Woman Receives Chemotherapy While Rollerblading on Lakefront

If you were jogging along Lake Michigan last year, you may well have been passed by LisaAnn McConnell who was receiving chemotherapy for her colon cancer while Rollerblading. McConnell received her chemotherapy via a new field of medicine, called chronotherapy. Chronotherapy is medicine that takes the bodys natural rhythms into account. It is administered via an exclusive pump designed to precisely time up to four channels of infusion simultaneously to the individual needs of the patient. The pump is highly portable - small enough to fit in a fanny pack - and patients are able to maintain full mobility, or enjoy a full night's sleep.

Evanston, IL (PRWEB) July 14, 2005 -- If you were jogging along Lake Michigan last year, you may well have been passed by LisaAnn McConnell. She was the one on Rollerblades wearing a fanny pack. You would never have guessed by looking at McConnell that her fanny pack was administering the chemotherapy she was receiving for her colon cancer.

McConnell was 46 when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. "Im the third generation in my family to have been diagnosed with colon cancer, and until now there have been no survivors. Im happy to say that the Doctors now think that my cancer is 100% gone," says McConnell, now 47.

McConnell received her chemotherapy via a new field of medicine, called chronotherapy. The term is from the Greek chronos, meaning time. Chronotherapy is medicine that takes the bodys natural rhythms into account. Traveling from her home in Atlanta, Lisa received her treatments through the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care and Optimal Health in Evanston, Illinois, the only medical center in the United States currently administering chemotherapy via an exclusive pump designed to precisely time up to four channels of infusion simultaneously to the individual needs of the patient. The pump is highly portable - small enough to fit in a fanny pack - and patients are able to maintain full mobility, or enjoy a full night's sleep. The Centers Medical/Scientific Director and cofounder Keith Block. M.D., played an integral role in bringing this technology to the United States.

McConnell made the decision to travel to Evanston for her chemotherapy when the oncologists in her hometown took what she believed to be a one-dimensional approach to her treatment. "I felt that they looked at the cancer and there I was, I just happened to be attached to it. They didnt seem to understand that I wanted them to look at me as an entire person, I wanted them to first and foremost get rid of my cancer. But I also wanted them to address my concerns about my lifestyle and diet, their impact on my prognosis, how to prevent future disease, and my future health. I wanted them to take a comprehensive approach to my treatment," explained McConnell. Having lived in Evanston years earlier, she had used the Block Center for her general medical needs and developed a great appreciation for both their focus on optimizing health and philosophy of care. "From the first conversation about my cancer diagnosis, Dr. Block was concerned about me, treated me as a whole person and someone who could survive. In fact, the entire Block Center staff treated me as LisaAnn, versus a cancer patient. Before I even started my treatments, they helped me get my body and mind strong and prepared me for everything that I would be going through. They regularly monitored and evaluated my progress, and by the time I started my chemo, I was physically and emotionally stronger than I was prior to my diagnosis."

McConnell went to the Block Center six times for her treatments, going for a few days every 3 weeks, while simultaneously receiving full integrative care. The chemotherapy was given to her through the pump in the amounts and at the precise times the doctors and research determined were best for her body.

"I used to think that life stopped for people who were receiving chemotherapy. Thats not what I experienced. When you are mobile and receiving your chemotherapy wearing the fanny pack pump, you can continue your life. When I was in Evanston receiving my chemo, Id often have sessions with the staff, such as with the mind/body therapist or yoga instructor," McConnell says. "Other times Id nap in my own private little room or sit in the living area and knit or talk with other patients. No matter where I was in the center I was seen as me and supported. There were only a few days that I did not go out and enjoy the pleasure of rollerblading around Lake Michigan." Receiving the chemo with chronotherapy gave me the opportunity to enjoy the majority of my life during this healing process, McConnell explained.

