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Care He Trusts, Close to Home: Terry Tilton’s Story

October 15, 2026

When Terry Tilton was diagnosed with multiple myeloma about a year and a half ago, he began what he describes simply as “a journey.”

Through it all, one thing has remained constant: the confidence he has in the people caring for him at Tampa General Cancer Institute | Lakeland Regional Health Hollis Cancer Center.

“You build a confidence in them,” Terry says. “It’s something that you just have to experience to see how the people care about what they’re doing and how they treat you.”

Terry began his care with Lakeland Regional Health oncologist and hematologist Dr. Muhammad Zain Farooq and his nurse, Sarah. His treatment initially required weekly visits. Over time, those treatments became less frequent, eventually moving to once a month. But then things began to shift.

When Terry’s disease markers began rising again, his care team expanded through Lakeland Regional Health’s collaboration with Tampa General Hospital.

Dr. Farooq connected Terry with Ankit Kansagra, MD, a multiple myeloma specialist with Tampa General who also sees patients at TGH Cancer Institute | Hollis Cancer Center. Dr. Kansagra and his team member Rosa Ancaya, PA, joined Dr. Farooq and Sarah in caring for Terry.

“I liked Dr. Kansagra from the day I met him,” Terry says. “He was so on board and straight and had so much time to spend with me and explain everything. I feel like I have a whole team looking after me.”

This team approach has become especially important as his treatment needs have changed.

Those changing needs are part of the nature of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that develops in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell found in bone marrow. Treatment can vary based on an individual patient’s disease and how it responds over time, and patients may receive different therapies throughout their care.

For Terry, changes in his disease meant exploring a new treatment and drawing on the expertise of a physician who specializes in multiple myeloma.

“Multiple myeloma treatment continues to advance, and collaboration is an important part of providing highly specialized, individualized care,” Dr. Kansagra says. “By bringing together the expertise of our teams at Tampa General and Lakeland Regional Health, we can work closely together while providing more of that care right here in Lakeland.”

Specialized Treatment in Lakeland

Terry’s treatment initially required him to travel to Tampa General Hospital. He received a newer treatment that helps guide his immune system directly to the cancer, allowing it to target and destroy myeloma cells more effectively. Following a 10-day stay to begin treatment, he is now able to receive the same treatment close to home at the TGH Cancer Institute | LRH Hollis Cancer Center. He is thankful to remain with the people he has come to know and trust throughout his care.

“Terry needed a more specialized therapy, so we escalated the level of care, not the number of teams he had to get to know,” Dr. Kansagra says. “Tampa General and Lakeland Regional Health plan those steps together, which is what lets a patient move between settings and still feel like he is in one place, with one team.”

For Terry, that transition registered as continuity rather than change: the same physicians and nurses, the same plan, and no need to repeat his history or navigate between two health systems on his own.

Finding the Right Care

After a year and a half of treatment, Terry encourages others facing a serious diagnosis to learn about the physicians, services, and treatment options available. “Do a little research. Ask some questions. Find out the reviews on the doctors,” he says.

For Terry, that research led him to a care team that has grown along with his needs. He has access to an expanded team and specialized care while receiving treatment close to home. “It’s been an excellent choice,” he says.

“It’s nothing that I want anybody else to have or I want to have,” Terry says. “But outside of that, it’s been a great experience.”

“Hollis is an amazing place.”

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