Gastrointestinal surgeons Kevin Staveley-O'Carroll, MD, PhD, and Jussuf Kaifi, MD, PhD, led a surgery on former NFL player Jim Foltz for 20 hours to remove several GI cancers, local news affiliate KTVO reports.
The physicians were assisted by Sebastian Wiesemann, MD, and Zihao Wu, MD, who removed cancerous lymph nodes from Mr. Foltz's chest and repaired his colon, respectively.
Mr. Foltz had a tumor that began where his esophagus met his stomach and spread into his pancreas and celiac artery. To remove the cancer, the physicians would have to replace Mr. Foltz's esophagus with part of his colon and stomach with a portion of his small intestine. Drs. Staveley-O'Carroll and Kaifi had each performed surgeries to remove cancers before, but never to the extent Mr. Foltz would require.
After leaving the operating room, Mr. Foltz spent a day in an intensive care unit and two weeks in an oncology unit. While he will have to undergo several follow-up treatments and make several dietary changes because he no longer has a stomach, he is expected to recover and return to his everyday life.