Even more important, McConnell firmly believes that this method of administering the chemo reduced the toxic effects of the treatment and gave her the best opportunity for recovery. "With chronotherapy, instead of receiving the chemo infused in one hour and having your body take all of the toxicity in that hour, they instead used an infusion pump. This is what I wore in the fanny pack." Dr. Block explains: "Every drug has an optimal time when it is least toxic and most effective. This is determined by several factors, including the biology of the particular drug being given, the time when the specific cancer cells divide the most, when the normal 'healthy' cells of the affected organ generally divide, the patients circadian clock and their particular rest-activity cycles, even the time zone the patient resides in."

Also, Dr. Block advises that the manner the drug is infused is also very important. The infusion pump used at the Block center allows for a drug to be given in small increments that start slowly and peak at a specific point of the infusion cycle and then scale back down. This "infusion curve" is critical to getting the full advantage afforded by a time-sensitive treatment.

"This approach to the administration of chemotherapy is revolutionary and has demonstrated in large randomized trials its potential to diminish side effects and improve survival," states Dr. Block. "We have found that often patients receiving chronotherapy reduce what would have been recurring side effects of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue."

Heres why: Chemotherapy has the potential to damage healthy cells, with the more rapidly dividing cells like those in the bone marrow and digestive tract lining often being hit the hardest, causing bone-marrow damage and gastrointestinal distress. This damage and distress can be so severe that patients have to reduce or even stop chemo treatments.

But using chronotherapy-when chemotherapy is given at optimal times for each patient-can reduce this problematic scenario. Because the division of these bone marrow and digestive lining cells occurs at different rates throughout the circadian cycle, doctors think that damage to these healthy cells can be reduced if chemotherapy is given during the rest phase when cell division in these non-cancerous areas is less prolific.

Both animal and human studies support this conclusion, and the library of evidence continues to grow. A review of the progress of chronotherapy research was published in May 2001 in the respected medical journal Lancet Oncology. Dr. Francis Levi, a French physician and pioneer in clinical chronotherapy research, tested chronotherapy on more than 1,500 patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Dr. Levi concluded that patients are much better able to tolerate chemotherapy when they received their chemo in chronomodulated doses.

"I received my chemo concentrated over 4 days. Amazingly, I received 4 chemo treatments over 4 days in a row that the other doctors I interviewed would have given me in 4 weekly sessions. On top of that, I had less side effects. I dont know anyone who has had a better chemo experience than me! I really had 14 great days in between my treatment sessions, giving me more time to be a mom and wife. I cant tell you how grateful I am for the normal life my son was able to observe and live during this time," says McConnell. "Today I am
healthier and happier than I have been in years." McConnell is very optimistic about her future.

"I talk about my chronogenic experience all the time because I think the world needs to know there is a more successful and more comfortable way to combat cancer. Often when I start talking about rollerblading, receiving a drop of chemo at a time, detoxing as part of my treatment, etc. I find I have an audience. Someone always asks, 'Why havent I heard about this?' followed by, 'I have a friend who...' I look forward to the day that this treatment method is the norm.
    
The Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care and Optimal Health was founded in 1980 by Penny and Keith Block, MD, with a focus on treating the patient as a whole person, not treating just the diagnosis or symptoms. The Center's research-based treatment integrates an innovative approach to the best of conventional medicine with scientifically sound complementary therapies -- therapeutic nutrition, botanical and phytonutrient supplementation, prescriptive exercise, and systematic mind-body strategies -- to enhance the recovery process. Block has pioneered this "middle ground" approach to cancer care and optimal health -- designing a total treatment plan that is tailored to the precise needs of each patient, using a unique set of clinical and laboratory assessments. The Block Center is breaking new ground with the creation and development of Cancer Rehab as an innovative treatment modality, and currently is the only private North American medical center using chrono-modulated chemotherapy. While the Block Center is a full treatment clinic, it is involved in collaborative research with MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas as a Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) and is also engaged in clinical cancer research with other university facilities in the United States and Israel.

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