UChicago Cancer Center Team at Silver Cross Saves Homer Glen Woman from Aggressive Uterine Cancer

At nearly 65 years of age a few years ago, Judy Maples began unexpectedly spotting. And that pain in her left side was concerning, too. 

“I went to my GP in July 2021 and had an ultrasound and an MRI, and a pap smear, and the results showed something wasn’t right. So my doctor referred me to Dr. Nita Lee,” said Maples, of Homer Glen. 

Dr. Lee, a board-certified gynecologic oncologist and gynecologic surgeon who specializes in treating gynecologic cancers, performed an office uterine biopsy and confirmed that Maples had endometrial cancer, also called uterine cancer. While most uterine cancers are caught early and can be treated with surgery only, Maples had an extremely rare aggressive type, uterine carcinosarcoma. 

She discussed that diagnosis with her colleagues from the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, which included Dr. Anne McCall, a renowned radiation oncologist whose specialties include gynecologic cancers, and Dr. Tabraiz Mohammed, who specializes in hematology and oncology. 

Dr. Mohammed and Dr. McCall said they collaborate often, giving patients the benefit of treatment options reviewed by a multidisciplinary team. This approach with Silver Cross offers patients in the south suburbs easy access to UCM specialty care, Dr. Mohammed said. 

And they ended up needing all of their many skills to treat Maples. 

Not Textbook After All

Dr. Lee scheduled Maples’ surgery and when she had to be unexpectedly out due to COVID, Dr. Josephine Kim, one of her board-certified colleagues in gynecologic oncology, quickly stepped in to avoid delay and handled the extensive operation. In addition to performing a hysterectomy, Dr. Kim performed a complex debulking surgery to remove all visible tumors that had spread in the abdomen including her appendix.  

“I came through that operation feeling great,” Maples said. “Then they set me up for six sessions of chemo. But I only made it through three when I started having more pain.” 

Dr. Mohammed said he, Dr. McCall and Dr. Lee initially had agreed a “textbook” cocktail of chemotherapy for uterine cancer would be the best course of action, as opposed to radiation treatments. 

But after Maples began having more pain during the course of treatment, a CT scan showed a tumor had recurred despite chemotherapy and was growing in her pelvic area and getting dangerously close to her bowel. 

“That generally is not a good sign,” Dr. Lee said. “But Judy was incredibly motivated to fight it. So, the three of us had to think outside the box to come up with a different plan to approach this cancer which was behaving much more aggressively than average. 

“This is why it is important that we as oncology providers collaborate and really understand the range of cancer treatments available that can be older and traditional or newer drugs just recently approved.” 

An Aggressive Plan

The three doctors came up with an older chemotherapy combination often used for sarcomas based on her pathology. The plan was to administer several treatments, and depending on her response, to then decide if surgery was an option. 

“The thought was to administer the chemotherapy to attempt to reduce the amount of cancer and treat microscopic disease, which could allow for repeat surgery to become an option, as well as allow for a more successful surgery,” Dr. Mohammed said. Her tumors responded making her a surgical candidate. 

Dr. Lee performed an aggressive second surgery in February 2022 and said she was relieved to see the cancer had been close to the bowel but not invaded so that a bowel resection or ostomy could be avoided allowing for faster recovery. 

Dr. Mohammed said Dr. Lee did an amazing job with the extremely intricate surgery. Then, Maples was back on the aggressive chemo through May 2022. 

“It was tough on her,” Dr. Mohammed said of Maples. “She needed to be hospitalized a couple times for dehydration. But even after the first course of treatment before the second surgery, we could see it was working. There were dead cancer cells due to the chemo.” 

Importance of Attitude

The three doctors said Maples’ general good health going in to the battle and her willingness to report her symptoms immediately helped her recovery, as did her amazing attitude. 

“Judy is one of the most upbeat people I have ever met,” Dr. McCall said. “That goes a long way toward a successful recovery.” 

Since the pandemic, Maples, a Comcast safety specialist, said she’s been able to work from home. “And I continued to do that through my treatments at Silver Cross. That kept me motivated. 

“My husband, John, was an amazing nursemaid, making sure I had everything I needed. 

“Now? I feel better than I ever have in my life. I have tons of energy. I want to get back to golf and bike riding.” 

Forever Thankful

Maples will continue to have CT scans every three months or so, Dr. McCall said, probably for the rest of her life. But the doctor added Maples has her life back thanks to a collaboration among her University of Chicago colleagues, shared for the past 10 years at Silver Cross Hospital. 

“This is just one example of my working with Dr. Kim and Dr. Lee, who did a wonderful job with Judy’s surgeries, and Dr. Mohammed to come up with the best course of action for our patients,” Dr. McCall said. “I can’t overstate how important such collaboration is to successful outcomes.” 

Dr. Mohammed agreed. 

“And the beauty of it is that we are able to do this for patients at Silver Cross in New Lenox.” 

Maples is forever thankful. 

“I can’t express how grateful I am to have the amazing U of C team of Dr. Lee, Dr. Mohammed and Dr. McCall for my care.  I truly believe it’s because of their sincere concern for their patients, along with incredible expertise in their field, that I am where I am today in this journey.” 

For more information on cancer services available at Silver Cross, visit Cancer Care & Treatment or call (815) 300-1400. 

About Uterine Cancer

Uterine cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer that women can be diagnosed with in the United States. About 60,000 women a year in the US are diagnosed. The number of women being diagnosed is increasing every year especially the high-risk types that Judy Maples had. Most patients are diagnosed after menopause but all women may be at risk. Symptoms of uterine cancer can include bleeding, spotting or irregular discharge especially after menopause, pelvic pain, or changes in bowel or bladder function. Be sure to advocate for yourself and others and report symptoms and get linked to your providers for the appropriate workup.