CCF saved my life
CCF saved my life
CCF,saved,my,life
Share Your Story

Six years ago, I started making funny sounding noises in my right nostril when breathing. I am an allergy sufferer and was moving from climate to climate at the time, so I thought nothing of it. I did not mention it to my internist until 13 months after the first onset of symptoms. She diagnosed it as a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. The noises persisted. She ordered a sinus CAT scan, which showed a mass in my right nostril. The ENT specialist said that it was just a polyp and surgery would take care of it. I was living in Oberlin, OH at the time and a colleague mentioned the CCF. I decided to go for a second opinion. On 7/2/2004, I walked into Dr. Pete Batra's office, ENT and my life changed forever. He took one look at the inside of my nose with an endoscope (something the Oberlin ENT neglected to do) and issued a statement: "I think this is esthesioneouroblastoma," a very rare cancer of the sinus cavity which has afflicted only 1,100 patients since it was first diagnosed in France in 1924. I thought he was talking about somebody else, or at least talking about something else, something other than a malignancy. The diagnosis was confirmed two weeks later after a biopsy. Surgery followed, a seven and a half hours ordeal into which I went without knowing whether the tumor had penetrated my brain. A neurosurgeon stood by, just in case, to perform a craniotomy. Luckily, it was not necessary. Dr. Batra took a non-traditional approach to my care and performed endoscopic surgery. I did six weeks of radiation therapy, also a non-traditional approach called Novalis. I was the first esthesio patient at CCF to undergo such therapy. I moved to California five months after surgery, but I did not transfer care. I return to the Clinic for my check-ups, now every six months. If it were not for Dr. Batra, I would not be here today writing this message. I owe my life to the splendid care I received at CCF, and I continue to receive. Thank you.