“They Really Care:” Ed’s Story

When Ed S. sched­uled a rou­tine doctor’s appoint­ment, he expect­ed exact­ly that — rou­tine. What he didn’t expect was a life-chang­ing diag­no­sis — or the endur­ing rela­tion­ships that would follow.

Enjoy­ing retire­ment after a career as a U.S. Mar­shal, Ed sim­ply want­ed to check in on his health. When search­ing for a new pri­ma­ry care provider, he turned to some­one trust­ed by those clos­est to him.

“My daugh­ter and son-in-law had a doc­tor they loved, and they had noth­ing but great things to say about her,” he said. ​“So, I thought I’d give her a shot.”

That doc­tor was Mari­cruz Pajares, MD, a fam­i­ly med­i­cine physi­cian with Duly Health and Care. She ordered a CT scan, and the results revealed some­thing unexpected.

“The scan showed some spots that might be can­cer­ous,” Ed recalled. ​“After more tests, I got the call. It was can­cer. They found it in my pan­creas, lung, and esophagus.”

He remem­bers the moment clearly. 

“I thought, ​‘That’s it. You’re going to die.’ I start­ed get­ting every­thing in order — my will, pow­er of attor­ney, you name it. I was in shock. My under­stand­ing of can­cer at the time was that it was a death sen­tence. So, I got ready.”

That’s when Ed met Daniel J. Frank, MD, a hema­tol­ogy and oncol­o­gy spe­cial­ist at Duly.

“Dr. Frank explained every­thing clear­ly, but more impor­tant­ly, he lis­tened,” Ed said. ​“I told him I want­ed to focus on liv­ing well, not just on treat­ment. He understood.”

That con­ver­sa­tion marked the begin­ning of a jour­ney that has now spanned more than two and a half years of treat­ment. And today, Ed is not only liv­ing — he’s liv­ing with hope.

“From the begin­ning, I’ve been impressed with the care,” he said. ​“Dr. Pajares con­tin­ued to check in on me. Every­body is in sync and march­ing in one direc­tion. They’re orga­nized. They care about you as a patient and as a person.”

For Ed, though, it’s not just about the med­i­cine, it’s the rela­tion­ships that keep him going.

“We’re like friends now,” he said. ​“I’ll start my appoint­ments by ask­ing my nurs­es, ​‘How are the kids?’One’s a marathon run­ner and we talk about that.”

From the front desk to the infu­sion room, every inter­ac­tion has made an impact.

“It’s Dr. Frank, it’s the nurs­es, it’s the peo­ple who draw my blood, do the pre-infu­sion exam, take my vitals, and ask how I’m feel­ing,” he said. ​“That whole gang up there with the oncol­o­gy team, they’re just magnificent.”

Now 82, Ed says the sup­port he receives makes all the difference.

“I’ve got a sup­port­ing cast with that group. I mean that sin­cere­ly. I’m a fight­er. I’m just not giv­ing up. And hav­ing a group like that — know­ing they’re behind me, along­side me, and in front of me — it means so, so much.”

When asked about his expe­ri­ence at Duly, Ed often finds it hard to put into words. 

“When any­body asks me, ​‘How do you like Duly?’ I say, ​‘I can’t even begin to tell you how dif­fer­ent they are.’ Every­body just seems to gen­uine­ly care. It feels like a fam­i­ly rela­tion­ship, like you’ve known them for years.”

Their com­pas­sion, he says, gives him strength.

“They real­ly care,” Ed said. ​“And that makes all the difference.”

When was your last rou­tine check­up? Reg­u­lar vis­its with a pri­ma­ry care provider help catch poten­tial health issues before they become seri­ous prob­lems. Sched­ule an appoint­ment with a pri­ma­ry care provider today and take the first step toward stay­ing ahead of poten­tial health concerns.