Giving Thanks: How Compassionate Care Made a Difference

Victor Ulto says he wonders how often healthcare workers hear the words “thank you.”

“They should know they make a difference,” the 76-year-old Vero Beach resident says. So, he does his part to make sure they do. Every few weeks he drops off a few “goodies” like cookies or cupcakes, along with a thank-you note, to the radiation oncology staff at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital.

“They are wonderful people. I can’t speak any more highly of the team there,” he says of the staff who, under the direction of Radiation Oncologist Ellis Ziel, MD, provided him with the 33 radiation treatments he needed after his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2024.

“They are wonderful people. I can’t speak any more highly of the team there.”

Victor, who is a Catholic priest, had just retired after 46 years and was having symptoms that required the care of a urologist. Having been a patient of Cleveland Clinic in Florida for the previous 25 years, he sought help at the urology department at Indian River Hospital. Testing he had done there revealed prostate cancer, and because of his elevated Gleason score (a grading system for prostate cancer) it was recommended that Victor undergo prostatectomy (removal of the prostate).

After the operation, which he had done in August 2024 in his hometown of New York City, Victor returned to Vero Beach and to the care at Cleveland Clinic in Florida.

Despite the removal of his prostate, his PSA (prostate-specific antigen) level continued to rise, indicating that there could still be cancer cells in his body.

He was referred to Dr. Ziel for treatment.

“Dr. Ziel recommended radiation to the pelvic area so if something was hiding in there somewhere, it could be found and eradicated,” Victor says.

He said he was “truly scared” to undergo radiation but Dr. Ziel and his staff “knew just how to handle me,” which included acting as his “coach” to get him through the treatment.

“I felt like a person, an individual who was treated with love at Indian River Hospital,” Victor says.

When he rang the bell after his last treatment, Victor says he was so moved that he cried. Though he still deals with some of the normal side effects of radiation treatment, he says his PSA is now at a low healthy level and he has gotten a lot of his energy back. Some of that energy he intends to use as a volunteer at Indian River Hospital.

“I just want to give back,” Victor says. “I’m a very grateful man.”