A surprise diagnosis after heart attack
By Roberta Cannon, RN
Robert Ullenbruch is grateful to be alive following a massive heart attack six years ago, followed by a lung cancer diagnosis a short time later.
The 68-year-old Harwich man survived a type of heart attack called a widow maker, which is a complete blockage of the largest artery in the heart known as the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. It supplies 50 percent of the blood supply for your heart and a blockage is immediately a life-threatening situation, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
A second Diagnosis a couple of months into his recovery from the heart attack, Ullenbruch began having trouble breathing. He went to the CCH Emergency Department and a CT scan of his chest showed a tumor in his right lung.
His primary care physician referred him to Jaclyn Flanigan, MD, a medical oncologist, and Molly Sullivan, MD, a radiation oncologist, both at the Davenport-Mugar Cancer Center, at CCH to discuss treatment. He also met with Cape Cod Healthcare thoracic surgeon Jeffrey Spillane, MD, FACS to develop a treatment plan.
When Ullenbruch met with Dr. Spillane about removing the tumor, they decided not to do surgery right away, due to his recent heart attack, said Dr. Sullivan.
“The treatment plan became radiation treatments to reduce the size of the tumor,” she said.
She initially though she was going to treat him with stereotactic body radiation treatments, which would have consisted of five high-dose treatments. But between the initial diagnosis and the planning stages of the radiation treatments, the tumor had grown, she said.
“He no longer met the dose constraints of stereotactic radiation, so we decided to use conventional radiation of daily treatments for 30 days,” she said.
While he did very well with the treatments, Dr. Sullivan said he encountered one obstacle on his road to recovery when he developed pneumonia. He was put on antibiotics and recovered from that.
Good News and Recovery
The tumor was eventually surgically removed by Dr. Spillane and Ullenbruch has had a good recovery.
“He had a complete pathological response, meaning there is no active disease present,” said Dr. Sullivan.
Ullenbruch looks at the positive side of having a heart attack and lung cancer.
“If I didn’t have the heart attack, I wouldn’t have known I had lung cancer,” he said. “I have lost so many friends to lung cancer because they didn’t know they had it until it was too late.
“I figured I was saved from my heart attack for some unknown reason and it wasn’t just so I would live an extra six months to get cancer. I think my positive attitude helped get me through it all.”
He credits the personal, professional and psychological support of the radiation oncology staff at the Davenport-Mugar Cancer Center for keeping his spirits up.
“It’s amazing what they do every day. It’s a tough field where you lose many patients,” he said.
Ullenbruch saw a great deal of camaraderie among the other patients he encountered daily during his radiation treatment regimen.
“I sat in a room with the same people with the same problems every day. I tried to pass on my positive thoughts to those who weren’t feeling so positive. I felt like I was doing something positive in return for the wonderful care I was getting,” he said.
Ullenbruch said his heart is holding steady and, while it operates at 15 percent instead of 100 percent, he golfs four times a week and he is constantly on the go.
His last checkup for lung cancer was this year in January. “I hit five years of being cancer-free,” he said.
He will have follow-up chest CT scans every six months. He added that his goal is to have follow-ups for 22 years.
Originally published on Cape Cod Health News, April 02, 2024
The 68-year-old Harwich man survived a type of heart attack called a widow maker, which is a complete blockage of the largest artery in the heart known as the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. It supplies 50 percent of the blood supply for your heart and a blockage is immediately a life-threatening situation, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
A second Diagnosis a couple of months into his recovery from the heart attack, Ullenbruch began having trouble breathing. He went to the CCH Emergency Department and a CT scan of his chest showed a tumor in his right lung.
His primary care physician referred him to Jaclyn Flanigan, MD, a medical oncologist, and Molly Sullivan, MD, a radiation oncologist, both at the Davenport-Mugar Cancer Center, at CCH to discuss treatment. He also met with Cape Cod Healthcare thoracic surgeon Jeffrey Spillane, MD, FACS to develop a treatment plan.
When Ullenbruch met with Dr. Spillane about removing the tumor, they decided not to do surgery right away, due to his recent heart attack, said Dr. Sullivan.
“The treatment plan became radiation treatments to reduce the size of the tumor,” she said.
She initially though she was going to treat him with stereotactic body radiation treatments, which would have consisted of five high-dose treatments. But between the initial diagnosis and the planning stages of the radiation treatments, the tumor had grown, she said.
“He no longer met the dose constraints of stereotactic radiation, so we decided to use conventional radiation of daily treatments for 30 days,” she said.
While he did very well with the treatments, Dr. Sullivan said he encountered one obstacle on his road to recovery when he developed pneumonia. He was put on antibiotics and recovered from that.
Good News and Recovery
The tumor was eventually surgically removed by Dr. Spillane and Ullenbruch has had a good recovery.
“He had a complete pathological response, meaning there is no active disease present,” said Dr. Sullivan.
Ullenbruch looks at the positive side of having a heart attack and lung cancer.
“If I didn’t have the heart attack, I wouldn’t have known I had lung cancer,” he said. “I have lost so many friends to lung cancer because they didn’t know they had it until it was too late.
“I figured I was saved from my heart attack for some unknown reason and it wasn’t just so I would live an extra six months to get cancer. I think my positive attitude helped get me through it all.”
He credits the personal, professional and psychological support of the radiation oncology staff at the Davenport-Mugar Cancer Center for keeping his spirits up.
“It’s amazing what they do every day. It’s a tough field where you lose many patients,” he said.
Ullenbruch saw a great deal of camaraderie among the other patients he encountered daily during his radiation treatment regimen.
“I sat in a room with the same people with the same problems every day. I tried to pass on my positive thoughts to those who weren’t feeling so positive. I felt like I was doing something positive in return for the wonderful care I was getting,” he said.
Ullenbruch said his heart is holding steady and, while it operates at 15 percent instead of 100 percent, he golfs four times a week and he is constantly on the go.
His last checkup for lung cancer was this year in January. “I hit five years of being cancer-free,” he said.
He will have follow-up chest CT scans every six months. He added that his goal is to have follow-ups for 22 years.
Originally published on Cape Cod Health News, April 02, 2024