A Renewed Appetite for Life

For Agnes Bishie, 2002 was a year to forget. First came a heart attack in February. Then, that spring, she was diagnosed with lymphoma of the esophagus—one of just 25 such cases reported worldwide in the last 25 years.

Daughters (l-r) Lucinda Bauer, Lorraine Schuette and Lois Burke provided constant support for Agnes Bishie.

“For 10 months, I couldn’t swallow anything,” says the 78-year-old Allentown resident.

Her esophagus was blocked, and her only nutrition came through a feeding tube that went directly into her stomach from an external pouch, thus avoiding the tumor causing the blockage. But she still had to deal with the saliva and mucus she produced above the tumor.

That meant carrying a spitting cup everywhere, which made her selfconscious, keeping her from family celebrations.

Despite trips to a Philadelphia-area hospital and chemotherapy and radiation treatments, nothing seemed to help Bishie’s problem. And doctors there felt she was too frail for esophageal surgery.

Bishie’s three daughters weren’t satisfied. So Bishie visited internal medicine physician Thomas Lakata, D.O., who referred her to LVHHN Cancer Center oncologist Gregory Harper, M.D. Harper suggested she talk with oncologic surgeon Herbert Hoover, M.D., who specializes in esophageal surgery.

Hoover made no promises but felt Bishie could handle the surgery and improve her quality of life.

“He was wonderful; you should clone him,” Bishie says. She had the surgery in January 2003, and the next day she “ate some jello, my first meal in almost a year.” A follow-up test revealed that all malignant cancer cells were removed, and an endoscopy this past January was just as encouraging. “Your mother is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside,” Hoover told Bishie’s daughters.

Bishie, who remained strong by focusing on her future, attended grandson Ethan’s first communion a few weeks after surgery. “Dr. Hoover says I’ll live 40 more years, and maybe that’s true,” Bishie says. “But now I’m just grateful to have family meals again.”

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