This is a paid post contributed by a Patch Community Partner. The views expressed in this post are the author's own, and the information presented has not been verified by Patch.
For 50-year-old Jose Oliveres Estrade of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, life was all about family, outdoor grilling, and watching soccer. He had worked at a local pizzeria for nearly eight years when a sudden, terrifying medical emergency put his entire life on hold.
It started with severe stomach pain. Despite taking medicine to push through his shifts, the agony quickly became unbearable. "My pain went from 1 to 100, and I just couldn't take it anymore," Jose recalls.
A rush to the emergency room at Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center revealed a life-threatening crisis: perforated diverticulitis. His intestine had ruptured, releasing dangerous bacteria into his abdomen. To save his life, surgeons performed an emergency open Hartmann's procedure, removing a portion of his colon.
Jose woke up with 32 stitches and an ostomy bag. Because of the extensive open surgery, he faced a grueling, year-long recovery that kept him out of work and in constant discomfort. He credits his wife for being his rock during those darkest days, noting, "Without her, I couldn't be here."
When it was finally time to reconnect his intestines and remove the ostomy bag, Jose sought a surgeon he could deeply trust. He found Jessica Treto, M.D., a general surgeon at Hackensack Meridian Bayshore Medical Center.
Jose's case was highly complex. His previous emergency open surgery had left significant scar tissue. Despite these challenges, Dr. Treto offered a cutting-edge approach: an advanced, minimally invasive robotic surgery.
"I usually offer to start minimally invasive even if the patient had an open surgery before," Dr. Treto explains, noting the higher precision and visualization the robotic method provides.
How did this minimally invasive approach compare to his first surgery? The difference was massive. By avoiding another large incision, Jose was walking well by week four and was back to work at the pizzeria by week six—a stark contrast to his previous year-long recovery.
Today, Jose is back to grilling and enjoying every moment with his family, armed with a profound new outlook on life.
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