Tim's Story

When snowbird Tim Casey finally learned that several months of blood tests indicated he had pancreatic cancer, he and his family had a decision to make: extend his traditional three-month stay in Florida for an additional five months of treatment at Jupiter Medical Center, or go back to Ohio for treatment at the Cleveland Clinic two hours from his suburban Toledo home in Sylvania.

“It was the perfect storm for me to have pancreatic cancer and have it taken care of here in Florida,” says the retired 79-year-old building materials salesman, who recently reached his five-year survival milestone from one of the most serious forms of cancer.

Tim credits two factors for his decision to choose the expertise of Shanel Bhagwandin, DO, and the cancer treatment team Jupiter.

• the Jupiter team’s ability to diagnose his cancer when previous test results by other physicians and specialists in Ohio had attributed his discolored urine and blood results to alcohol consumption or other factors
• the personalized attention he received from Dr. Bhagwandin and other members of The Anderson Family Cancer Center treatment team

Dr. Bhagwandin is Medical Director of Jupiter’s Gastrointestinal Surgical Oncology Program, and Program Director of the National Pancreas Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence. According to the American Cancer Society, pancreatic cancer has a five-year survival rate of only 13%.

Personalized, attentive, expert care
“Dr. Bhagwandin’s bedside manner, his experience and his knowledge…there was no reason not to have the surgery done at Jupiter Medical Center,” says Tim. “He took as much time as we needed to get things right in our minds and he explained everything very clearly. As a patient, you’re kind of in shock when the doctor is describing all this medical stuff and drawing pictures on a white board. Most of it we could not understand, but Dr. Bhagwandin was very patient and very reassuring.”

Tim’s journey to Jupiter Medical Center emerged in May 2020 during a Sunday morning breakfast with his Florida-based family. Tim’s son-in-law’s father—a retired doctor—listened to Tim’s stories of ongoing blood tests and encouraged him to visit an emergency room immediately because he looked worryingly ill.

The Jupiter emergency room nurse who oversaw the blood test that day admitted him immediately and referred him to Dr. Bhagwandin, who prescribed four pre-surgery chemotherapy sessions and later that month performed the Whipple procedure, a complicated surgery that involves removal of cancerous tumors from the pancreas and other nearby tissues or organs.

Weather was another convincing factor to remain in Florida for medical care, Tim acknowledges.

“When people would ask me why I was staying in Florida for cancer surgery, my answer was simple: It’s 20 degrees in Toledo and it’s 80 degrees here. I could get out of the hospital here in 80-degree sunshine, so we stayed a few extra months, shipped our car home, flew home after the surgery and I had 4-5 more chemotherapy sessions in Ohio after I got home.”

Five-year survival that feels routine
He specifically remembers an appointment with his Toledo-based oncologist, a visit during which the doctor held up one hand with all five fingers displayed and said: “Tim, all of the pancreatic cancer patients I know, I can count on this hand the number of them who look as great as you. Now, every time I go to visit him, he says right off the bat, ‘Tim, you’re fine.’”

Tim remains healthy, active and continues to play golf twice a week (and even played a few rounds while undergoing chemotherapy).

“Maybe one reason I’ve survived this thing is to give comfort and information to people who are going through the same thing,” he says thoughtfully. “Why shouldn’t I? If I can help somebody along the road with information about serious diagnosis like pancreatic cancer, why wouldn’t I do that?”