Donald A. Chiulli, MD

I want to thank Dr. Chiulli for being upfront and honest with my father, who Passed away last year. My father was 69 years old and thought he may have a bladder infection, instead he had bladder cancer and passed away very shortly after being diagnosed. My father thought he had about five years left to live because of the Talk he had with a different dr...who said to my dad, “let’s say you have five years left, you would need to decide what’s more important, quality of life or quantity “ he then said, “because some people don’t care at all about quality they just want to live no matter what “ “others care more about quality.“...etc Well, when we left there my poor dad thought he had five years left-and he was very upset.. within minutes my Dr Uncle was with us for the dr visit, took me aside and said “sorry To tell you This, but your father has no where near 5 yrs- I’d say within 6 months..” those drs never did tell my dad how long they expected he had, nor did they ever tell him… about his MRI results, and that the cancer spread to his lungs and bones! Everyone around knew he had a very short time left. Nurses would say, “wow! Does he look bad! He doesn’t have much time left!” Very cold hearted- as if we were just another statistic or number. I wasn’t about to tell him. I felt bad enough- I didn’t feel it was my place, however i did keep asking about that “life plan” we were supposed to discuss w Drs after MRI results were in. Which never happened until I rushed my dad to ER because he couldn’t breathe (again).. and Dr Chuilli asked “what’s your plan, anyway?” I looked at dad and he at me, and I said “see! I told you- we haven’t had that talk yet Dr Chuilli, nor have we discussed his MRI results with any Dr!! And that’s when Dr Chuilli truly impressed me- he put his hands on my dads shoulders and said ,”listen Rick, you don’t have much time at all left. If there’s anyone you wanna call and say goodbye to- better make those calls” he then brought us into a room where he showed my dad his MRI results- my dad passed 11 days later- I’d never seen anyone so brave. He said,”it is what it is, kid” and I remember mostly smiles and him having his can of beer in hand till he passed- Vietnam War Vet- riffle expert- proud, strong, and hard working! Thank you Dr Chuilli for being as honest, brave, and hardworking as my father- I’ve a lot of respect for you- Thanks, Rick’s daughter...