Our Members

Douglas Lundy, MD (with wife Peggy)

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer after a biopsy in July 2019. This came about because my routine PSA had progressively rose and a subsequent investigatory MRI was very suspicious for cancer. Throughout the entire course, I never had a symptom, and were it not for the PSA checks, I may have been facing metastatic cancer at this point.

I was able to safely delay the surgery till December 2019 so that we could celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Fortunately, the world had not yet shut down due to COVID-19. I had a robotic prostatectomy performed by a good friend at MD Anderson.

The surgery was not fun but not terrible either. The Foley was not fun but bearable. I had surgery on the 4th of December, and I returned to work (on call) on the 26th of December.

I was able to regain full bladder control in about ten days and normal function was restored shortly after that.

Unfortunately, I contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, and I was so sick that I probably should have been admitted to the hospital. I came too close with that illness. In retrospect, I was probably immunocompromised due to the surgery three months earlier.

I was 55 years old when I had surgery, and the thought of losing either of those functions for the rest of my life was daunting. I am so thankful that God spared me from many challenges with this cancer and that I was able to be diagnosed and treated before it metastasized.

To date, now 3 ½ years later, my PSA remains undetectable.

 I have fielded calls from many orthopaedic surgeons about to undergo surgery, and I have hopefully allayed some of their fears with my story. I am always happy to help, and I can discuss the intimate and graphic details that scare men most about this.

I wrote my story up in AAOS Now - A Brush with Cancer: Insights from the Other Side (aaos.org)

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William Cross, MD

My name is Woodie Cross and I have been in practice at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, since graduating my trauma fellowship at Harborview Medical Center in 2010. My practice blossoming and I was enjoying the growing opportunities to travel and teach. On the home front, I was also greatly enjoying my young family with now a 12 y/o son and 14 y/o daughter.   

In 2017, after 6 months of lymphadenopathy in my groin, I decided to get them checked out fearing I had prostate cancer. Many tests and a CT-guided biopsy later, I discovered I had Mantle Cell Lymphoma – a rare cancer more seen in the older population around 70. My family and I were in shock for quite some time. We sought local opinions from Mayo and also flew around to get other opinions from around the country. We opted to proceed with and watchful waiting program for 2-3 years and then when labs started to change, I moved on with treatment. 

I spent nearly 4 months undergoing aggressive chemotherapy and then underwent an autologous stem cell transplant. All in all – I was out of the practice for year. It just happened to be at the same time as the pandemic! My chemo and stem cell course were complicated by tremendous fevers stemming from getting the flu on top of no immune system! It was a brutal time, but we made it through. 

After the year away, I returned to work with a light schedule for a month or so. That was July 2020. Now, nearly 2.5 years later, I am back to full speed at work and enjoying remission and praying that is lasts forever. MCL has a bad track record of recurring so with lifestyle changes, family, and friend support, we are doing our best to stave off any return. 

My diagnosis is something that never really leaves my/our mind. There have been many changes at work and in my personal life. Some good, some bad. There have been interesting changes that I could not have predicted. I am very open to talking about my experiences and tools I used/use to keep plugging along. If I can provide any help, guidance, support, or even lend an ear to hear someone’s story, that would bring me great joy!! Please feel free to contact me at cross.william@mayo.edu or Woodie.cross@gmail.com

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James Kellam, MD

In 2020 at my routine annual physical, I had my PSA done. It returned elevated and I was referred to a urologist. Following the referral, I had an MRI which showed that I had prostate cancer. I had a moderate type (Gleason7 ). In consultation with the urologist, he offered me many choices from doing nothing and observation to a radical prostatectomy. While I was sitting thinking about this, he also said oh by the way I have another option that is we are testing a new ablation system, and your tumor is ideal for it. What this meant was that I would receive an infusion of gold micro particles, and then 36 hours later I would undergo as an outpatient laser ablation of my tumor. The micro particles of gold concentrate in the tumor and then the laser is inserted under ultrasound guidance, and activates the gold to a very high local temperature, which then destroys the tumor. This technique is only become recently available due to the ability to fuse MRI with ultrasound in the OR to guide the surgeon to the appropriate area. I had the tumor ablated as an outpatient requiring only 36 hours of a catheter for prophylactic reasons. Since then, my PSA has dropped to normal and repeat biopsies have shown the tumor has resolved and today I am cancer free. I must say that I feel very lucky to have happened to meet Dr. Canfield, who is the chief of urology at UT Houston and have him put me into this experimental treatment trial. I have included two links to early results and a video that I did with Dr. Canfield for the American Urological Association about the procedure.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIX_TeFQXjA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfirCA-9L6k)

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John Gorczyca, MD

Three and a half years ago, I noticed a lump in my neck. It got smaller, and then grew larger, so an ENT colleague performed ultrasound and aspiration in his office, which revealed oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. I was planning to have treatment locally, but my wife arranged for a second opinion at a major research center where I was told I was eligible to participate in a trial in which I would receive less chemotherapy (2 cycles instead of 3) and less radiation therapy (30 Gy instead of 70 Gy) if, with close monitoring by F-MISO PET/CT scan, the tumor was responding well to the treatment. The survival rate of treatment is good enough that minimizing the significant risks of chemotherapy and radiation for head/neck cancer was worthwhile.

I don’t remember much of the treatment after the first week, except that I was very weak and had difficulty eating. I remember many other patients at that center who were suffering much more than I was and were responding with courage and dignity, so I felt very fortunate that I was receiving a less arduous treatment regimen. I lost 23 pounds during treatment, and it took many months to regain my appetite and weight.

