Wellness Wednesday is sponsored by Intermountain Health.
In what way do you feel strong? For Mike Drakos, the answer would have been easy. He was the strongest guy in most rooms he entered.
“I had a twenty-eight waist and a six, pack that would blow your mind,” he said.
Unfortunately, Mike lost that strength and came close to losing his life. But a revolutionary treatment eradicated the cancer that ravaged his body.
Mike's confidence in his strength may have been the end of him. his symptoms got more and more extreme.
“Paralysis, pain was constant, couldn't drink enough, you know, couldn't eat anything. I was too dumb to listen, didn't go to the doctor. I said my poor wife for like three months was just begging me. Just begging me…” said Drakos.
He finally listened to his wife and saw a doctor.
“He just pulls me into the room because this isn't work related. He says you’ve got a mass, cancerous mass. He showed me the CT and it had like a death cloud on it.”
Mike went through traditional treatments surgery, chemo, it seemed effective. He even went on a Florida vacation with his family. Like the old strong Mike. He and his daughter swam with manatees. That's a Mike thing to do.
“I'm so proud of all my children, my grandchildren. I just keep telling everybody trying to joke about it. I'm just too dumb to die. No, I have a reason to live.”
But the pain returned.
“I got a hold of my oncologist, David Castle, so he ordered up a PET scan. That's when he found out I was loaded. He says I'm gonna sign you up for the Pluvicto.”
Pluvicto is a highly specialized drug the FDA approved two years ago this week.
Dr. Eric Hu is Medical Director for Molecular Imaging and Therapy for Intermountain Health.
“Mike represents a subset of patients who are essentially at the end of prostate cancer treatment. They tried every line of treatment and very, very little has done to change that disease curve. It slowed it down, right. It's turned into a long duration. But they're approaching a point in which the cell cells have mutated and they're running out of options.
Dr. Hu is part of a team mastering this new weapon in the fight against cancer.
“It's like a heat seeking missile. So now we know exactly what their disease is, and when we treat them, we know exactly what we're treating. It's not a shotgun blasts like chemotherapy is going very specific for what we need,” said Hu.
Unlike that missile Pluvicto won't find an alternate target. It only goes after prostate cancer cells. It delivers a tiny dose of radiation that clings to the cell until it's dead.
Hu said, “Mike's images are pretty remarkable. So, he had like 10-20 lesions, PET scan, first scan a little bit lower. Next scan, lower. Most are gone actually, except his shoulder. Next scan, a little bit lower. The final scan…after a sixth scan, just a little bit in the shoulder. Everything has resolved.”
Mike still recovering and thinking 10 years ahead with a new goal.
“Trying to get my wife taken care of. She's got stage four cancer too.”
What doctors have done is given Mike the chance to be a good caretaker.
“And to alleviate that burden, at least for one of the at least for one of the members of the family. We know it means a lot,” said Hu.
While no one would choose Mike's ordeal, there's no denying he got lucky with Pluvicto and the team at Intermountain Health. Their treatment will become more available for those who get a diagnosis.
Mike’s advice?
“Get detected early. Don't wait.”
Mike feels like he can’t thank his doctors and nurses enough, so you can help him by getting to your doctor on a regular schedule.
Pluvicto only targets prostate cancer, but researchers are in a race to find similar drugs to fight other cancers.
