Cancer and Clinical Services Patient Stories

“I trusted Dr. Kalady from the moment I met him, which happened to be on my birthday,” John Monaghan says.

John ended up at The James after having a colonoscopy and being told he had a 10-centimeter tumor on his rectum. “I asked the doctor who did the colonoscopy where he’d go if he had cancer, and he told me The James. So did my primary care doctor,” he says. Neither physician was affiliated with Ohio State. “They’re just people who care about people, and they wanted me to go where I felt comfortable,” John says. “It was my choice, but they gave me great guidance.”

After transferring his care to the OSUCCC – James, it was discovered that John’s cancer had also spread to his liver and lungs. “But I never worried,” he says. “Cancer is what it is, and I wasn’t going to sit around and worry about it.” As John explains, Matthew Kalady, MD, his surgeon and director of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, took care of everything. “He was straight with me from the beginning. He invited pushback and questions, but it was all about making me cancer-free,” John says. “Actually, everyone at The James always talked to me about complete recovery.”

To shrink the tumors in his liver and lungs, John’s treatment began with six rounds of intensive chemotherapy. This was followed by five days of radiation and chemo each week for five weeks total. “The cancer was completely eradicated in my lungs,” John says. “And they graciously gave me two months of rest after that before I had a six-and-a-half-hour surgery where my liver was resected and my rectum removed.” The surgery was coordinated between Dr. Kalady and surgical oncologist Jordan Cloyd, MD. Other physicians on John’s care team included radiation oncology specialist, Dayssy Diaz Pardo, MD, and medical oncologist Shafia Rahman, MD.

“I tell everyone that I go to The James, and if you have cancer and don’t go there, you’re crazy,” John says. “Dr. Diaz Pardo and the radiology staff are stellar, just fabulous; so are Dr. Kalady and Dr. Cloyd. And Dr. Rahman — I’d do absolutely anything for that lady. I wouldn’t trade a single one of them.”

As of March 2024, John continues with surveillance scans every three months and regular follow-up appointments with Dr. Kalady and Dr. Rahman. “Before I had cancer, I never looked forward to seeing a doctor,” he says. “Now I actually enjoy going; I really do.”