Jane Eagleston

What would you say to a cherished loved one if both of you knew he had only thirty six hours to live? Jane Eagleston faced that excruciating moment two years ago, and her answer is truly a love letter to her beloved husband Mark, and in the telling, to St. Mary Medical Center.

“Mark and I are both New York born and bred,” admitted Jane. “Moving to Bucks County in 2003 was a major move for me, but Mark was enthusiastic about expanding his company into Southern new Jersey and Pennsylvania.” They spent the next few years exploring this new environment and enjoying the beauty that is Bucks County.

Life, however, began to darken in 2007. Mark started to complain about a terrific pain in his chest and general malaise. Initially, his physician thought he had developed pleurisy and ordered a complete series of tests. The good news was that all the tests showed negative results; the bad news was that the pain persisted and became more severe.

Then one day Mark sneezed.

“I heard him sneeze, and instantly thereafter, he screamed in agony, ‘I feel as though every rib in my chest is broken!’” Jane recalled. “his pain was so intense he threatened suicide.” Immediately, Jane rushed him to St. Mary Medical Center where indeed, it was determined that he had fractured his ribs. More tests were ordered, and this time, the results were dire.

“Mark was diagnosed with a most lethal, aggressive form of blood cancer,” said Jane. “His oncologist Dr. Evan Alley said there was an inoperable tumor behind his rib cage, causing the fractures. he never identified to us what stage Mark was in; instead Dr. Alley was calm and hopeful as he outlined the necessary course of treatment and medication. Dr. Robert Cardinale is another angel in the guise of a doctor.”

For the next eight months, Mark endured special injections to strengthen his bones; ultimately, he was given 28 blood transfusions. he was a frequent patient to the hospital, and “each and every time, whether it was the oncology department, radiology, transporters, orderlies, nurses, or janitors, Mark was treated with friendship and compassionate care,” said Jane. “The staff was extraordinarily impressive.”

Jane took Mark for second and third opinions, visiting renowned medical centers such as Dana Farber, Sloan Kettering, and Anderson Clinic. “Stay where you are, they all told me,” Jane said. “Mark is being given the exact same treatment with the same technology we would prescribe.” Mark continued to work until the day that he broke his arm as he tried to rise out of his chair. Despite being close to a New Jersey hospital and still suffering extreme pain, Mark insisted he be taken to St. Mary.

Recuperating at home on March 1st, 2008, Mark announced to Jane that he thought he was going to die. “There was a strange odor about him,” Jane recalled, as she returned him to the hospital. now the enemy was catastrophic kidney failure. Dr. Alley gave them a choice: Mark could undergo the meanest, most aggressive chemotherapy at another facility, or he could take a chance that the dialysis at St. Mary could save his kidneys. If the treatment was not successful, he would have thirty six hours before he would become incoherent. “Say what you need to say to one another,” he advised.

All we need to know is that Jane pledged to Mark to do whatever she could, emotionally and financially, in support of the institution and its staff who showed such compassion.

“When I help St. Mary, I feel Mark’s spirit within me, telling me to go forward and do more,” Jane said. “I can never repay the kindness that was shown to us.”