Patient Testimonials
The Biggest Battle of His Life
John Hart is the type of fellow who never sits still. A Vietnam vet who worked as a service representative for the South Jersey Gas Company, he was always on the go, using his mechanical talents to fix any problem. But several years ago, Hart, 61, encountered a problem he couldn’t fix. It began when he noticed that sitting in a vehicle or a chair made him uncomfortable. Hart thought he was suffering from hemorrhoids, so he visited a local physician, received medication and felt better. Shortly after, however, he was waking up in pain during the night.
“I’m not a hypochondriac, but going into the bathroom was becoming a living nightmare,” Hart recalls. “My wife was about to have knee replacement surgery, and as soon as she recovered, I planned to go back to the doctor.”
But in September 2003, when he was unable to sit through his brother’s funeral, Hart’s wife and children insisted that he visit the physician immediately. The doctor scheduled a colonoscopy for Hart to screen for disease.
Results of his colonoscopy revealed riveting news: a cancerous mass was growing in a section of Hart’s rectum. He had been struck by colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer affecting women and men in the United States. (In 2004, about 146,000 new cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed in America, resulting in about 56,000 deaths. Colonoscopy screenings for men and women over age 50 can detect polyps, which may eventually develop into cancer, making colorectal cancer a preventable disease.)
Hart made an appointment at Cooper and was examined by Mark J. Pello, M.D., head of the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery and voted one of the “Top Doctors in America.” Dr. Pelo carefully explained that Hart’s condition required major surgery, the removal of part of his rectum and the placement of a colostomy bag.
“The information about my cancer and the colostomy was all new to me, but Dr. Pelo and (Clinical Nurse Program Coordinator) Kay Hannigan explained in simple terms exactly what my situation was and what they needed to do to correct it,” Hart says matter-of-factly.
Although the news was initially overwhelming for Hart, his wife Joanne and their two grown children, Cooper’s gastrointestinal team provided the family with details about his illness, treatment and recovery process.
“Every staff member that I met at Cooper took the time to answer all of my questions and explain the procedures and technology that were involved in my care,” Hart says. “I was just amazed at the intelligence and talent of these people.”
Along with the gastrointestinal team, experts at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey at Cooper, including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and colostomy specialists, participated in Hart’s care. Cooper is the only facility in southern New Jersey partnering with The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, a collaboration that enabled Hart to gain access to cutting edge scientific advances in his fight against his cancer.
By early December 2003, only a few weeks after first visiting Cooper, Hart underwent an intricate five hour surgery to remove his cancerous mass.
“I was more nervous driving to the hospital than I was leaving for Vietnam. There is no pleasure in having surgery, but the staff at Cooper really helped to make me as comfortable and relaxed as possible,” Hart says.
After the successful removal of the cancerous mass, Hart returned home five days later. Out on a disability leave from work, he soon began eight months of intensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatments at the Cooper University Hospital complex at Voorhees. These treatments were administered under the constant and expert supervision of Dr. Alexandre Hageboutros and Dr. Samuel Hughes. Mr. Hart went through several cycles of treatments, including weeks of daily chemo and radiation, and was hospitalized once when the therapy regiment overwhelmed him with fever and vomiting.
Today, Hart enjoys the retirement that he planned on prior to his illness and keeps his mechanical talents sharp with projects around his home.
He feels stronger every day and is convinced that choosing treatment at Cooper saved his life.