Hoag Family Cancer Institute
Our Stories

Thomas Pollitt knows the value of a sincere friendship. When he first met longtime Hoag donor Bob Juneman, they were colleagues on the City of Costa Mesa Finance Committee. He admired Bob’s intellect, humor and integrity. Their friendship deepened when Bob joined Tom’s prayer and Bible study group.

After Tom’s physician diagnosed him with bladder and lung cancer during the summer of 2018, his family, friends and faith sustained him through chemotherapy and radiation. But his health took a sharp downturn. Tom developed a debilitating cough along with severe side effects from diabetes.

“One day, I visited with Bob, and he was shocked to see me,” Tom remembered. Tom had lost 30 pounds and couldn’t walk.

A FRIEND READY TO HELP

Tom remembers his wife, Ginger, and his friend, Bob, decided they needed to take action. Bob immediately drove Tom to the Joan & Andy Fimiano Emergency Department at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, where he sat with him to make sure he received the care he needed.

Tom admitted, “I didn’t think I would live at that point.”

But his Hoag physician team worked to stabilize him and discovered he had a lung infection. After he spent a week at Hoag, he returned home.

THE MARATHON OF CANCER

“The level of care is beyond anything I expected,” he said. “I truly felt that the doctors and nurses cared for me.”

Although Tom returned for a second stay Hoag, he knew he was in good hands.

Thankful that his lung infection is now under control, Tom is on targeted therapy. He also received the good news that a recent CT scan showed both the cancer in his lung and liver have been reduced by 20% after the first month of medication. Although he’s still in the marathon of beating cancer, he’s an active member of the Costa Mesa Finance Committee, his church and a project to launch a private affordable Christian school program. He and Ginger celebrated 46 years of marriage and love nothing more than visits with their two sons and their granddaughters.

“This is an answer to many prayers and another reason to be thankful that the cancer went from stage 3b to stage 4.  At stage 4, I am eligible for this new medicine I am taking,” he says gratefully. “If it weren’t for Hoag, I wouldn’t be here.”

For more information on making a gift to the Hoag Family Cancer Institute, please contact Gwen Ritter, executive director of development, at (949) 764-7209 or Gwen.Ritter@hoag.org.