a second chance
Facing pancreatic cancer, Jose Velazquez
entrusted his life to an Advocate specialist.
A surprise attack
A retired telecommunications engineer, Jose Velazquez
takes good care of his health—and gets up weekdays at
4:30 am to work out. He and Rosemary, his wife of 41
years, live in a lovely home in Lombard with their beloved
dog, Charlie. The couple’s children, Melissa and Gabriel,
are now successful adults who live close enough to visit
their parents often—and they do. Jose has every reason
to be content with his life. But less than two years ago,
he got some very bad news.
It started with the symptoms of a gallbladder attack.
Jose saw his primary care physician, Anthony Lin, MD,
a member of Advocate Physician Partners. Dr. Lin
sent him to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital for
an ultrasound of the gallbladder and a consultation with
surgeon Mohan Airan, MD, an expert in laparoscopic
surgery to remove the gallbladder.
Dr. Airan listened carefully, and Jose’s description
of pain that radiated around his back made the doctor
suspect something else was wrong. A second ultrasound
proved him right: Not only did the gallbladder have to
6 – healing gifts – Spring 2014
go, but there was also a tumor on the pancreas. Upon
hearing this, Jose says, “I was devastated, anxious,
depressed—a little of everything. Then I started to worry.”
In good hands
Jose needed a pancreatic surgery specialist, so
Dr. Lin referred him to Ajay Maker, MD, at Advocate
Illinois Masonic Medical Center’s Creticos Cancer
Center. Jose’s very protective son, Gabriel, researched
oncology surgeons and went with him to see Dr. Maker.
Favorably impressed, Gabriel pronounced, “He’s the
one you want, Dad.”
Was the tumor on Jose’s pancreas cancerous? Over
a few weeks that seemed like an eternity, test after test
came back inconclusive. He was wheeled into surgery
on August 20—still not knowing if the tumor was
malignant or benign. Trusting in Dr. Maker’s judgment and
not wanting to have another surgical procedure, Jose
authorized him to remove any organs he needed to. That
turned out to be his gallbladder, his spleen, and part of
the pancreas, along with the tumor.