Peru cancer patient continues to see improvements

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November 30, 2009

Optimism, team approach give patient, wife early lead

By JEFF MEYERS The Press Republican Mon Nov 30, 2009, 10:26 PM EST

PERU — Patricia Ishmael-Condon has been a source of unending support as her husband, Tommy Condon, continues with his battle against leukemia and prostate cancer.

They've been together for 24 years, and the couple's relationship has evolved into one of trust, compassion and commitment.

Both friends and lovers, business partners and confreres, they share a sense of humor that has helped them face Tommy's illness as well as Pat's own health and personal problems.

"Even before we had agreed that he'd start his chemo, even before we found out about his prostate cancer, I was dealing with issues of my own," Pat said at the couple's Peru home recently. "My mother is diabetic and had to have both legs amputated."

Pat comes from Trinidad, whose culture says children — and especially daughters — care for their parents when they can no longer care for themselves. As an only daughter, Pat inherited that responsibility — at least in her own mind.

She has managed to visit her mom in Trinidad on four occasions since Tommy began his chemotherapy treatments, and she has also been able to schedule those trips around her husband's treatment regimen.

"She tells me to take care of Tommy," said Pat, who has also dealt recently with her own heart problems, including having a pacemaker implanted. "She says, 'I have lots of help here (with Pat's brothers and other relatives chipping in). You're the only one there for Tom. You need to be there with him.'"

TEAM APPROACH
Since being diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Tommy has become a self-made expert on the disease, researching information from any source possible.

Pat has been at his side, flipping pages and scanning the computer screen for information, too.

"He's always so prepared when he goes to see the doctor," she said.

Often, she said, Tommy brings piles of documents about leukemia, prostate cancer or other related topics to his doctor visits.

Pat is also there to give him advice on how she feels about treatment options, though she is adamant in letting him know that he has the final say in whatever direction he takes.

"I remember when he came home after first being diagnosed that he looked like someone had shot him," she recalled. "I said, 'What's wrong?' and he said, 'I've been diagnosed with cancer.'

"'We'll deal with it together,' I told him. 'We'll get through this.'"

Tommy recently completed his fifth week-long cycle of chemo treatments, which have gone extremely well. When this all started, his white blood-cell count was at 185,000. Following treatment five, the count had fallen to 1.0, well below the normal range of 4.8 to 10.8.

"That's pretty normal as a side-effect," he said, noting that the treatment attacks the rapidly growing cells in bone marrow, both cancerous and normal. "With leukemia, there are too many white blood cells, acting like sludge and blocking things up throughout the body."

FINAL ROUND
His white-cell count should bounce back into a normal range relatively quickly, he added. Still, doctors are going to give him an extra rest between treatments, with his next and final round scheduled for six weeks down the road.

That break also gives him a chance to renew acquaintances in the Dominican Republic, where he travels annually to help bring assistance to the school-aged children in the poverty-stricken country.

"I've been doing this for over 16, 17 years," he said, his eyes brightening with excitement over the thought of meeting the kids who have come to know him so well over the years.

He accepts the fact that he does have a long haul ahead of him, despite his successful treatments.

"The treatments aren't curing the leukemia. After the treatments, your count increases by about 1,000 a week. In three years or so, I'll be back for more treatments."

He has constantly been positive about those treatments and has gone out of his way to help others who are anticipating chemotherapy with some anxiety over what to expect.

He is also getting closer to that moment when he will have to decide how he will address the prostate issue.

Right now, he is on hormonal therapy that has reduced the PSA level that identifies the existence of prostate cancer, but after chemo ends, he will look at other options to deal with his second battlefront.

Meanwhile, he and Pat will continue to work as a team — along with their two mini schnauzers, Nicky and Bubba, who have given them so much strength — to live each day to its fullest with confidence and lots of laughs.

And Tommy stays active.

"I still have my bad days, those days I don't feel like taking my head off the pillow," he said. "But I take those days off and bounce back ready to go the next day. I'm not going to let this thing win."

E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com