When Every Moment Matters: Complex Bowel Surgery Saves Ryan's Life
When a bowel perforation threatened his life, emergency surgery at Virtua gave Ryan Davis a second chance and a path to cancer treatment.
What started as sudden, severe pain at home quickly turned into an emergency for Ryan Davis—and a race against time to save his life.
Ryan, a former truck driver from Gloucester City, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Burkitt’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, in early January 2023. At home for a few days while his care team finalized his treatment plan, he began to experience extreme pain. Taken to Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ryan felt his outlook was grim—until he met general surgeon Jamaal Shaban, DO.
“I had a stabbing pain in my pelvic region. My whole body locked up,” said Ryan. “I found out had a bowel perforation in my lower intestines. Dr. Shaban kept me alive.”
A Life-Threatening Tear in the Small Intestine
A bowel perforation occurs when the wall of the small intestine tears, allowing fluids and bacteria to escape into the abdominal cavity. This can lead to severe inflammation and a life-threatening infection.
“The lymph nodes grow and cause a bowel obstruction. Fluid is still coming in, but there’s a traffic jam,” said Dr. Shaban. “Bowel bacteria are still forming and producing gas, and eventually the pressure causes a perforation.”
In the operating room, Dr. Shaban performed complex procedures to remove the affected portion of Ryan’s bowel—which he compared to a shredded tire—and reconnected his intestines.
“I feared leaving my wife and kids behind, of not making it through surgery,” said Ryan, who was 38 at the time of his diagnosis.
After three weeks at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes, he was stable enough to begin chemotherapy.
An Emotional Reunion
Ryan completed his cancer treatment and will never forget how Dr. Shaban saved his life. Eighteen months after his emergency bowel surgery, the two met by chance at a Gloucester County park.
“I faced pretty rough odds,” said Ryan. “Dr. Shaban was not just there for me, but for my wife, too. That meant everything.”
“Seeing him happy and healthy was incredibly emotional,” said Dr. Shaban. “Moments like that stay with you and remind you of the impact we have on patients’ lives.”
After his more than three-year journey, Ryan is happy to be around for his wife, Jeri, and their children, Declan and Violet.
“I got to send my son off on his first day of school,” he said. “I’m back into photography, hiking, and camping. And when my daughter asks me to pick her up, now I can. I wouldn’t be here without Dr. Shaban. I’m so grateful.”
Surgical Expertise You Can Trust
Virtua surgeons perform more robotic-assisted surgeries than any other health system in the Philadelphia area, allowing our patients to get back to the things they love faster and with less pain. Call 888-847-8823 to schedule an appointment with a Virtua surgeon near you.
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