Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/137462
CT scan on August 1, Dr. Balar declared her surgery a success. To be certain all of the cancer was gone, Janie, on Dr. Balar's recommendation, had radiation treatments at CentraState with Dr. Tsai. Again, her body handled the radiation very well. Janie keeps her regular checkups, and her only medication is a daily baby aspirin and regular vitamins. She credits her CentraState team of physicians and clinicians for her successful treatment. "Everything ran smoothly because the doctors knew each other and the care was coordinated, Janie remarks. " "They were even together at meetings discussing my case. "Many of my friends asked why I didn't go into Manhattan to get treated, and I told them I trusted Dr. Feingold and he referred me to these doctors. I knew that if the doctors weren't good I could go up to the city, but I'm glad I didn't; I have such faith in Dr. Balar. Why do I need to go into the city? CentraState is top notch. " Today, Janie finds a greater appreciation in each day. "I have hope, and I pray, " she says. "In the back of my mind, I wonder if the cancer will come back, but if it does, I'll fight it again with the help of my team of doctors at CentraState. " STEWART AUSTIN As a lifelong runner and basketball player, Stewart Austin paid the price with a painful left knee. When the pain became debilitating, Stewart visited Michael Greller, MD, boardcertified, sports medicine fellowshiptrained orthopedic surgeon on staff at CentraState. Dr. Greller diagnosed Stewart with a torn meniscus and recommended corrective surgery after conservative treatment failed. Stewart scheduled his surgery in early November, and, as standard pre-surgery procedure, went for blood work and a chest X-ray. A few days later, Stewart received a message to call Dr. Greller's office immediately. Stewart was stunned by the news—the chest X-ray revealed a mass on his lung. Stewart followed up with his www.centrastate.com primary care physician, who scheduled a CT scan. Stewart, a healthy nonsmoker with no family history of lung cancer, who was asymptomatic, had a tumor in his right lung, which his doctor told him was clearly cancer—stage 1B. Stewart recalls: "I'm not a clinician, but even I could see the tumor on the X-ray. " "To put it mildly, I was shocked, Stewart " explains. "My father was the youngest of his siblings to die, and he was 96. I fully expected to live well into my 90s, but now I no longer take that for granted. " His doctor told him, "the two people you want to see are Drs. Bocage and Caccavale. The following week, " just before Thanksgiving, he went to see Dr. Bocage and was scheduled for video-assisted thoracic surgery on December 5. After asking the advice of friends, Stewart selected board-certified hematologist/ oncologist Kenneth Robert Caccavale, MD, Nahum, DO, as board-certified his oncologist. thoracic surgeon While the surgery removed the tumor and the pathology reports showed margins were clean, with no lymph node involvement, Dr. Nahum recommended that Stewart follow up with four chemotherapy treatments every three weeks, a decision with which the CentraState Lung Tumor Board, a group of oncologists, radiation oncologists and pathologists who review cases biweekly, agreed. Cancer survivor Stewart Austin advises friends to ask for a chest X-ray with their annual check-up. "At my wife's insistence, I went to an academic medical facility in Philadelphia for a second opinion, but the doctor there agreed with my treatment protocol, Stewart explains. "I am " very happy with the care I received at CentraState. The doctors were knowledgeable, the nurses were great and Sharon Lorfing [CentraState's nurse navigator] was very helpful. " Stewart admits, with a smile, that every time his left knee hurts, he is thankful. His doctors believe his tumor had been growing for three to four years, and Dr. Caccavale confirmed that the tumor was very close to being inoperable. "My advice to friends is ask for a chest X-ray with your annual physical, " Stewart says. "If it had not been for my pre-surgery chest X-ray, things would have been very different. " For more information about CentraState's cancer services, visit www.centrastatecancercenter.com or scan the QR code to the left with your smartphone. HD Summer 2013 7