North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System Inc.
Staten Island University Hospital,
475 Seaview Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305
Focus on Health is published by the Public Relations Department of Staten Island University Hospital (718-226-2483).
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© 2015. Printed in USA.
MICHAEL DOWLING
President and CEO,
North Shore-LIJ
Health System
RAMON SOTO
Senior VP, Chief
Marketing and
Communications
Officer
TERRY LYNAM
VP, Public Relations
ANTHONY FERRERI
Executive Vice President, North
Shore-LIJ Health System, Chief
Affiliation Officer and Regional
Executive Director for Westchester
DONNA PROSKE
Executive Director,
Staten Island University Hospital
ARLEEN RYBACK AND
CHRISTIAN PRESTON
Editors
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BACK IN THE BAND
MR. OLIVERI'S PROBLEMS first surfaced in
June 2013.
"I wasn't feeling well, so I went to the
emergency department," Mr. Oliveri said.
Soon after, Mr. Oliveri was having heart
surgery to bypass five plaque-occluded coronary
arteries and to repair his calcified aorta, the body's
main artery. During the surgery, a piece of plaque
had broken off, causing a stroke in the process.
"I owe a lot to Drs. McGinn and Bekheit,"
Mr. Oliveri said, referring to his heart surgeon,
Joseph McGinn, MD, chair of surgery at Staten
Island University Hospital and director of the
Heart Institute, and Soad Bekheit, MD, director
of electrophysiology at SIUH.
The two months that followed the surgery
and stroke were difficult for Mr. Oliveri.
"I was a bad patient. I made everyone's
life difficult," Mr. Oliveri said apologetically
while speaking to 70 guests at the SIUH
Rehabilitation Medicine Department's recent
Reunion Day celebration. "I had weakness in
one arm and one leg, garbled speech and could
not hold a guitar. The biggest thing that kept
me going was getting back in the band."
During his speech, Mr. Oliveri's band, The
Remnants, provided the background music
as he thanked his health care team in a clear
voice, mentioning by name Jenny Sanci,
his cardiothoracic nurse; Maria Anderson,
his speech therapist; Marianne Koshy, his
occupational therapist; Mark Mendez, his
physical therapist; and Kristin Lambiase, his
occupational therapist.
"Despite my bad attitude, they stuck with
me," said Mr. Oliveri, the band's rhythm
guitarist, lead singer and background vocalist.
"They wholeheartedly did what they had to do
to get me back to health. They saved my life."
With his beaming wife, Terry, at his side,
Mr. Oliveri said, "It really means something
to have the kind of support they gave me.
They kept telling me, 'You can get through it,'
and I did."
Peter Oliveri worked his way back to life's happy moments, but it wasn't easy.