I returned to work after being out for 3 months. I had given up some administrative responsibilities and my partners (who had taken on additional call while I was out) allowed me to ease back into the call schedule, so the return to work went smoothly until covid hit a few months later.

I recently had a three year follow-up evaluation which showed no evidence of cancer. I have few symptoms of treatment and am grateful to have received a de-escalated treatment course which could not have been provided at my regional cancer center.

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Andy and Jamie Schmidt, Bend, Oregon, July ‘21 (75 % through chemotherapy)

In early April 2021, just after I had returned from meeting my two adult children for a few days of spring skiing in Utah, I had my first-ever colonoscopy - at age 60.  Until that time, I had been blessed with perfect health.  My colonoscopy and an immediate CT revealed that I had rectal cancer, but without any evidence of metastasis. This all happened on a Friday afternoon, and within a week I was able to see a colorectal surgeon, have an MRI for further staging, and see an oncologist. The following week I had a vascular access port placed, and within 3 weeks of my diagnosis I was able to start an 18-week course of chemotherapy.  After a month’s respite, I started a 5 ½ week course of radiation therapy. I finished radiation in mid – October and then had a low-anterior resection with temporary ileostomy in mid-December.  The surgical margins were clear; the total neoadjuvant therapy protocol I received resulted in a 90% reduction in my tumor volume compared to the initial imaging.  I was able have my ileostomy reversed after 2 months, and have been going through Q3 months surveillance since; happily with no evidence of any recurrence.

I will never be able to thank my family, my medical care team, and my partners enough. I told my partners immediately after I was diagnosed, and without even asking, I was taken completely off the call schedule for the indefinite future.  My hospital leadership completely supported me and frequently asked how I was and whether I needed anything.   I was able to continue working in some fashion through most of my treatment.  During chemotherapy, I took Wed-Friday off every 2 weeks because that’s when I was receiving my infusions, but I was able to work the week in-between, although doing lighter-than-usual clinics and simple surgeries. I was able to “ramp up” just a little during those “respite” months, but my colleagues never put pressure on me and allowed me to do what I felt I was able to.  During my entire course of treatment, I was able to continue in my administrative role attending virtual meetings, even when I was on medical leave after surgery.  Being able to work was important for me because I knew my wife (who is also a physician and has her own patients to care for) and my colleagues were all making sacrifices for me, and being able to contribute in some small way made me feel a little better about that.  Perhaps working also kept my mind occupied and did not leave me much time to dwell on what I was going through.

I was lucky to come through all of this largely unscathed. Of course, I have physical scars and some mild neuropathy in my toes, but I am lucky. I also learned a lot about myself, having never been a “patient” before. I learned I was okay not working, which I think will help whenever it’s time to contemplate retiring.  I knew I could trust my partners, and I was proud to see the department carry on so well.  I learned more about our health care system, seeing it from the opposite side. I was treated in a different health care system than the one in which I work for many reasons. First, I knew it would be awkward for me to undergo the surgical care I needed from people I know. I also know the pressure one feels as a surgeon caring for a colleague, and I didn’t want to put someone in that position.  I received fantastic care from everyone as an “anonymous” patient.  However, I also recognize I was not a regular patient in any of this, and that I benefited from privilege as a physician / surgeon being able to engage the health care system so quickly.  I hope we can create a healthcare system that works as efficiently for all.

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Matthew Patrick and Family

In June of 2020, I was being evaluated for reflux and GERD.  On a Friday afternoon I had a CT scan performed to evaluate for a possible hiatal hernia.  The ordering doctor told me to text him when the CT was done, and he would let me know what the scan showed.  So, I did just that…but he never texted back.  Ididn’t want to be intrusive, so I just looked at it myself.  While sitting in the parking lot, waiting to pick up dinner, I read the report.  While I didn’t have a hiatal hernia, I did have a “2.5 x2.1 infiltrating perihilar process in the right lung with right-sided hilar and subcarinal adenopathy highly concerning for primary lung cancer.”   At age 37, I was diagnosed with Stage 3A Non-Small Cell Lung Adenocarcinoma. 

Over the next several days, I had my biopsy and staging studies performed.  I was also able to meet with my oncologist, pulmonologist, and CT surgeon.  Eleven days after my scan, I started chemotherapy.  In August, I underwent a right lung resection.  Three weeks after surgery, I resumed chemotherapy.  After completing four rounds of chemotherapy, I started an oral targeted therapy, which I am still taking.  I am now three years out and fortunately still cancer free. 

I am fortunate to work in an academic center with excellent oncologic care and services.  I was able to receive all my care within our institution which helped to fast track my treatment and initial management.  I am also fortunate to have amazing partners at work.  They were supportive and understanding of my situation.  We were able to seamlessly transition care of my patients to their practices while I was out.  In total, I took 6 months of medical leave and ramped up to full speed over a 3-month period when I returned.  Finally, I am forever grateful and blessed to have a loving and supportive family that dropped everything in their lives to help me get through this.   

I think the hardest part of this process is dealing with unknown…. Is the cancer going to come back?  Am I going to be there for my kids in 20 years?  Is it going to kill me?  Will I be able to work again?  Will I be able to do the same things I did before?  Chemo and surgery weren’t fun, but it was the unknowns that kept me up at night. 

The diagnosis and process has definitely changed my outlook and priorities in life.  I think it has made me a better clinician.  I am more understanding and empathetic with my patients.  I also have prioritized spending time with my family, and I have learned to leave work at work.   

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my experience or if I can help in any way.

Matthew Patrick

patrimr@ortho.ufl.edu