MY VIEW RAY LOPEZ Cancer caregivers offered prescription for hope

By Ray Lopez

May 18, 2022 Updated 8 hrs ago

It was a small, drab room. Most of it taken up by an examination table. We sat in chairs next to the sink. We held hands. Across from us, a laptop and a stool on wheels. The oncologist came in, sat on the stool, wiped his hands on his knees, looked at my wife and said, “It’s cancer. Specifically, ampullary of vater cancer. It’s genetic, rare, and terminal.” The Earth shifted on its axis. My wife slumped on my shoulder. The ampulla connects the pancreatic and bile ducts emptying into the small intestine. An obstruction in the ampulla affects the liver.

“How long?” my wife asked. “Six months to two years.” Soon, 27 metastatic tumors grew on her liver. Jackpot! Stage 4.

Time stopped but every moment mattered.

A fast drive to the University of New Mexico Cancer Research and Treatment Center. A short flight to Houston and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Phone calls, emails, CT scans, MRIs, X-rays and our second and third opinions agreed with the treatment plan first proposed by New Mexico Cancer Care Associates, contractors with Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.

I was a third wheel. Part valet, porter, chauffeur and notetaker. I drove to the drugstore, the acupuncturist, dietitian, palliative care, physical therapy and the wig shop. I waited in the chemo lounge, wards, the car and that drab little office.

Oncologist Dr. Scott Herbert and certified nurse practitioner Jennifer Porter of the cancer care associates embraced the challenge. A typical, healthy cell has a life cycle of growth, division and death. A cancer cell is abnormal. Instead of dying off, cancer cells reproduce more abnormal cells invading tissue. They travel throughout the blood and lymph systems to other parts of the body. “Cancer” refers to more than 100 diseases. Annually, an estimated 9,000 New Mexicans may be diagnosed with cancer. At least 3,000 may die.

A stent was inserted in my wife’s upper chest to avoid blockage and buildup of bile. A portal above her right breast would allow repeated insertion of a blitzkrieg of a poisonous chemical cocktail. Later, a very long needle was inserted through her thigh to reach one node of her liver. After a short recovery, it was repeated on the other side.

The pandemic hit. Her compromised immune system required total isolation.

Chemotherapy for three years. The ampullary tumor shrank and disappeared. Recently, intensity-modulated radiotherapy was used to deliver precise radiation to a couple of pesky liver tumors while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissue. She endured a full-frontal assault; then they hired a sniper.

The kindest human act is to listen with compassion, empathy, and optimism. Herbert and Porter gave my wife that simple courtesy in countless visits.

Now, Christus St. Vincent bosses have told them to empty their lockers by May 27, seven months before their legal contract expires. When the cancer care/St. Vincent partnership was announced Dec. 13, 2011, the hospital CEO at the time said the contract would “provide a comprehensive, local continuity of care for all Northern New Mexico patients in a seamless manner.” It did.

Cancer care associates never made any promises. They wrote a prescription for hope.

Ray Lopez is a resident of Santa Fe. Read more letters from people concerned about the contract dispute online at santafenewmexican.com