Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology

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Patient Success Stories

Kidney Transplant and Pancreatic Cancer Survivor Finds Human Touch, Caring Staff Key to His Recovery

Donna and Henry Weitz

Henry Weitz looks like the picture of health. The trim 63-year-old has broad shoulders, and a handlebar mustache. You would never guess to look at him that he has survived two life-threatening illnesses, a kidney transplant and pancreatic cancer, in the past year.

An admitted type-A personality (actually "triple A," according to his wife, Donna), Henry meticulously tracks every facet of his complicated health history (heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, and most recently, cancer) in a large three-ring binder that he brings with him to every appointment. He knows the date of each medical visit, the results of each test and treatment, what medications and dosages he takes, and the date each new symptom appeared or subsided.

He also knows the University of Maryand Medical Center well, beginning with the Transplant Evaluation Center, after being diagnosed with kidney disease. When his condition progressed to end-state renal failure in late 2007, he sought out University of Maryland transplant experts Dr. Benjamin Philosophe and Dr. Stephen Bartlett. He was able to have a laparoscopic living donor kidney transplant thanks to Ben Lyons, a generous friend and colleague who insisted on donating one of his kidneys when he learned of Henry's plight. Dr. Bartlett performed the double surgery in October 2007. Henry is followed closely by his excellent nephrologist, Dr. Charles Cangro, as well as the Joslin Diabetes Center to control his diabetes.

In March 2008, Henry found himself back at Maryland, this time in the Emergency Department with symptoms of fatigue and jaundice. He was admitted, and after a series of tests, was diagnosed with a small cancerous tumor at the head of his pancreas. A week later, he underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy, or Whipple procedure, to remove his tumor and part of his pancreas. The surgery was performed by Dr. Nader Hanna, head of surgical oncology at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center (UMGCC) and an expert in gastrointestinal cancer.

While the diagnosis came as a shock, the Weitzs were extremely grateful that the tumor was diagnosed early. Too often, pancreatic cancer is not discovered until the cancer has already spread to other organs and treatment is less effective.

"One of the best pieces of news came just as we were preparing to go home from the hospital after the Whipple procedure," says Henry. "Dr. Hanna stopped by to tell us that the preliminary pathology results showed that all 14 of my lymph nodes were clean. As far as he could tell, the cancer was contained and my prognosis was excellent."

Following surgery, the couple met with the cancer center's Pancreatic Cancer Therapy Program team of experts, including Dr. Hanna and his colleagues, medical oncologist Dr. Naimish Pandya and Dr. William Regine, chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology and a national expert on radiation therapy for pancreatic cancer.

The team reviewed all of Henry's films and test results and developed a treatment plan that included chemotherapy followed by a course of radiation therapy, and a final, second round of chemotherapy. Henry received his last dose of chemo on October 6, 2008.

Donna Weitz sums up the couple's impressions as they look back over their medical odyssey: "This has been a very hard year and a very difficult experience. You know, when you're seriously ill, you suddenly lose control of your own life. The uncertainty about what's going to happen is very scary. You can't imagine how you're going to make it through. But the people here, at every level of care -- from the nurses, to the techs, to the doctors -- are able to somehow make it bearable for you. They lift you up and give you hope -- that you're going to be able to get through it, and that they're going to do whatever it takes help you to do it."

"For us, the bottom line is that there is no other hospital like this one. There is no other place we would ever consider going -- it's just that simple. The people and the care in this hospital are unbelievably wonderful."

In November, 2008, the results of Henry's PET/CT scan showed him to be cancer-free.

For more information on the any of the programs or services of the University of Maryland Medical Center or the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, please call 1-800-888-8823.

If you would like to share your story about treatment for cancer at UMGCC, please e-mail us or call 410-328-8289.

This page was last updated on: October 6, 2009.

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