May 3, 2002 By Cindy Ekas-Brown 11 min read

Joe Carei, chef and owner of Caileigh’s Restaurant in Uniontown, always thought he was the picture of health. He didn’t smoke or drink. He monitored his diet, maintained a normal weight and kept in shape by running on a regular basis. When the 34-year-old man first noticed that he was bleeding from his rectum several months ago, he wasn’t extremely concerned. Because Carei is a runner, he assumed that hemorrhoids caused the bleeding.

But when he mentioned the bleeding to his wife, Stacy, a 30-year-old woman who works as a dialysis nurse at several local hospitals, she insisted that her husband make an appointment with a doctor to have the bleeding checked out.

Carei credits his wife with possibly saving his life because he was eventually diagnosed with colorectal cancer after a series of tests and procedures. Cancer of the colon or rectum is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and the American Cancer Society estimates 148,300 new cases will be diagnosed this year.

“I really think that Stacy may have saved my life because I don’t know if I would have went to the doctor if she hadn’t insisted on it,” Carei said. “I was young and healthy, and I didn’t want to believe that there could possibly be anything wrong with me.”

Carei took his wife’s advice and made an appointment in February with Dr. Richard J. Pish in Uniontown. During his first appointment, Carei told the doctor that he had been suffering from extreme fatigue and some rectal bleeding.

“I also told the doctor that I got sick with what I thought was the stomach flu last October, but I didn’t have a fever, which I thought was a little bit strange,” he said. “I had bad diarrhea, and it lasted for about a week, which is longer than most stomach viruses.”

During the first appointment, Carei said his wife asked the doctor to perform a scope to check his rectum and entire colon. Pish agreed to perform a colonoscopy where a doctor uses a long, thin, flexible lighted tube to check for polyps or cancer in the rectum or colon. The procedure was performed at the Uniontown Hospital.

“I thought it was no big deal because the doctor said he was doing the scope to be on the safe side. I don’t think the doctor really expected to find anything wrong,” Carei said.

During the colonoscopy, Carei said the doctor told him that he had found a large tumor. The doctor said the tumor looked suspicious, but no definite diagnosis had been made at that time. Carei also underwent a CT scan before a diagnosis was made.

Carei said he spent the next few days, worrying about his life, the future, his family and his business.

Several days later, Carei and his wife were sitting in an oncologist’s office at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. When he heard the devastating news that he was suffering from colorectal cancer, Carei, who also coaches the cross country team at Brownsville Area Senior High School, said he was shocked.

“I was shocked because I’m so young, and I thought I was so healthy,” he said. “I didn’t think anything like that would happen to me. I remember thinking, ‘I have cancer. What am I going to have to do to get better?'”

Even though he was shocked by the news, Carei said he didn’t spend a lot of sleepless nights worrying about the disease and what the future would bring.

“I realized that it was something that was out of my control,” he said. “Obviously, my wife knows more than I do about the disease because she is a nurse. I think I was helped out by my ignorance.”

Instead of worrying about his own health, Carei said his first thoughts turned to his wife and their three children, 9-year-old Caileigh, a third-grade student at Ben Franklin School; 6-year-old Braden, a kindergarten student; and Maeve Louise, who celebrated her second birthday on May 24.

“I worried about what was going to happen to my family if I don’t make it,” he said. “I was very concerned about how my wife and children would deal with the disease. It’s devastating to find out that a loved one has cancer. But when it happens to you, it’s different. It’s time to figure out what to do, and I think it’s important to have a positive attitude.”

Carei said doctors couldn’t explain why he has the disease because he doesn’t have any risk factors. People at higher risk for colorectal cancer are those over the age of 50 who consume a high-fat diet, do not exercise and have a family history of the disease.

“I didn’t have any of the risk factors, and the doctors still can’t tell me why or how I got this disease,” he said. “My doctor did tell me that he has been seeing more and more younger people who are developing the disease, but no one seems to be able to explain why that is happening.”

Colorectal cancer generally occurs in one out of every 20 people at some point in their lives, according to information provided by the Oncology Forum on the Internet. About 150,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States, which represents about 15 percent of the total number of new cancer diagnoses. Colorectal cancer causes about 56,000 deaths a year in the United States.

Before he underwent surgery to remove the tumor, Carei said doctors wanted to give him 25 radiation treatments and 24-hour chemotherapy in an effort to shrink the tumor. The day after Valentine’s Day, which is the second busiest day of the year in the restaurant business, Carei was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital.

“I ended up in the hospital because I suffered massive bleeding,” he said. “I was shocked to find out that I was four units low on blood because I really didn’t feel that bad. I guess it wasn’t so bad for me because I’m a runner. I’m strong, and I’m young. They told me that an older person that wasn’t as strong as me would have had severe pain.”

