, Morin began chemotherapy at Tidelands Health. Traveling to Hollings, a 2 ½-hour drive, for regular treatments was simply too much in her weakened condition.

Knowing how difficult travel can be for patients, whether because of health, work schedules or finances, Hollings has developed working relationships with hospitals across the state. Through the Hollings Cancer Network, South Carolinians can get care closer to home and know that their local oncologists are working in collaboration with subspecialists at Hollings who can offer recommendations based on the latest research.

At Tidelands, Morin’s chemotherapy was overseen by Sara “Betsy” Adams, M.D., an oncologist who works closely with Hollings.

Morin’s chemotherapy began in February and finished up in June. By the time she was finished with chemotherapy, she was in physical therapy, working with an “amazing” local therapist.

“I feel like my leg is getting stronger every day, and she feels that I can eventually get back to running on the treadmill,” Morin said.

Looking ahead

Morin is getting stronger one day at a time. Although she will have follow-up scans and appointments for some time, she’s also able to enjoy life a little more, including a recent getaway to New Hampshire.

The journey has not always been easy, and she is grateful to have come out on the other side.

“If it means I'm going to live and I'm going to hopefully get to see grandchildren and get to spend more time with my children and my family, then all of it is worth it if I can beat this thing,” she said. “And it looks like I have so far.”

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