THE VALUE OF A
second opinion JOHN:
Feeling fine and fortunate after complex cancer journey
“
I am very pleased with the care I received and the skill of my doctors in Pittsburgh, all of which was borne out by the confirmation we received from Mayo Clinic.
”
JOHN, PATIENT
Jeffrey C. Liu, M.D., Electrophysiologist, St. Clair Hospital
10 I HouseCall I Volume IX Issue 2
J
ohn (a pseudonym, as he requested anonymity)
John’s journey began when an ultrasound
is a South Hills resident who lives an active,
ordered by his PCP showed spots on his liver.
fulfilling life, balancing the demands of his profession
A biopsy of the liver revealed carcinoid, a rare
with family time. He works full time and has enjoyed
form of cancer, which had originated in the small
vibrant health throughout his life. That changed
intestine. With the diagnosis established, John was
recently, though, when the findings of a routine
ready for the next steps: interventional radiology
annual physical examination by his primary care
procedures to shrink the liver cancer, followed by
physician propelled him on a long, labyrinthine
surgery to remove the primary tumor. “My PCP
journey through cancer and its complications. His
coordinated all of this,” John says. “I call him the
problems were complex, and his treatment was
quarterback. My wife and I could not have done
arduous, but he and his physicians drew upon many
this without him.”
excellent resources and specialists in the Pittsburgh
John says during surgery his heart rate
area, including those at St. Clair Hospital and Mayo
accelerated and became erratic. Told it was atrial
Clinic, thanks to St. Clair’s membership in the Mayo
flutter, John was referred to Jeffrey C. Liu, M.D.,
Clinic Care Network. After multiple surgeries and
a specialist in cardiac electrophysiology at St. Clair.
treatments, John is feeling fine and fortunate,
“Dr. Liu performed an ablation procedure, which
and he is back at work.
took care of the atrial flutter very effectively.”