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Rare Bowel Tumor Successfully
Treated at Jersey Shore
It's sometimes hard to know when to seek medical treatment — but as John Enright can tell you,
it's better to play it safe.
John Enright was on the final night
of a business trip last November
when he went to the bathroom
and discovered blood in his stool. He
had no other symptoms, but when
John returned home the next day
he headed straight to Jersey Shore
University Medical Center. A week
later, after several tests and two blood
transfusions, doctors still were unable
to locate the source of the bleeding.
"That's when the doctors had me
swallow a pill equipped with a tiny
camera," John says. The camera traveled
along his digestive system, taking
pictures as it moved. The images were
then sent to a specialist who discovered
what's called a gastrointestinal
stromal tumor in John's small intestine.
The doctor "tattooed," or marked,
the tumor and advised John to have it
removed as soon as possible.
Finding a Surgeon
"Back home, I asked my sister-in-law,
a manager and nurse practitioner
at Jersey Shore University Medical
Center, to recommend a surgeon. She
referred me to Dr. Parker," says John.
Glenn Parker, M.D., is the section
chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery
and director of the Gastrointestinal
Oncology program at Jersey Shore,
as well as a staff surgeon at Ocean
Medical Center. He met with John
and reviewed his tests.
"John's case was pretty rare," says
Dr. Parker. "He had a lot of bleeding
and the cause was hard to locate. But
he did the right thing by seeking medical
attention. I was able to remove the bowel tumor with minimally
invasive laparoscopic surgery. Today
John is fully recovered."
All Cases Need Care
While John's condition is uncommon,
Dr. Parker says that many people
experience some GI bleeding from
time to time. Although most cases
are due to a benign cause, such as
hemorrhoids, Dr. Parker notes that
it's always a good idea to have any
bleeding examined.
"Anyone who experiences any
amount of GI bleeding should see
his or her primary care physician
for a thorough evaluation, just to be
sure it's not something serious,"
Dr. Parker advises. "As John's case
shows, it's possible there could be a
source of bleeding elsewhere in the
GI tract that would be missed if the
bleeding was attributed to hemorrhoids.
It's always a good idea to
check it out."
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