‘Reach out to your people’

River Heights

St. Boniface

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/02/2024 (905 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was October 2021 when Cynthia Mitchell knew something was wrong.

After seeing a doctor for heartburn, which was unusual for her, she was told to come back if anything continued. Acting on a bad feeling, she did, but it wasn’t until January 2022 that the 43-year-old mother of two was formally diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma.

Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that originates in the bile duct. So rare, in fact, that doctors originally looked for a different source of cancer in Mitchell’s body, following the original discovery of a mass on her liver.

The disease has a five-year survival rate of less than 25 per cent — and stage IV cholangiocarcinoma, specifically, has a rate of 2-3 per cent, according to the Canadian Cancer Society — and is notably difficult to treat.

Mitchell, who lives in River Heights, had never heard of cholangiocarcinoma.

“‘What’s a bile duct?’” was her second question, she said, adding that he could barely pronounce the name.

Thus began what could only be described as a journey (and a half). Since 2022, Mitchell has been through two attempts at chemotherapy and three different targeted therapy drugs. She has seen professionals both in and out of the country — including the leading expert on the disease in Houston, Tex.

Currently, Mitchell is on a targeted therapy drug that has shrunk her tumour by 30 per cent. However, she is stage four and terminal.

It’s not good, she said, but has found that she has found the best version of herself through the illness.

“This is something I tell my kids… life is definitely uncertain. Sometimes it’s hard, painful, sometimes it’s sad, scary, but it’s filled with beauty and hope,” she said.

“I’m honouring that this is awful, and that this is unfair, but choosing to consider this (treatment) as a success. Because it is … It’s life-prolonging.”

Feb. 15 was world cholangiocarcinoma day. To raise awareness, Mitchell launched a fundraising campaign through the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation. It opened up just a week before the day itself, but had already raised more than $16,000 at press time. All funds collected will stay in Manitoba.

“An important reason for this fundraising … funding, research and programs in Manitoba, is that it allows people like me to stay here and have access to these treatments. Everyone deserves to have the opportunity that I have. I can’t make that happen, but it’s a start,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell was also able to light up the Esplanade Riel bridge in St. Boniface, as well as the Winnipeg sign at The Forks, to celebrate the occasion. They were coloured a striking green, the day’s official colour.

It’s a common way of commemoration in the U.S., she said, and people will light their houses up in green to show support.

“Our question was, ‘Well, how do we make that happen in Canada, now?,’” she said.

She was happy to say a collection of people in Winnipeg were doing the same thing.

“Reach out to your people,” she added, noting that she has found an unexpected community of people in similar situations — whether through cholangiocarcinoma, friends or family of people with the cancer, or people with a different type of cancer entirely. “People will support you. You have an outpouring of love and support.”

Although the day itself has passed, Mitchell’s fundraiser is still open. It can be found online at support.cancercarefdn.mb.ca

Mitchell also works on advocacy through the Canadian Cholangiocarcinoma Collaborative — or C3 — a new group which aims to bring awareness to the disease in Canada and push for local research, treatment, and support.

For more information, visit www.cholangio.ca