Tom Ferrante, 67, of Bethel Park, and his best friend, John, are former co-workers and golf buddies, with a solid, comfortable friendship that has lasted 40-plus years. When Ferrante learned earlier this year that he had prostate cancer, he turned to John, who had been successfully treated for the exact same type of prostate cancer not long ago. John provided advice and support, and most importantly, a referral to an exceptional surgeon: Kevin P. Bordeau, M.D., a board-certified urologist at St. Clair Hospital.

For her 21st birthday, Jaicey Stegena received the gift of a lifetime – a gift that transformed her body and her life. Since the age of 2, Stegena, now 27, of Munhall, lived with a rare condition called neurogenic bladder, which prevented her from being able to urinate naturally. Stegena did not experience the sensation of a full bladder and could not empty her bladder in the normal way. As a result, she had to be catheterized by her parents several times a day, to remove accumulated urine. Remarkably, Stegena learned to do this by herself at the tender age of 5. Her parents, Jay and Winnie Stegena, wanted their daughter, the last of their four children, to have as much normalcy and independence as possible. Stegena was healthy in every other way, and every bit as active as her siblings. Her mother taught her to perform a procedure known as “clean intermittent catheterization,” inserting a catheter into her bladder several times a day. Stegena became proficient at this, but it was never easy, and she endured years – 19 years, to be exact – of frequent urinary tract infections and prolonged courses of antibiotics.