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A Survivor's StoryLorraine Cirillo: a patient pioneer |
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Lorraine Cirillo, 63, of North Haven, received two pieces of bad news at once: She had lung cancer, and it had already metastasized (spread) to her brain. "My first instinct was to protect my husband and two grown children-how do you tell your family something like this?" An MRI ordered after Cirillo developed chronic headaches revealed the malignant brain tumor. Further examinations revealed that the cancer had actually spread to her brain from her lung, where the original tumor was found. "For a long time, I was sort of in denial," Cirillo says. "I couldn't say the word 'cancer' even to myself. I just called it 'my illness.' One day, though, I slipped off to have what ended up being one of my last cigarettes, and it just hit me: I have cancer." Shortly after her diagnosis, Lorraine had traditional surgery at Saint Raphael's to remove the upper left lobe of her lung. Though she didn't realize it at the time, she also joined a small group of medical pioneers when she underwent minimally invasive stereotactic radiosurgery to address her brain tumor. "It was a very new procedure when I had it," Cirillo says. "I had never even heard of it. But I had a team of doctors I trusted with my life. They explained everything to me, told me what would happen every step of the way. I had an MRI and a CT scan, so they knew the exact location of my brain tumor. The stereotactic procedure allows doctors to zero in with very strong radiation, which helps protect healthy tissue in the area surrounding the tumor. It's amazing what they can do now. You don't even feel the stereotactic radiosurgery, but it saved my life." The stereotactic procedure is painless, and because there is no incision, as there would be with traditional surgery, recovery is rapid. Cirillo also responded well to the radiation with few side effects, and chemotherapy completed her successful treatment. "Throughout my whole treatment regiment," she says, "I never even had to stay in bed." Today Cirillo is coming up on seven years cancer free. Though she is now retired, within a year of her initial diagnosis she felt well enough to return to her job in purchasing and inventory control. Even more importantly, the supportive family she was so worried about frightening with her cancer diagnosis has grown. With a young grandson now on the scene, Cirillo is even more grateful for her new lease on life. "My treatment gave me the opportunity to be an active and involved grandmother -- a beautiful gift." |
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