Traditional treatment not working, Windsor woman seeks alternative care in Mexico – Windsor Star

Ilona Wojdylo, from centre, is surrounded by her children Christian, from left, Patrick, and Jessica May 1,2017. The family is raising money to help send Ilona to Mexico to receive alternative medicine cancer treatments. Jason Kryk / Windsor Star

Ilona Wojdylo has endured a slewoftraditional treatments for breast and spinal cancer over the years, with limitedsuccess.

After shedding50 of her 150 pounds and sufferingworsening posture, now with Stage 4 spinal cancer and little hope for treatment in Canada, the 47-year-old Windsor womanwill soon try a controversial route that more and more people believe in: alternative medicine.

She will head for three weeks to a healthfacility in Mexico that offers a long list of treatments allowed in Canada only as complementary, not as replacement, for traditionalchemotherapy and radiation. Still, many people swear by the less-intrusive-but-less-proven approach.

Im very excited, Wojdylo said. Im sick and tired of being sick. I cannot wait to leave.

She will spend three weeks at the CHIPSA Hospital in Tijuana, from May 15 to June 6, thanks to a GoFundMe campaign that raised $26,000-plus in three weeks, suggestingthat a lot of people support alternative medicine.

But the treatment is expensive: $38,000, not including travel costs. So she still has a ways to go to cover the tab. Nevertheless, it costs less than it mightinCanada and the U.S. and shes encouraged by the support so far.

Im so emotional, Wojdylo said. I was a basket case for a week. I was bawling. I couldnt believe how nice people are.

Besides friends and family, Wojdylo has received support from complete strangers, including from across North America and as far away as Australia.

She has heard from sevenpeople around the world who say CHIPSA helpedsaved their lives.

So after undergoing traditional treatment here that included chemotherapy, radiation and tamoxifen all of which made her sick, lose her hair, and feel tired she will try a smorgasbord oftreatment in Mexico.

Some are more accepted than others, such as immunotherapy.

In the last few decades immunotherapy has become an important part of treating some types of cancer, reads the American Cancer Society website. Newer types of immune treatments are now being studied, and theyll impact how we treat cancer in the future.

Ilona Wojdylo who is battling cancer, is pictured at her home on May 1, 2017. Wojdylo is raising money to help send her to Mexico to receive alternative medicine treatments. Jason Kryk / Windsor Star

She will also receive insulin potentiation therapy, where insulin helps target cancer cells in what some call low-dose chemotherapy. Invented in 1932, its still considered experimental, though a number of facilities claim positive results.

Wojdylowill also undergovitamin C and K3 treatment. Shell also tryhyperbaric oxygen treatment, and thermotherapy (high-temperature treatment), both of which reportedly kill cancer cells, and even coffee enemas, which are said to removetoxins fromthe system. Plus,she will experiencea lifestyle change, including with a daily mixture of raw juices, and will learn to cook healthy foods.

Finally, the facility offersrelaxation techniques, such as yoga and art therapy, and a pool not to mention Mexican sun.

From an established Canadian perspective, however, these therapies remainlargely unproven.

The big problem is the evidence, said Dr. Caroline Hamm, an oncologist at Windsor Regional Hospital. We have evidence around everything we say at the hospital. But if you go down to Mexico, theres no one overseeing this, saying, What are the trials? What are the benefits? What is the likelihood of response?

They can say whatever they want. So maybe it could work. But theres no proof its going to be beneficial.

Hamm said patients considering alternative medicineshould consider everything, including success rates and finances since such treatment is not covered by Canadian medicare.

People grab on to ideas, and I so understand it, said Hamm, who worriesabout possible false hope. Nobody wants to die. I just think its important that people understand all the ramifications. I dont know that I have heard anything clear that I would trust coming out of some of the clinics in Mexico.

Hamm said as an example, it seems like a majority of cancer patients in Windsor have tried dandelion rootextract, but most people dont respond to it. Some do, but limited success hardly makes fora surefire bet.

Besides, Hamm said,approved treatments in Canada have evolved.

There is a lot of excitement right now in oncology with all the treatments that have become available, Hamm said. There are a whole bunch of new immuno-oncology drugs and targeted therapies that are just incredible. And there are virtually no side effects.

There truly is a revolution of cancer therapy going on.

Chemotherapy and radiation are also still used because they often work though they cause nausea, fatigue and hair loss. But anti-nausea drugs are better than ever and, as Hamm says, side-effects ofchemo and radiation are better than side-effects of cancer.

Naturopathic doctors say many complementary treatments improve wellness for cancer patients.

In a case where a patient has actually gone through all the different lines of conventional treatment, its understandable that the patient would seek treatment in different jurisdictionsor outside the conventional framework, said Dr. Eric Marsden, a naturopathic doctor involved ingovernment and public relations with the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors. Where we get really concerned iswhen patients are trying to avoid conventional treatments.

Marsden said a fewfacilities in places like Mexico and Germany provide quality care, but manydont, so its a buyer-beware situation.

He saida number of treatments Wojdylo will undergo have some research behind them, but are not as proven as other methods.

His Marsden Centre in Vaughan, Ont., also provides alternative treatments such as thermotherapy and vitamin C treatments, and promotes healthy living as a way to improve wellness.

Patients come here and say, I want an alternative,' he said, adding that patients should always try conventional treatment as well. My point is, why are we dogmatic? I say most important is treatment that works, whether its natural or otherwise.

In Wojdylos case, traditional treatment hasnt cured her.

To fightbreast cancer in 2003 she underwent six chemoand 21 radiation sessions, which was tough but seemed to work. Yetwhen Wojdylo slipped onchurch steps in 2015 her world came crashing down with her.

She had just delivered bouquetsfrom the family-owned K. Michaels Flowers to a wedding.

The crash landing hurt, but not as much as her back did within two days. The pain keptintensifying and soon she could barely walk. It turns out, she fractured a vertebra missing 90 per cent of the bone because of a tumour.

The breast cancer she thought she beatin 2003 hadmetastasized to her spine.

She went through fivemore radiation sessions. It didnt kill all the rogue cells though it took its toll on her.

I felt terrible, said the Polish-born woman who came to Canada in 1990 speaking no English. I was tired. I am 47 now and as you age it gets even harder. I had such fatigue.

So her three adult children support her Mexican journey.

At this point you might as well do it because theres nothing thats really helping here, her daughter Jessica, 23, said. So its a risk worth taking.

How hopeful is Wojdylo?

Oh, 100 per cent, she said, noting that she watched a video of an American woman in hospice care who went for treatment in Mexico for a brain tumour and left much healthier.

When I looked at that video it took me a second to make thedecision to go.

cpearson@postmedia.com

Cancercampaign

To donate to Ilona Wojdylos fund-raising campaign for alternative cancer treatment in Mexico, visit her GoFund Me page listed under Ilonaw.

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Traditional treatment not working, Windsor woman seeks alternative care in Mexico - Windsor Star