Three Hospitals in Six Months. Then, Mount Sinai Saved Her

Maria Diaz had been her mother’s advocate for six months before she ever set foot in Mount Sinai Medical Center.

In that time, Dinorah Roqueta had been admitted to three different hospitals. She had been told her symptoms were influenza. She had had fluid drained from her lungs, then her abdomen. She had been sent home with instructions to follow up with an oncologist who, to this day, has still not called the family to discuss her biopsy results.

It was on Dinorah’s third admission that her surgical oncologist started paying closer attention. A CT scan revealed a small lesion on her lung. He told Maria he wanted Dinorah seen at Mount Sinai by Roy F. Williams, MD, Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery.

Maria arrived with her mother feeling defeated, but ready to advocate for her care: “I had to be the front lines. My mother is not in a position to fight for herself.”

But in their first meeting, Dr. Williams listened to the timeline, spoke with her doctor, and within minutes he was scheduling Dinorah’s procedure for the following week.

“I was expecting weeks of preparation,” Maria said. “Bloodwork. Delays. He looked at me and said, today’s Thursday. Let’s do it next Wednesday.”

The biopsy, performed on April 1, confirmed an ovarian cancer diagnosis by the Mount Sinai Pathology Department.

Dr. Williams introduced the family to Brian Slomovitz, MD, Director of Gynecologic Oncology. Within a week, they were in his office.

He asked if they had an oncologist. Maria began to explain that she was unhappy with the one she had.

“We’re your oncologist now,” he said. “We’re going to take care of you.” Then he wrote his personal cell phone number on the back of his card and handed it to her. His assistant, Michelle Flint, did the same.

“My reality shifted for a brief moment,” Maria said. “In that moment, I knew it was going to be okay.”

That moment kept repeating in the weeks that followed. A greeter named Justin met them at the Skolnick building door at five a.m. and asked if Dinorah needed a wheelchair. The barista who served Maria coffee asked her how she was holding up. In the ICU, she met a nurse named Leslie Torres she said she would never forget.

“It was like Mount Sinai trained every person, regardless of role, in what compassionate care looks like,” Maria said.

Dinorah received her port last week. Her first chemotherapy infusion is scheduled for next week. Maria estimates the family is now three months ahead of where they would be if they had stayed in the system that brought them here.

Her advice for any family in the same place she was six months ago: “Ask every question. Do your research. Trust the process. If something doesn’t feel right, it isn’t. Don’t be afraid to knock on another door.”

For the Diaz family, that door was Mount Sinai.

“We are officially a Mount Sinai family,” Maria said. “Stomach bug, sprained knee, anything. This is home now.”

To learn more about Mount Sinai’s Irma and Norman Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center, click here.