HealthEast® Clinic Quality Data
“We got through using humor: if you’re not laughing, you’re crying.”
HealthEast® Cottage Grove Clinic patient Frank Urban
Frank Urban and his wife Barb have been snowbirds for the last 10 years. “We go to Florida every year from January to March. Our biggest decisions down there are when to play golf, where to go out to eat, and whose house are we going to play cards at tonight.” But in March 2009, Frank was in the middle of a brisk walk when he had shooting pains in his chest—pains that began to recur more and more often.
Upon returning to Minnesota, Frank scheduled a checkup with his HealthEast doctor, Daniel Moriarty. “I hadn’t a clue what it was—but I was scared that it was the heart. Dr. Moriarty reassured Barb and me, telling us that we would find out what it was.” It turned out, this was a more complicated process than anyone expected. A barrage of tests, including a stress test, an endoscopy and others proved inconclusive. Through it all, however, Frank had confidence in his care. “I knew that no matter how many tests I had to go through, Dr. Moriarty would identify the problem.”
Eventually, an ultrasound revealed a spot, spurring a series of CT scans that led to a diagnosis: lymphoma. “I was actually relieved,” said Frank, “because my brother and dad both had lymphoma, and I knew it was highly treatable.” Three rounds of chemotherapy and 15 sessions of radiation later, Frank is in great shape again. “The chemo made me tired but I didn’t get to the point where I was wiped out. I did lose my hair, though, so I bought a toy parrot, put it on my shoulder, added a couple of pirate earrings and a skull necklace and took a picture to send to friends and family. This was probably tougher on my wife Barb than it was on me, but we used humor to get through things—because if you're not laughing, you’re crying.”
Coming back from wintering in Florida, Frank gives credit to Dr. Moriarty’s persistence. “At my last appointment, I thanked Dr. Moriarty for his diligence. The ultrasound he ordered after trying so many other tests was really the turning point. He said we would have found the cancer anyways, but I know—this was a fast-growing cancer, and if he hadn’t been as thorough as he was, who knows how long this could have gone on before it was identified.”
