Surgical Team Brings Hope and Healing to Mother Facing Cancer
August 31, 2026
Jamie LaForest spends time on the lake with her son, Declan, creating lasting memories together.
When Jamie LaForest began experiencing severe back pain at age 47, she never imagined it would lead to a life-threatening diagnosis.
Doctors had discovered a large tumor growing deep inside her abdomen. It was dangerously close to several vital organs. Within weeks, the pain had spread across her shoulders and had become overwhelming.
Then came news that changed everything.
“My original doctor turned me down for surgery,” Jamie recalled. “I cried all the way home with my father after hearing my options. Things did not look good.”
As a mother of six facing a devastating diagnosis, Jamie was scared but determined to keep fighting. Her search for a second opinion led her to Hepatobiliary Surgeon Dr. Lavanya Yohanathan.
Lavanya Yohanathan, MD
Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgeon
Trinity Health Medical Group, Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery
Accepting new patients
Learn More“From the second I met Dr. Yohanathan, I felt a sense of calm come over me,” Jamie said. “I knew she was going to be my doctor.”
Jamie found more than an expert; she found a specialist willing to take on a case that other providers considered far too complex.
Jamie describes Dr. Yohanathan as bold, confident and exceptionally skilled in treating challenging cancers.
“She was phenomenal,” Jamie said. “She is highly trained in my type of cancer, and she wasn’t afraid of the complexity of my case.”
During a highly complex, 10-hour operation, Dr. Yohanathan and her partner, Dr. Vandad Raofi, also a hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon, carefully removed the tumor and the surrounding organ tissue affected by the disease. This type of procedure, known as a multivisceral resection, is among the most complex operations performed for advanced abdominal cancers and requires a highly specialized multidisciplinary team.
For Jamie, the experience was about more than surgical skill.
“She explained every risk and every danger,” Jamie said. “She saw a way for me to survive when others didn’t, and I couldn't be more grateful for her."
Today, Jamie's three-month and six-month follow-up scans have shown no evidence of disease.
While the road has not always been easy, Jamie credits her children and faith with helping her through the hardest moments.
“There have been good days, bad days and very bad days,” she said. “But I never wanted my kids to see me give up. My faith carried me through the hard days and the good days, too.”
Just as importantly, Jamie says she never faced those challenges alone.
“Dr. Yohanathan listened to me. She never rushed me. She worked closely with all of my other doctors and stayed on top of every report and update, so I was always supported and never felt alone.”
When asked whether she would recommend Dr. Yohanathan to other patients, Jamie doesn't hesitate.
“One thousand percent.”
That confidence was evident when, after Dr. Yohanathan and Dr. Raofi joined the medical staff of Trinity Health Michigan earlier this year, Jamie followed her physician. She was determined to remain under the care of the woman she credits with saving her life.
Today, Jamie is sharing her story in hopes that it encourages others facing complex cancer diagnoses to seek answers, ask questions, and to never give up hope.
“I want to tell the world about Dr. Yohanathan and what she is able to do,” she said.
Alongside Dr. Raofi and an expanded hepatobiliary surgery team at Trinity Health Michigan, Dr. Yohanathan continues to deliver hope, innovation and compassionate care to patients facing complex cancers.
Cancer Care Inspired by You
To connect with personalized cancer care in Southeast Michigan, please visit Trinity Health Michigan Cancer Care.