Published: September 16, 2025
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
According to Mitchell Brooks, Norton Healthcare has saved his life not once, not twice, but three times.
The 66-year-old man has faced cancer, cardiac emergencies and open heart surgery at Norton Healthcare in the past 10 years. Now, Mitchell is a participant in the LeAAPS clinical trial, which is helping to advance research that could prevent strokes in patients like him.
Mitchell, who lives in Oldham County, Kentucky, didn’t have any major health issues until 2016. He felt a sharp pain in his side and thought it was appendicitis, so he and his wife Linda visited Norton Brownsboro Hospital.
A resulting colonoscopy revealed cancerous, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to Mitchell. He went through several months of chemotherapy under the care of hematologist/oncologist Don A. Stevens, M.D., at Norton Cancer Institute.
“It was really, really hard,” Mitchell said. “I spent a whole week in there at a time to get chemo, and then on weekends when I was sick, I ended up going back in. I probably didn’t have two weekends in all those months that I wasn’t back in the hospital.”
During the grueling chemotherapy routine, Mitchell experienced dehydration when he returned home. One time, Linda brought him back to the hospital because he could hardly walk.
Desperate for IV treatment, Mitchell didn’t have the strength to wait long. But Dr. Stevens saw Mitchell as he came into the hospital and was ready to help his patient.
“He stayed right with him until they built him back up, which was very impressive of him to do that,” Linda said. “He spends time with you and makes sure you understand what they’re doing. He’s wonderful. We couldn’t ask for a better oncologist.”
According to Mitchell, he was cleared and in remission by July 2017, almost a year after he was diagnosed with cancer.
But two years later, Mitchell was back at Norton Brownsboro Hospital, this time with chest pains. He had a stent put in his artery by Jacob L. Nunamaker IV, M.D., interventional cardiologist with Norton Heart & Vascular Institute.
“It was 90% clogged; it was really bad,” Mitchell said. “They said I wouldn’t have made it through the weekend if I hadn’t come on in.”
But Mitchell wasn’t in the clear after the heart procedure.
“I found out the same day that I had to have a stent put in that my cancer had relapsed,” he said.
Mitchell once again had to start chemotherapy.
“He did that for another six months. His cancer was very aggressive,” Linda said.
Then in March 2025, Mitchell felt familiar chest pains, but sharper and more frequent. This time, it would take more than a stent.
According to Mitchell, Dr. Nunamaker referred him to Kevin A. Graham, M.D., cardiovascular surgeon with Norton Heart & Vascular Institute for open heart quadruple bypass surgery, at which time they discussed and agreed to the clinical trial. Dr. Graham is leading the LeAAPS trial at Norton Healthcare. The study evaluates whether closing off the left atrial appendage during heart surgery can help prevent strokes in patients at risk for atrial fibrillation.
Mitchell’s confidence in Norton Healthcare led him to feel comfortable about participating in the trial.
“Just the way they approached it and told me everything step by step, the way it was going to happen — they didn’t leave anything out,” Mitchell said. “They told me exactly what was going to happen and broke it down where I could understand it.”
Mitchell is one of more than a thousand patients participating in more than 750 clinical trials and research projects at Norton Healthcare, in partnership with Norton Research Institute — more than any other system in the region.
“Providing these clinical trials gives our patients access to groundbreaking care close to home. Our team is dedicated to research that can save lives,” Dr. Graham said.
Now celebrating their 40th year of marriage, Linda wouldn’t let Mitchell have any doubts.
“She told me that there wasn’t any way that I was leaving her right now,” Mitchell said.
“He said, ‘I don’t think I can do this,’ and I said, ‘You have to; you have no other option.” You’re not leaving me here by myself. So, we’re not done,’” Linda said.
Mitchell is going to cardiac rehabilitation twice a week as he builds himself back up.
Read more about Norton Healthcare’s clinical trials and research studies.