E-mail pageAccurate Diagnosis Gives Patient Life Back
It all began when Shirley Harr decided to quit smoking. Harr, a 55-year-old college bursar in Pittsburgh, visited her primary doctor in September of 2007 for help. Her doctor took an X-ray to look for abnormalities and discovered a small shadow in the center of her chest. A follow up CT scan showed a mass in the liver. Next she had an MRI and a biopsy. In December, Harr saw a doctor at a prestigious medical facility who diagnosed her with hepatocellular carcinoma -- stage 3 primary liver cancer -- and put her on oral chemotherapy.
"I had six to nine months to live. They told me, 'Go home, get your things in order,'" said Harr, her voice breaking.
Her brother John Seles, 58, added, "We were totally speechless. Later my sister told me, 'never felt so alone in my entire life.’ Then we had to go home and tell my parents. I'm very surprised they lived through it."
Harr, who'd been a widow for more than a decade, moved in with her parents for a few weeks through the holidays. She got her insurance in order and started researching a living will. Harr continued working so she could have health insurance. She sought a second opinion at another internationally renowned facility in Pittsburgh. Doctors there suggested injecting her with irradiated glass spheres for localized treatment.
Harr also consulted a surgeon at a local hospital who said he could operate to remove the cancerous areas.
Guiliano Testa, MDMeanwhile, her brother Rudy Seles frantically researched her illness online. He came across Giuliano Testa, MD, the director of liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and was impressed by his work. John added that Dr. Testa sounded incredible. A friend in cancer research highly recommended the physician.
Harr contacted Dr. Testa's office and received a call back within hours.
She visited Chicago on February 5, 2008. At the end of a day crammed with appointments with medical staff that took her history and monitored everything from her hand-eye coordination to her skin color, Harr went into her meeting with Dr. Testa with three pages of typewritten questions.
"He said, 'I have good news. We do not feel like you have cancer. We feel like you have focal nodular hyperplasia (a nonmalignant growth.) You can have the (exploratory) surgery done (to confirm the diagnosis) in Pittsburgh or I can do it,'" Harr recalled. She immediately chose Dr. Testa because she was confident in his abilities.
What Pittsburgh doctors hadn't told Harr was that her biopsy was inconclusive and her blood levels were normal.
"(I was suspicious because of) the appearance of the lesion on the CT scan," Dr. Testa said later. "She didn't have any previous or underlying liver disease."
After Dr. Testa's surprising announcement, Harr had zero questions.
"It was totally surreal. It was almost unbelievable," Harr said.
Dr. Testa took Harr off of chemotherapy to prevent possible bleeding during surgery. She flew home for a month and fretted until her return visit to Chicago.
"When you live thinking you're going to die for three months, it's difficult," Harr said. “For weeks afterwards, I'd call my brother John every day and say, 'Tell me I don't have cancer.'"
On March 6, Dr. Testa performed a three-hour surgery and removed a portion of Harr's liver. Afterwards, he told her, "There is no cancer. It is definite."
Harr says, "It's crazy. Absolutely crazy. I felt like I've won the biggest lottery ever given to someone. I will be forever grateful and indebted to Dr. Testa and his team of wonderful people. He gave me my life back." Harr will have one more follow-up visit with Dr. Testa in September 2008 to make sure there are no new growths and to ensure the portion of the liver that was removed has regenerated.
For now, she is free. "At one time, I used to spend hours and hours on research, digging, researching and digging. Now I don't go back. I think until I get through Thanksgiving and Christmas, what I thought last year I'd never see, maybe I can put things behind me."
Dr Testa said, "We really saved her from massive misery, from being left without therapy, or having a liver transplant when she didn't need it. She could've received one and been on immunosuppressive therapy. The satisfaction, that you've taken care of the problem and avoided a miserable disaster, is pretty good."
