[[{"@type":["BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/nj-pancreatic-cancer-survivor-shares-her-story-and-her-advice-for-others-facing-a-cancer-diagnosis\/#BlogPosting","@context":{"@vocab":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","kg":"http:\/\/g.co\/kg"},"url":["https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/nj-pancreatic-cancer-survivor-shares-her-story-and-her-advice-for-others-facing-a-cancer-diagnosis\/","https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/nj-pancreatic-cancer-survivor-shares-her-story-and-her-advice-for-others-facing-a-cancer-diagnosis\/"],"publisher":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/"}],"author":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/nj-pancreatic-cancer-survivor-shares-her-story-and-her-advice-for-others-facing-a-cancer-diagnosis\/#BlogPosting_author_Organization","name":"Regional Cancer Care Associates"}],"inLanguage":"en-US","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/nj-pancreatic-cancer-survivor-shares-her-story-and-her-advice-for-others-facing-a-cancer-diagnosis\/#BlogPosting_image_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Morgart-Chatiwala-Pic-top.jpg"}],"headline":"NJ Pancreatic Cancer Survivor Brenda Morgart Shares Her Story  \u2014  and Her Advice for Others Facing a Cancer Diagnosis","dateModified":"2022-03-11T23:05:56+00:00","datePublished":"2022-01-28T22:31:45+00:00","description":"Brenda Morgart shares her story as a survivor of pancreatic cancer, and offers some words of wisdom for those facing a similar diagnosis. Learn more online at Regional Cancer Care Associates.","articleBody":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 28, 2022\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\u201cYou look kind of yellow.\u201d\nIt was not the sort of dinner table conversation Brenda Morgart had anticipated when she and her husband got together with her niece and the niece\u2019s boyfriend for a meal one night in October 2020. Nor could she have anticipated the life-changing events that would follow from her niece\u2019s observation.\nThat chain of events began when Ms. Morgart looked in the mirror and saw that her skin did, indeed, have a yellow cast. That prompted a trip to an urgent care center, where a physician noted that the Franklin, NJ resident\u2019s eyes were also yellow. The doctor diagnosed jaundice and sent her straight to the emergency room.\nFollowing initial evaluation in the ER, Ms. Morgart underwent a procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP. The procedure combines X-ray imaging and insertion of a long, flexible lighted scope into the abdomen to assess the liver, bile ducts, gall bladder and pancreas. The gastroenterologist performing the ERCP found a blockage in one of the bile ducts \u2013 thin tubes that connect the liver to the small intestine \u2013 and placed a stent in the duct to relieve the blockage.\nWhile the blockage and need for an ERCP procedure obviously were unwelcome, they didn\u2019t entirely surprise Ms. Morgart because she previously had been diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis, an autoimmune disease in which the bile ducts are slowly destroyed. \u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking about cancer,\u201d she says of her mindset at the time.\nThe first ERCP was followed by three others in the weeks ahead, including one to place a larger stent, and one to re-evaluate her condition after she developed pancreatitis. In December 2020, a gastroenterologist in Morristown performed a more-sophisticated procedure known as ERCP with SpyglassTM, in which the bile ducts can be visualized by means of a 6,000-pixel fiber-optic probe attached to a tiny camera. What the gastroenterologist found with the SpyglassTM prompted Ms. Morgart to see the next of many doctors who would be involved in her care \u2013 a surgeon at Morristown Medical Center.\nA frightening diagnosis \u2013 and a major surgery\n\u201cLet\u2019s talk about how we\u2019re going to get this cancer out of you,\u201d the surgeon told her at their first meeting, explaining that she had pancreatic cancer. That news, while devastating for anybody, was all the more upsetting because Ms. Morgart had a friend, a nurse, who had died of the disease just a few years before. After delivering the diagnosis, the surgeon went on to explain that Ms. Morgart was among the minority of people with pancreatic cancer who are candidates for a Whipple procedure, a major, complex surgery that involves removal of the head of the pancreas, a portion of the small intestine, a portion of the stomach and the bile duct.\nMs. Morgart underwent the multi-hour operation on December 29, 2020. Because of COVID-19 protocols, her husband could not be at the hospital when she was diagnosed or as she went into surgery; nor could he visit her during her postoperative stay. Ms. Morgart did have visitors, however: oncologists from the Morristown area.  