Trio of Surgeries Gets Matawan Man’s Health Back on Course
August 28, 2024
Keeping his landscaping business humming utterly consumed Bill Jones’ time and attention until a series of health setbacks forced the 58-year-old Matawan, New Jersey, man to adjust his pace.
Despite dealing with many years of occasional flare-ups of diverticulitis—when small, bulging pouches in the lining of the digestive tract become inflamed or infected—Bill thought a bout of agonizing belly pain in March 2023 might be due to work-related exertion. But clinicians at Bayshore Medical Center pinpointed diverticulitis once again, admitting the father of two for treatment with powerful IV antibiotics to quell his symptoms and infection.
This time, imaging tests showed a perforated colon, which means a hole had formed in the colon’s lining. However, Bill was feeling well overall with minimal pain. Therefore, the decision was made to treat his disease with antibiotics in order to try and get him through this bout without surgery. This would allow him to potentially heal and give him a chance to prepare for a less complex surgery in the future to clear his diverticular disease once and for all.
Unfortunately, his disease progressed and ultimately required surgery while he was in the hospital. General surgeon Amit Kharod, M.D., removed a foot of Bill’s colon and performed a colostomy, redirecting stool to an opening in his abdominal wall to allow his bowel to heal.
“That portion of his colon had ruptured, and fecal matter was everywhere, creating a pus-like coating of the bowel,” Dr. Kharod explains. “Diverticulitis is common; perforation is not.”
Life-Threatening Development: Blood Clots in the Lungs
Dr. Kharod’s steady reassurance helped Bill—worried about keeping his business afloat—recover and adjust to living with a colostomy bag. At a checkup a month later, however, Bayshore surgeon Jessica Treto, M.D., knew something was amiss. Bill reported being dizzy and short of breath over the prior several days when out walking with his wife, Emily. Dr. Treto’s quick thinking led to tests showing a submassive pulmonary embolism, a dangerous collection of sizable blood clots in his lungs.
“His situation was dire,” says Bayshore chair of surgery Habib Khan, M.D., a vascular surgeon who immediately mobilized his teamto remove the bulk of the clots from Bill’s lung using a minimally invasive catheterization procedure.
“When you have that amount of clots in your lung, it creates a lot of back pressure on the heart,” Dr. Khan explains. “If we didn’t treat him as we did, his heart could have gone into sudden heart failure and stopped pumping. He was at very serious risk of losing his life.”
After a three-day hospital stay, Bill was grateful that his biggest worry didn’t have to be survival. “Just keeping my business going was my main concern,” he says.
A Team Approach to Medical Care
Five months later, in August 2023, Bill was ready both physically and mentally for his colostomy to be reversed. Despite encountering significant scar tissue from Bill’s initial surgery, Dr. Treto deftly performed the reversal using robotic equipment that enables the use of only small incisions.
“Bill’s first surgery was an open procedure, but giving him a minimally invasive surgery the second time provided a faster recovery with less pain and got him back to his normal life sooner,” Dr. Treto explains.
With his medical saga behind him, Bill is determined to reset his priorities and take more time away from work. “We were going to wait until retirement to travel more, but now I know we shouldn’t wait,” he says. “The business will still be there.”
Bill’s trio of surgeries exemplify the coordinated, multidisciplinary team approach Bayshore doctors have honed. “Our collaborative approach is a result of good communication, and that led to Bill being taken care of in a timely fashion,” Dr. Kharod says.
Next Steps & Resources
- Meet our sources: Amit Kharod, M.D., Habib Khan, M.D., and Jessica Treto, M.D.
- To make an appointment with a gastroenterologist near you, call 800-822-8905 or visit our website.
- Learn about surgical services at Hackensack Meridian Health.
The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.
