David Vanderhyde: Never Surrender
Updated June 5, 2008: Slow Improvements
During his regular clinic visit in mid-October 2007, David Vanderhyde nonchalantly passed a folded envelope to Dr. Robert Cameron, his thoracic surgeon and mesothelioma specialist. Dr. Cameron would later discover that the envelope contained a $100,000 generous gift to fund mesothelioma research through the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute.
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Chemotherapy and Avastin
David has been fighting his uphill battle with mesothelioma for over a year. He was diagnosed with pleural malignant mesothelioma, epithelial type in October 2006, and like many other cancer patients, was instructed to take chemotherapy right away. One month later in November he began what has become the standard cocktail chemotherapy for epithelial mesothelioma patients, Alimta with Cisplatin. However, his oncologist also included a non-standard targeted therapy drug, Avastin, which is not a chemotherapy drug but rather an anti-angiogenesis therapy. Avastin is administered with chemotherapy and is thought to prevent blood vessel formation in some types of tumors. (Learn more about avastin.)
With his wife, Pilar, by his side, David underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy in total, but after the sixth treatment, he had a bad reaction to Cisplatin; so it was removed from his two final treatments. To make matters worse David’s port shifted and caused blood clots that swelled into small yet noticeable bulges on his neck and shoulder. In order to alleviate the clots, doctors prescribed blood thinners. However, the medicine worked so well that David developed profuse nose bleeds which he couldn’t stop. It seemed that he just couldn’t catch a break.
Ovonax and a shot of Vitamin K stopped the nose bleeds though David still has a small, hard bruise on his belly from the injection. He has no pain associated with the bruise and the purple coloring has slowly faded.
Despite these minor set backs after the sixth round of chemo, PET scans revealed the chemotherapy was effectively reducing the size of the tumors in his chest, so his oncologist extended treatment for two more rounds without Cisplatin. He finished in May 2007 and then found Dr. Robert Cameron, Director of the Mesothelioma Program at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Phase II: Surgery
Dr. Cameron informed David that while chemotherapy helped reduce the size of his tumor, a surgical procedure to remove the remaining tumor, known as a pleurectomy with decortication, might both extend his life and give him a better quality of life.
Dr. Cameron explained his complete “P/D” surgery to remove the pleural lining around the lung instead of removing the entire affected lung, which is a done in another type of surgery for mesothelioma patients known as an extrapleural pneumonectomy. This “less is more” strategy requires removing the entire pleural lining but does not disturb tumor-free organs inside the chest. (Learn more about the pleurectomy with decortication surgery.)
On June 7, 2007, David underwent the eight hour procedure with Dr. Cameron. Once inside, Dr. Cameron saw tumor growing around the heart, so the lining of the heart sac was also resected.
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Approximately three weeks after his surgery, David was feeling good, perhaps too good, so he took a long walk for about a mile and a half along the Santa Monica pier, just west of UCLA. Later that night he woke up with a fluttering heart and high blood pressure. Doctors put him on lopresor to restore his normal heart rate.
Once at home in San Diego, the Vanderhydes decided it was best to stay in a hotel close to a hospital, just until he was out of the woods completely. Their home, which was under renovation at the time, is a about half an hour’s drive from the city and they didn’t want to risk anything. The decision paid off.
In July 2007, David inhaled for a deep cough to clear the phlegm causing his scratchy throat. Phlegm occasionally occurs after surgery for mesothelioma patients and can range from moderate to severe congestion. So David gave one hard cough to get all the phlegm up, but he coughed with such force that he blew the stitches on his left side from the surgery.
The Set-Back
David looked down to see fluid and blood issuing from the incision site. Pilar immediately drove him to a nearby San Diego emergency room where doctors attempted to put steristrips over the wound. But within minutes of leaving the emergency room, David could feel the strips loosening, so the Vanderhydes drove straight up to UCLA.
Once at UCLA, doctors also found an infection had developed, so they couldn’t re-stitch his side. Instead, David had what’s known as a "wound vac" attached to his side for over four months. This machine gently sucks on each side of the open wound so that it can heal quickly. If left to the body’s normal healing time, the skin could have taken over a year to close.
Pilar learned how to dress the open gaping wound on David’s side. She is a true care giver and has never once complained about the daunting task of taking care of David after these unfortunate accidents. During their frequent visits to Dr. Cameron’s office, Pilar would assist Dr. Cameron with the flashlight and tweezers as they peered into David’s chest to see how the lung and wound were healing. Pilar perfected the routine and expertly learned how to pack the wound with sponges and to bandage the top until it eventually healed.
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David is now happy to be free of “his man purse” as he calls it. Walking around unimpeded by a small vacuum has its benefits. Though David has had his hardships with treating his mesothelioma, he is no stranger to unfortunate situations.
Never Surrender
David and Pilar are almost finished with rebuilding their home in Lakeside which was destroyed in the October 2003 San Diego wild fires. Since then, David and Pilar, his wife of 21 years, and their two teenage sons, Eric and Louie, have been forced to live in a trailor on their property during the rebuilding process that has now taken four years to complete. But they wouldn’t think of leaving the area. David has operated his plumbing business there since 1991.
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Despite the hardships and the scary moments during treatment, David aims to set an example to current and future mesothelioma patients by continuing to fight the good fight and to never surrender. He often says he can’t wait to share his story about being a 10 year survivor. He hopes to inspire others to donate their time and money to the efforts of the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, as “[they] believe in trying to find a cure for this so-called incurable disease.”
The Vanderhyde family and friends express their gratitude to Dr. Cameron and his entire staff. David continues his regular visits to Dr. Cameron who has recommended radiation with Dr. Michael Selch, also at UCLA. David’s most recent PET scans in November 2007 show good results. Though David was concerned about the four month delay in radiation due to the blown stitch, it appears he has little to worry about as there is no tumor activity occurring.
His radiation begins Monday, November 26, 2007, just after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, the Vanderhydes along with PHLBI have much to be thankful about.
David’s progress will be updated online regularly. If you or someone you know is a mesothelioma patient and would like to speak with him, please contact Jessica Like.
David began nightly injections of interferon alpha as maintenance therapy for mesothelioma beginning April 24, 2008. David usually keeps a very positive attitude and outlook on all aspects of life. However, while he was on interferon, he noticed that he felt extremely fatigued which caused depression. He did not want to get out of bed. David and Pilar were dismayed with this turn of attitude because their optimism often kept them moving forward throughout treatment.
Depression and fatigue are common side effects associated with interferon alpha. Usually these symptoms (and possibly flu-like side effects) disappear after a few days. David tried to stick with the interferon to give it a fair chance. After three weeks of worsening depression and fatigue, David and Dr. Cameron decided to stop the drug. Two days later, David noticed that he was feeling better and was a little more upbeat.
And the wound on his side? David's open wound has slowly been healing for almost a year. Currently, it's about the size of a button. There is still some drainage, but very little. He irrigates the opening regularly to keep it clear of infection. Unfortunately, he was given the bad news that this swimming is off limits this summer. He had been looking forward to relaxing in the pool at home, but that will have to wait until the wound closes completely.
We'll keep you posted in the meantime.