When the time came to discuss treatment, Ms. Morgart chose Jumana Chatiwala, MD, and May Abdo-Matkiwsky, DO, whom she met at Newton Medical Center at the beginning of her journey. Board-certified medical oncologists practicing in the Sparta, NJ offices of Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) \u2013 one of the nation\u2019s largest networks of oncology specialists \u2014  Dr. Chatiwala and Dr. Abdo-Matkiwsky talked with her about plans for her subsequent treatment.\n\u201cThey got all of the cancer at surgery,\u201d Ms. Morgart explains, but with a diagnosis of Stage 3 pancreatic cancer, indicating spread to the lymph nodes, preventative chemotherapy was indicated to reduce the risk of recurrence.\nGetting through chemo with the help of a caring team\nMs. Morgart began her 12-cycle course of chemotherapy early in the new year \u2013 and had a rough go of it right from the start. \u201cI got very sick after the first dose, and had a neurologic side effect after the second,\u201d she recalls, adding that she seriously considered stopping treatment.\nShe says her decision \u2013 and ability \u2013 to go on and complete the full course of chemotherapy was due in large measure to the care she received from the medical oncologists, nurses, and other staff at RCCA\u2019s Sparta office.\n\u201cThey were always on top of everything going on,\u201d Ms. Morgart says, noting that Dr. Chatiwala, who took the lead in providing her care, and nurse Lori Winters, RN, offered encouragement and compassionate support as well as carefully adjusting the chemotherapy regimen as needed and taking several steps to ease the side effects of treatment.\n\u201cEverybody in the office was phenomenal,\u201d she says, adding that the convenience of receiving her chemotherapy infusions and related care 12 minutes from her house was a major advantage during her treatment. Ms. Morgart says, \u201cMy boss was trying to push me to go up to Yale, where he knew someone, but I said no,\u201d because of her confidence in the care she was receiving from Dr. Chatiwala and the RCCA team.\nMs. Morgart completed her chemotherapy in July 2021. When she rang the bell in the Sparta office to mark her last treatment, Dr. Chatiwala was there to give her a hug. \u201cShe\u2019s such a good person,\u201d Ms. Morgart says of the physician, who has practiced in RCCA\u2019s Sparta care center for more than six years. \u201cShe\u2019s phenomenal. She was always there. She would come in and hold my hand,\u201d during chemotherapy infusions, she adds of Dr. Chatiwala.\nA survivor\u2019s advice to others fighting cancer\nAt the start of 2022, a little more than a year after her Whipple procedure and six months after completing chemotherapy, Ms. Morgart was doing well but \u201cnot 100% back to normal\u201d in terms of her energy level.\nLooking back on her experience from the vantage point of a new year, Ms. Morgart says that an attitude and an approach helped her throughout her treatment.\n\u201cI\u2019ve always been an \u2018It is what it is, just deal with it\u2019 person,\u201d she explains, adding that she focused her energy on what needed to be done rather than on the \u201cWhy me?\u201d question.\nTurning to the approach that sustained her, Ms. Morgart says, \u201cYou have to be honest with yourself and all of your doctors and care team about what you\u2019re feeling and going through.\u201d She emphasizes, \u201cIf you\u2019re scared, tell them that, too,\u201d explaining that when she began to experience significant anxiety before chemotherapy sessions, she talked with Dr. Chatiwala, who prescribed a mild anti-anxiety medication that helped calm her and make the treatment more tolerable.  \nDr. Chatiwala heartily echoes her patient\u2019s advice. \u201cThere is so much that we can do today for people with cancer. That includes the major advances in treatment, such as the immunotherapies, latest chemotherapy regimens, and other cutting-edge therapies and clinical trials that RCCA makes available in community settings such as our Sparta office. But it also includes a wealth of supportive treatments and approaches to avoid or minimize side effects and to enhance patients\u2019 quality of life during treatment. Open, honest communication between the patient and clinical team is key to all aspects of care, but it is particularly important in helping patients deal with their very understandable worries and concerns.\u201d\nThe medical oncologist adds, \u201cBrenda epitomizes the patient who is committed to being a full partner in her treatment. It is an honor for us to care for her \u2013 and for all of our patients. While people are very appreciative of what we do for them, I don\u2019t know that they can always appreciate how much we are inspired by their courage and their resilience.