When Jeff Doss was treated for tonsil cancer in Maine, his care team recommended high-dose radiation therapy. While the aggressive treatment successfully cured Jeff’s cancer, it also caused post-radiation necrosis, which is permanent damage to nearby tissue. “He had a feeding tube because he couldn’t swallow and then he started having these catastrophic bleeding events at home,” explains Jeff’s wife, Mary Ann. “I thought I was going to lose him.”
At one point, the bleeding was so extensive that a blood clot blocked Jeff’s airway. In desperation, Mary Ann put him in the car and drove him to their local police station. “Thank God it was five minutes away and they got him right into an ambulance,” she says. “The doctors told me I basically saved his life.”
On December 2, 2025, after multiple emergencies and hospitalizations, Jeff was placed in a medically induced coma to prevent further life-threatening bleeding. “They didn’t know what else to do,” remembers Mary Ann. “We were told he would never swallow again, and he might not make it.”
A Call for Help to Boston Medical Center
While he was in a coma, Jeff’s care team started calling other hospitals in New England to see if anyone could take his case. And on December 7, they received a “yes” from Dr. Sarah C. Nyirjesy, a head and neck surgeon at Boston Medical Center specializing in complex cancer and reconstructive procedures. “I got down on my knees,” Mary Ann recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, we have a chance.’”
The next day, Jeff was airlifted to BMC. From the moment they arrived, Mary Ann knew they were in good hands. “Nurse Alison, who took Jeff off the helicopter and cleaned him up, was just so great. She spoke with my daughter and me and had Jeff looking the best he had looked in months,” says Mary Ann, who later nominated Alison for a DAISY Award for excellence in nursing.
It wasn’t long before Dr. Nyirjesy came to talk to Jeff’s family. “She spent over an hour with us that first night, explaining everything—what was wrong with him, what she planned to do. She told us he would swallow again. I just can’t believe what a a phenomenally gifted surgeon she is.”
Jeff ended up requiring multiple complex surgeries, including a laryngectomy and several microvascular free flap reconstruction procedures to restore the damaged tissue in his neck. “There were ups and downs,” Mary Ann admits. “If a flap failed, Dr. Nyirjesy would take him back in. It was exhausting and terrifying, but she was totally honest with us and always really positive, which is what we needed. He wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for Dr. Nyirjesy.”
In total, Jeff spent nearly 50 hours in surgery and needed 34 units of blood.
“From vascular surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, anesthesiology, the pain team, the phenomenal nursing staff and residents… it was such a group effort,” says Mary Ann.
A Heroic Road to Recovery
After weeks in the hospital, Jeff was discharged on January 8. As they walked through the snow to their nearby rental apartment, Jeff slipped on the ice and had to be rushed back to the hospital. “I was absolutely devastated,” Mary Ann says. “I thought, why is this happening? Can’t we just get a break?”
But little by little, Jeff improved.
In February, he had a post-operative swallow study. His care team wasn’t sure he’d be ready to eat yet, but to everyone’s amazement, there was no leak, and Jeff was cleared to try a soft diet. “The next day, he was eating cashews,” Mary Ann laughs. “Now he’s eating everything—even steak!” For Jeff, who has always loved cooking and good food, it was more than just a milestone. It meant he was starting to get his life back.
Jeff continues to eat normally, steadily gaining back the 70 pounds he lost over the course of his illness. He hopes to return to work as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “He misses his patients,” Mary Ann explains.
Finding His Voice Again
Though Jeff is still learning how to speak through a voice prosthesis, he easily communicates by writing notes. One message he wants to share with anyone going through a challenging medical journey: “Whatever you have to deal with, you have to use the cards you’re dealt. Get a second opinion. And don’t ever quit.”
After months of uncertainty and around-the-clock caregiving, Mary Ann is finally able to pause and reflect on everything they’ve been through. “There were moments I didn’t know how I was going to keep going,” she says. “But Jeff is incredibly strong. I don’t know that many people could go through what he did. Now, we can both finally take a breath.”