Patient Stories

Fighting Fibro, a Life-Threatening Liver Cancer
Lede:
Fibro is short for Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma, a wily and unpredictable disease that behaves differently from any other liver cancer. It’s ultra-rare, with only 200 new cases diagnosed in the world each year, and is devastating for teens and young adults. When Jackson Hendrix was diagnosed as an eighth-grader in 2015, a complex surgery saved his life. Now he wants to study medicine.
It’s Not All Doom and Gloom with a Disappearing Pancreas
Lede:
May of 2016 was an exciting time for Tony Rafaniello. Now retired as an assistant principal and basketball coach, Tony and his wife Dale were preparing for a trip to Italy and a cruise around the Isle of Sicily. His mind often drifted to all he would do, see and eat in the weeks ahead. Two days before departure, he woke up with terrible stomach pain. “I was nauseous and throwing up,” Tony says. “My wife’s a nurse at a New Jersey hospital, so we drove there right away.” In the ER, Tony was given some pain medication. Then, suddenly, he passed out. For the next ten days, he was unconscious, breathing with the aid of a ventilator.