One in a Million: A Rare Diagnosis, a 14-Hour Surgery, and the Miracle That Changed Everything with Kerry Santucci

About this episode

Kerry Santucci shares her extraordinary journey of facing a rare tumor and the life-changing lessons learned from her experience as a patient.

What do a rare tumor, 150 job rejections, a 14-and-a-half-hour surgery, and a baby named Jehovah Heals have in common? They're all chapters in the remarkable story of today's guest, Kerry Santucci. Kerry Santucci is a healthcare operations professional and values-driven problem solver with over 15 years of experience in healthcare management. Holding a Master of Health Administration from Florida Atlantic University, Kerry has spent her career bringing clarity to chaos — partnering with physicians, executives, and hospital teams to strengthen both systems and people. But Kerry's most defining lessons didn't come from a boardroom or a classroom. They came from the patient side of the hospital bed. At just 23 years old — only nine months into her marriage — Kerry was diagnosed with an extraordinarily rare tumor: one that occurs in only one in a million patients, typically in women who are pregnant or post-C-section. Kerry was neither. And the tumor wasn't where it was supposed to be. It had wrapped around to her spine. In this deeply personal and powerful conversation, Kerry shares: How becoming a patient inside the very healthcare system she served reshaped her compassion, her…

People in this episode

Host: Georgette Beck

Guest: Kerry Santucci

Topics covered

• healthcare
• personal story
• rare diagnosis
• surgery
• faith
• resilience

Keywords

• rare tumor
• healthcare operations
• surgery
• faith
• patient experience
• resilience
• personal growth

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Florida Atlantic University

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