I write today as a physician, as the Chief Medical Officer of Greenwich Hospital and most importantly as a sister who lost her younger brother to cancer 11 years ago. My brother, Bob Santucci, at 46, was diagnosed with a very rare and unfortunately incredibly aggressive leukemia and he lost his battle with the disease before his 48th Birthday.
As a VP and Financial Planner at Morgan Stanley, as a football coach, and as the father of three young children (ages 7, 10 and 13 at the time) he never thought he would have been diagnosed with cancer, but he was… and his wife and I were with him every step of the way.
Lisa and Bob’s priority every day was Bob safely getting his infusion, and then as soon as possible, getting back home to pick up the kids from school so they could spend as much quality time together as a family. The children were getting suspicious that he was there for almost every pick-up…they asked if he got fired from his job! Bob and Lisa smiled, allayed their fears and tried to create an illusion of normalcy for them to the very best of their ability.
While my brother was getting the most advanced treatment and was even enrolled in a clinical trial, he knew the data and we knew the reports, his prognosis was grave with T-Cell Prolymphocytic Leukemia.
For Bob, getting his cancer care close to home was not a convenience… it was a necessity. He needed to be, and I made sure he was, getting the best care possible and close to his home, close to his family, without compromising anything.
My sister-in-law, and the children (now 18, 21 and 24) will forever cherish that time that they had together, and the memories that were made with Bob, for a lifetime. I will never forget the personalized care he received… and I know that it was the most advanced treatment possible and I would never accept anything less for him or for our patients.
On May 6, I implore our community and the Greenwich Planning and Zoning Board to approve Greenwich Hospital’s application to build the Smilow Cancer Hospital within the walls of our hospital to be able to provide that care to our community. This approval is vital for the health of our community. Allowing our hospital to grow to meet the rising cancer rate will help more patients like Bob get the advanced care they need, without sacrificing valuable time with their loved ones.
Thank you.
Karen Santucci, MD
Chief Medical Officer, mother, sister and aunt