Carei did not lose his hair during the chemotherapy treatments, but he did suffer from extreme fatigue, weight loss and diarrhea – the most common side effects of the treatment.

Three months after he was diagnosed with the disease, Carei underwent surgery on Monday, May 13, the day after Mother’s Day, which is the busiest day of the year in the restaurant business, at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Dr. David S. Medich, director of the department of colon and rectal surgery, performed the surgery.

“The surgeon removed my rectum and part of my colon,” he said. “I have what’s called an iliostomy to bypass the large intestine and to allow it to heal. It’s like a colostomy, but it’s not permanent. The doctors told me that I will have the iliostomy for about four months.”

After the surgery was performed, Carei said he learned that his tumor was 5 centimeters in size, which means that it had probably been growing for several years. Doctors told him that his cancer had reached stage III, which means that cancer cells had spread to his lymph nodes.

Oncologists use a simple system of defining the four stages of cancer, according to information provided by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on the Internet. Stage I represents early cancer, with a small tumor and no spread to the lymph nodes. In stages II and III, the tumor is progressively more advanced and in some cases has spread to the lymph nodes. Stage IV refers to metastatic disease, which means the disease has spread to other areas of the body.

When colorectal cancer is detected early, the Oncology Forum said survival rates are much higher. For example, 92 percent of patients, who receive early treatment, are still alive after five years. When adjacent organs or lymph nodes are affected, 64 percent of people survive five years. If the cancer spreads to distant organs, the survival rate drops to only 7 percent.

“I feel very lucky that my disease was caught in Stage III because the chances for survival decrease significantly if the disease isn’t caught until Stage IV,” Carei said. “If my wife wouldn’t have insisted that I see a doctor when I did, it’s hard to tell what would have happened to me.”

In six months, Carei said he will undergo a colonoscopy and a CT scan at Allegheny General Hospital to determine if the tumor has returned. If everything seems fine, he will not be required to undergo the testing again for a year.

“If nothing shows up five years after the surgery, Joe will be considered completely cured. That’s what we’re hoping will happen,” his wife said. “Joe’s disease has been very difficult on our family. Our oldest daughter Caileigh is very sensitive, and she is taking it very hard.”

Doctors told Carei, who has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Susquehanna University, that he couldn’t work for the next six weeks during his recovery period. He will undergo a series of chemotherapy treatments for the next four months.

Carei said he agreed to be interviewed about his disease because he wants to help other people.

“If one person reads this story and decides to go to the doctor to get checked out, then it was worth it to me,” he said. “I don’t think people realize that anyone – even young people who appear to be healthy like me – can get cancer. It doesn’t just happen to other people. It can happen to you.”

In an effort to keep his restaurant operating during his absence, Carei decided to give some friends, including local and regional celebrities, the chance to serve as guest chefs at his business from May 15 through June 1. Carei said he would probably have to close the restaurant on Tuesdays beginning in June until he recovers from his illness.

Some of the guest chefs at Caileigh’s Restaurant have included the Rev. James Tweardy of Third Presbyterian Church in Uniontown; WTAE Channel 4 Sportscaster Andrew Stockey and his wife, Sharon; Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan and Pat Maxon, West Brownsville City Council president, assisted by chef Peter Phillipi of Peter’s Torchlight; Brownsville Area Senior High School’s cross country team that Carei coaches assisted by chef Kieran McVey, who operates Carei’s former restaurant at the Thompson House; The Rev. Keith Conover of Pleasantview Church; Scott Cape, the nationally recognized and award-winning chef at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa near Farmington; ex-Steeler Steve Courson, who won two Super Bowls and is an author and outdoorsman; and Fayette County Judge Gerald Solomon and attorney James Davis.

“I came up with the idea for the guest chefs when I was in the hospital in February, and I had a chance to think about what I was going to do,” Carei said. “After I came home from the hospital, I sent out some letters to local celebrities. Andrew Stockey called me back right away and told me that he would love to be a guest chef. He and his wife were so nice when they were at the restaurant. Andrew doesn’t really cook, but his wife, Sharon, is an excellent cook.”

Through his illness, Carei said, he began to realize that there are many caring people in the world.

“I just can’t believe the generosity of all of the people, who agreed to serve as guest chefs and help me out during my time of need,” he said.

“I never realized until I got sick how many wonderful people there are in this world,” he added. “There are people out there who would do anything to help you, and I think that’s great. I can’t believe all of the cards and phone calls I’ve received from people who are concerned about me. The world is a wonderful place, and I realize there are a lot of good people out there. It brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.”