February 2010
To meet Brittany Hess is to see a vibrant, 28-year old woman with boundless enthusiasm and a passionate zest for life. This belies the fact that she has been courageously fighting an extremely rare soft tissue cancer called Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma (ASPS) since age 19 when she was diagnosed in July 2001 at Stage IV. Her only symptom was a small lump on her left thigh, but by the time the lump appeared and was diagnosed, the cancer had already metastasized to both of Brittany's lungs with over fifty tumors.
Because traditional chemotherapy has not been shown to be effective in treating ASPS, since her diagnosis, Brittany has undergone 23 surgical procedures/ablations/radiosurgeries to remove or destroy tumors on her thigh and in her lungs, liver, brain, breast, tibia, spine, and abdomen, and she has participated in three clinical trials. Because of the rarity of ASPS, she and her parents have traveled all over the United States and Canada for various treatments. Through it all she remains optimistic, as she and her boyfriend recently bought a house together and have adopted a puppy they named Gizmo.
Brittany hopes to become a nurse someday, but her illness and the travel required for her treatments have made the commitment required to obtain a nursing degree impossible. She has worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant in the Oncology Unit at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington, but the debilitating side effects from two brain tumors made it impossible for her to continue her job of taking care of her cancer patients. Chronic severe spinal pain from the removal of a large spinal tumor, and side effects of the Cediranib Clinical Trial medication which Brittany has been on for the past year, currently prevent her from being able to work or to participate in many of her hobbies including motorcycle riding, skiing, boating, hiking, backpack traveling, soccer, and other activities which she has always enjoyed and pursued. Despite the physical limitations imposed on her by her cancer and her treatments, Brittany lives each day to the fullest with a radiant smile, an incredible passion and grateful appreciation for Life, and an invincible positive attitude as she continues to fight her cancer with enormous courage and great determination. Her motto which she believes and practices in everything that she does is "The will to win, WILL win."When she visited our offices to participate in the Insights taping she told us, "I'll never give up. I have too much to live for." Brittany's story inspires us every day.
Update May 2010
After a year on the Cediranib Clinical Trial in Edmonton, Alberta, Brittany has miraculously had no new tumors for the first time since her diagnosis almost nine years ago, and she has had significant shrinkage/disappearance of her multiple lung tumors and an unresectable pancreatic tumor. She and her family are immensely overjoyed by these incredible results which they say exceed their greatest hopes and dreams from a year ago when Brittany's cancer had become so aggressive and disseminated throughout her body, and her pancreatic tumor was diagnosed as untreatable.
After almost nine years of fighting this very challenging disease, the financial burdens had become overwhelming for Brittany and her family, and the ongoing tremendous expense of travel and housing associated with required monthly trips to Edmonton for the Clinical Trial were threatening Brittany's continued participation in the Trial. Her family expresses "deepest gratitude and appreciation for the very kind and generous help, support, and special caring of everyone at Lazarex which has allowed Brittany to continue to participate in the very promising Cediranib Clinical Trial, and has given us the priceless gift of strength and continued Hope."
Update August 2010
A Letter from Brittany's Mom:
"I wanted to let you all know that we thankfully received continued good news of no new tumors and stable disease from Brittany's July 29th scans and July 30th scan results appointment with Dr. Sawyer in Edmonton. We continue to be profoundly grateful to all of you for all that you and Lazarex have done and continue to do to make Brittany's continued participation in this promising Cediranib Clinical Trial possible, and for the strengthened hope that it has given us. Thank you again for all of your continued special caring, support, and friendship. Take care everyone."
