HPB Program Patient Testimonials

Thomas Shanley, 71, Grateful Patient

It was summer 2022 and Thomas Shanley, 71, was playing a round of golf when the Oceanside resident felt a sharp pain ripping through his abdomen. Doubled over, the retired electrician drove straight to his primary care practitioner who took blood and urine samples.

“My doctor told me to go to Mount Sinai South Nassau’s ER immediately,” said the grandfather of five. “He said I was bleeding in my abdomen.”

Once in the Emergency Room, doctors took a CT scan and an MRI and confirmed that Mr. Shanley was having an abdominal hemorrhage. They called in Ganesh Gunasekaran, MD, Chief of Hepatobiliary Surgery at the Mount Sinai Health System, who advised Mr. Shanley that a cancerous tumor on his liver had burst.”

Dr. Gunasekaran admitted Mr. Shanley to the hospital for surgery to remove the tumor.

“The doctor told me I was so lucky because if the tumor didn’t bleed, it would have continued growing,” Mr. Shanley said. “I was so blessed because it was caught early, and I didn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.”

It’s been nearly two years and Mr. Shanley is cancer-free. “It’s a miracle,” he said. “I have had no trace of cancer ever since.”

He says he owes his life to Dr. Ganesh, who is very thorough and a good listener.

“He wants to hear what you’re feeling and wants to hear your full story,” he said. “I’ve already recommended him.”