Cynthia Mitchell has been diagnosed with intraheptic cholangiocarcinoma, a type of bile duct cancer.  Her story is about how she, like many with such a diagnosis, never attained complete survivorship, but is living a rich, fruitful live.  In 2021, she experienced severe heartburn.  When it persisted, she underwent an ultrasound, which revealed a large mass on her liver.  Further tests determined Cynthia had cholangiocarcinoma just before Christmas Day, and she had a liver resection scheduled for January 2022.  The procedure was a success, but had a recurrence the following summer and it was Stage IV. Cynthia then went on a regimen of oral chemotherapy.  She took capecitabine, also known as xelota.  The regimen was very difficult.  Cynthia was told she will never achieve full-on survivorship, but she is able to do exercise on a limited basis and leads a happy life with her husband and two children.

 

Prior to her diagnosis, Cynthia enjoyed great health in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  She ran, engaged in aerobics and weight training.  However, in 2021, she began to experience severe heartburn, followed by acute right quadrant pain.  She saw her primary care physician who dismissed her pain as symptoms of menopause.  When the problems persisted, she went in for an ultrasound, which showed a large mass on her liver.  A subsequent CT scan confirmed what looked like a metastatic lesion.  Then just before Christmas that year, a liver surgeon examined an MRI, said it was cholangiocarcinoma, and scheduled a liver resection for the following month.  The surgery went well.  She had clean margins, no lymph node involvement, and at that time it was confirmed Cynthia had intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

 

Her care team said she had a 20 percent chance of survival for five years, which under the circumstances was considered a high rate.  In March 2022, Cynthia went on a regimen of oral chemotherapy, with capecitabine.  Even though oral chemo is not supposed to be as traumatic as other types, she suffered all the side effects tied to chemotherapy, such as nausea, fatigue, cognitive issues and hair loss, all this while she trying to raise two children.

 

Cynthia got through that regimen and is now on a less difficult targeted therapy. If her health was 100 percent before her diagnosis, she says health is now between 85 and 90 percent.  She cannot exercise as strenuously as she once did, but says she can talk her dogs for a walk, sometimes as many as ten kilometers a day.  Cynthia knows that now and going forward, she will have certain limitations, but is very grateful to live what she calls a full life.

 

Additional Resources:

 

Support Group:

 

Canadian Cholangiocarcinoma Collaborative: https://www.cholangioma.ca