05/22/2024
When Al Osterhout, a 69-year-old Huntington Beach resident, golfer and retired business owner, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, his world was turned upside down.
When Al and others around him noticed he was unexpectedly losing weight in February of 2023, his gut instincts told him something wasn’t right.
He decided to make an appointment with his primary care physician, Dr. Douglas McConnaughey, who sent him for bloodwork, diagnosed Al with Type 2 diabetes and scheduled a follow-up appointment in one week to ensure the medication he prescribed was working.
Just days later while he was working on his RV, Al’s wife, Cindy, noticed a yellowish tint to his skin. Cindy contacted Dr. McConnaughey through Edinger Medical Group’s patient portal to report the change in his complexion and his continued weight loss. Dr. McConnaughey called Al to tell him to go to the E.R. at Orange Coast Medical Center so they could begin further testing.
By midnight on Friday, February 17, test results showed that Al had a mass on his pancreas, and he was admitted immediately so they could perform surgery to remove it. In less than 24 hours, Dr. Sean Cao, General Surgeon at Orange Coast Medical Center, introduced himself to Al and Cindy and explained the long and complex process of the Whipple surgery that he would be performing on Al the next morning.
“When Dr. Cao saw our last name on Al’s chart, he looked up at me and said, ‘Mrs. O!’ Turns out, his children were former students of mine. It was that moment when I realized we were in good hands.”
Thankfully, Al was given a second chance at life because he acted quickly, maintained a positive attitude, and trusted his doctors would do everything in their power to get him healthy.
“We still have a lot of living left to do, so I’ve got to keep moving forward,” said Al.
To read about Al’s cancer treatment, his advice for others and how he’s doing in recovery, go to our website for the full story.
🔗 edingermedicalgroup.com/patient-success-story-pancreatic-cancer-2024
