A fever led him to the ER — and a life-saving diagnosis

Typically energetic, Dan Musil, 66, struggled to get out of bed for two days in September, feeling feverish. Finally, he took himself to the emergency room at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. At the time, he was completely unaware that it would be a life-saving decision.

“I thought I just needed some antibiotics or something, but I ended up being admitted and getting many tests,” says Dan, an engineer.

To his complete surprise, Dan learned he had a mass in his liver, which was biopsied during his hospitalization and shown to be cancer. He soon received a consultation with Dr. Kai Zu, an oncologist with Sharp Community Medical Group.

“I am a person who doesn’t get very emotional, so I didn’t cry about it,” he says. “I like to focus on addressing the issue, and it helped that Sharp created a treatment plan for me.”

A plan, procedure and happy patient

The plan was for Dan to visit the Sharp Memorial Advanced Digestive Health Clinic to meet Dr. Marquis Hart, a surgeon with Sharp Community Medical Group and affiliated with Sharp Memorial Hospital. “I deeply appreciated that Dr. Zu and Dr. Hart communicated closely with each other about my case,” says Dan. “They also explained to me in a way that made the situation more understandable.”

Dan underwent robotic surgery performed by Dr. Hart. “The mass was located on the sixth segment of Mr. Musil’s liver, which is part of the right lobe,” says Dr. Hart. “I removed this segment along with the gallbladder since the mass was also very close to it.”

The importance of early detection

Liver cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide and can be deadly if detected too late. Luckily, Dan’s liver cancer was caught at an early stage, making it easier to treat.

Dan stayed at Sharp Memorial Hospital for four days and was thrilled with his quick recovery, thanks to robotic surgery being minimally invasive. Instead of making a single large incision, Dr. Hart used a robotic device to make multiple small incisions during Dan’s surgery.

“The nurses were also phenomenal,” says Dan. “There was someone always there checking on me.”

A focus on the future

The cause of Dan’s liver cancer is unknown. He had no symptoms, family history or risk factors associated with the disease.

“Getting cancer can definitely be an unfair situation, but I chose to have a positive outlook and focused on the things I could do, like make appointments and ask my doctors questions,” says Dan.

Dan has since returned to work and is consulting with his doctors about starting chemotherapy. “I’m really pleased with my Sharp care team and thank them for their support,” he says.

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