Palos Hospital Physician Shares his own Cancer Journey

Jim Draguesku, MD, referred to as “Dr. Jim,” of Palos Park, has served local patients for more than 30 years. The 68-year-old spent more than 25 years as a gastroenterologist at Palos Hospital, and currently serves as medical director for clinical documentation at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital. In August of 2023, he unexpectedly found himself on the other side of patient care when he learned from his primary care physician that his prostate specific antigen (PSA) was elevated.

“When my primary care physician saw that my PSA was slightly increasing, he wasted no time and conducted a more sensitive type of PSA screening which revealed there was a high probability that it could be prostate cancer,” said Dr. Jim. “Despite having no symptoms and a normal exam, he told me he needs me to go in for an MRI right away, which confirmed the suspected diagnosis.”

After the MRI results, he was referred to Edward Schaeffer, Md, PhD, chief of urology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He performed a biopsy, which revealed that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

“Despite being surrounded by difficult diagnoses and illness at work, the element of shock and surprise that I had cancer was overwhelming,” explained Dr. Jim. “It was hard to accept, and I was scared to tell my daughters about the diagnosis. However, my family was by my side throughout the process, and they kept me focused to get to the finish line.”

Shortly after the biopsy, Dr. Jim underwent a robotic radical laparoscopic prostatectomy. After the procedure, the pathology report showed that it had spread to surrounding tissue.

While he was busy going through a challenging recovery from the initial surgery, he met with Yazan Numan, MD, oncologist at Northwestern Medicine St. George Cancer Institute and Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital. Dr. Numan explained to him that after meeting with his colleagues, they determined that once he has recovered from the surgery, that he should begin radiation treatments for 8 weeks in addition to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to stop the production of testosterone.

Due to the ongoing PSA monitoring, they issued another PET scan which then revealed that there was a new metastatic lymph node involvement in the pelvis. The current radiation regimen he was on was modified to also target the newly discovered malignant lymph nodes.

“Dr. Jim’s case was one of the atypical cases we see usually in our cancer center, through careful review of all tests as well as surgical tissue and multi-disciplinary discussions, we designed a personalized plan that we believe has the highest chance of success to cure him,” said Dr. Numan.

In July 2024, Dr. Jim had a follow-up PET scan to determine if the treatments were working. He was thrilled to be told that there was no evidence of lymph node involvement anymore and he is currently cancer-free. He will go in for scheduled follow-ups and continue the ADT. He realizes how lucky he is to have gotten the diagnosis when he did.

Dr. Jim is now back doing the things he loves. He is out on the golf course, taking care of his grandkids, and recently completed the Northwestern Medicine Cancer Walk, which he found cathartic.

“The care I received at Northwestern Medicine St. George Cancer Institute in Orland Park and Northwestern Memorial Hospital was incredible. I consider myself lucky to live so close to a hospital that delivered the highest quality of care to me. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Years ago, I would have found myself spending the bulk of my time downtown dealing with it all. Having world-class care so close to home is not something to ever take for granted.”

For more information, please go to www.nm.org.