\u201d\nWith two grandchildren and a \u201cterrier mutt\u201d named Delilah who arrived just before she began chemotherapy, Ms. Morgart is looking to the future while grateful for the doctors and others who helped her through an incredibly trying year. \u201cRely on your care team and their support, and be totally honest with them,\u201d she reiterates for others in the midst of their own battles with cancer. \n*******\nAfter earning her medical degree from Maharaja Sayajirao University in India, Dr. Chatiwala completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology-oncology at St. Joseph\u2019s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, NJ. She is board-certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology, and is a member of the American Medical Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Society of Hematology. She has been honored as a Jersey\u2019s Best magazine \u201cTop Doctor\u201d over several years.\nDr. Chatiwala is among the 90+ cancer specialists who treat patients at 25 RCCA care centers located throughout New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and the Washington, DC, area. RCCA oncologists and hematologists see more than 23,000 new patients each year and provide care to more than 225,000 established patients, collaborating closely with their patients\u2019 other physicians. They offer patients the latest in cutting-edge treatments, including immunotherapies and targeted therapy, as well as access to a wide range of clinical trials. In addition to serving patients who have solid tumors, blood-based cancers, and benign blood disorders such as anemia, RCCA care centers also provide infusion services to people with a number of non-oncologic conditions\u2014including multiple sclerosis, Crohn\u2019s disease, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis\u2014who take intravenously-administered medications.\nTo learn more about RCCA, call 844-928-0089 or visit RCCA.com.  \nwe are here for you\nFor more information or to schedule an appointment, call 844-346-7222. You can also schedule an appointment by calling the RCCA location nearest you.\nRELATED ARTICLES\nRegional Cancer Care Associates is one of fewer than 200 medical practices in the country selected to participate in the Oncology Care Model (OCM); a recent Medicare initiative aimed at improving care coordination and access to and quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing chemotherapy treatment.\n\u00a9 2022 Regional Cancer Care Associates. All rights reserved.","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/nj-pancreatic-cancer-survivor-shares-her-story-and-her-advice-for-others-facing-a-cancer-diagnosis\/"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"LocalBusiness","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"Corporate Office 25 Main Street, Suite 601","postalCode":"07601","addressRegion":"NJ","addressLocality":"Hackensack","addressCountry":"USA","name":"Postal Address","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/#PostalAddress"},"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"1024","height":"468","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/themes\/rccah\/dist\/images\/RCCA_logo.jpg","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/themes\/rccah\/dist\/images\/RCCA_logo.jpg"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/themes\/rccah\/dist\/images\/RCCA_logo.jpg"},"contactPoint":[{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactOption":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#ContactPointOption","availableLanguage":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_language","areaServed":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hackensack,_New_Jersey"],"contactType":"customer support","telephone":"+1 (844) 346-7222","email":"info@regionalcancercare.org","description":"Corporate Office Regional Cancer Care Associates 25 Main Street, Suite 601 Hackensack, NJ 07601 info@regionalcancercare.org Phone: (844) 346-7222","name":"Contact Corporate Office","image":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/RCCA_logo-300x137.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#CorporateOffice"},{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactOption":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#ContactPointOption","availableLanguage":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_language","areaServed":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hackensack,_New_Jersey"],"contactType":"customer support","telephone":"+1 (201) 510-0922","email":"msalvemini@regionalcancercare.org","description":"Media Inquiries: Mary Lou Salvemini Regional Cancer Care Associates Phone: (201) 510-0922 Email: msalvemini@regionalcancercare.org","name":"Contact Media Inquiries","image":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/RCCA_logo-300x137.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#MediaInquiries"}],"areaServed":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hackensack,_New_Jersey","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey"],"additionalType":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Treatment_of_cancer","alternateName":"RCCA","description":"Leaders in Advanced Compassionate Cancer Care. 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