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Martin A. is the first to acknowledge that even science falls a bit short of explaining what happened to him and his wife, Millie, at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the spring of 2005: "Divine intervention, whatever you want to call it," he says. "We think there was a miracle involved."
In 2004, Mr. A. was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The prognosis was grim, but his medical team did not want to give up. After months of radiation and chemotherapy treatments, designed to shrink the tumor enough to make its surgical removal possible, Mr. A.'s team of treating physicians - led by Carlos Fernandez-del Castillo, MD, of MGH Surgery - decided to operate.
"When I went under (the anesthesia), I knew my prospects were not very good," says Mr. A. "And when I came to, Dr. Fernandez said, 'Your tumor had negative margins. There's nothing wrong with your liver or your lymph nodes. You're cancer-free.'"
The couple is enormously thankful to Dr. Fernandez, and have equally warm praise for the other physicians, nurses and caregivers involved in Mr. A.'s incredible journey. "The people involved in cancer care at the MGH have a special aptitude," Mrs. A. says. "They are so caring, warm and upbeat. The MGH is just a great institution."
Mr. and Mrs. A. have chosen to demonstrate their gratitude with a generous gift to benefit pancreatic cancer research at the hospital. The gift is not their first to the MGH - they have been committed supporters for more than 20 years. They hope that their gift will help save the lives of other patients. "It's so important to have facilities like the MGH, to help people in situations like the one we were in," Mrs. A explains.
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