From Hearing a Scary Diagnosis to Enjoying the Gift of Time
Lausanne Walter Says Her Faith and Her Surgeon Have Gotten Her Through the Last Two Years
March 30, 2026
“I had two great physicians – the Good Lord and Dr. Molina,” she says. “They got me through this and gave me another two years – two years and counting! I am very blessed.”
When Lausanne Walter’s stomach issues began, she thought it may be a sign of reflux or possibly a gallbladder problem. So, when she visited an urgent care clinic, she was not prepared to hear the news she received: A CT scan found a large tumor in the pancreas.
Diagnosed with advanced-stage pancreatic cancer in January 2024, her head was still spinning when a niece who works at Lakeland Regional Health recommended she see Dr. Manuel Molina-Vega, a surgical oncologist at LRH’s Hollis Cancer Center. Dr. Molina not only specializes in surgeries of the hepatobiliary system, which includes the pancreas, but he also is among a small group of surgeons in Florida who perform the robotic Whipple procedure.
LRH is the only hospital in the area to offer the robotic Whipple, an innovative surgical treatment for pancreatic cancer. The robotic Whipple revolutionized the Whipple procedure – a surgery specifically designed to remove tumors in the head of the pancreas, distal bile duct, gallbladder, regional lymph nodes, and a portion of the small intestine – by making it a minimally invasive surgery. With the robotic Whipple, patients benefit from reduced recovery time, higher accuracy, and better outcomes
Dr. Molina admitted Lausanne and ran a battery of tests. He recommended a course of chemotherapy before he performed a robotic Whipple.
“He was great,” says Lausanne, who lives in Bartow. “He has done a lot of research and found that other countries always do chemo first to shrink the tumors before doing surgery, and they had better success rates that way. So that’s what he did.”
She did an extensive course of chemotherapy, then took a few weeks to recover before Dr. Molina performed her surgery May 29, 2024. She then followed up with another course of chemo.
“The chemo was rough, but the surgery wasn’t as bad as I was afraid it would be because it was done arthroscopically,” Lausanne says.
After a short stay in intensive care, she moved back into her hospital room. After two days, she says, “I didn’t even take pain medicine – just Tylenol.”
With the robotic Whipple, patients recover more quickly and return to normal life sooner.
Pancreatic cancer has a very high recurrence rate, and so Dr. Molina ordered bloodwork every three months and a PET scan every six months to monitor her health. A PET scan in December 2025 detected a very small tumor, which is being treated with chemo and radiation. Lausanne says she feels great right now.
The entire experience has been surreal, Lausanne says. “I was in the hospital and listening to all this talk about chemo and surgery, and looking at the faces of my family, and I kept thinking, ‘How could they be talking about me?’ I was almost 70 years old at the time and never drank or smoked. I exercised and ate healthfully. It was hard to believe this was happening.”
Still, she remains positive and upbeat. She credits her faith and the expertise and care of Dr. Molina for the gift of more time with her family.
“I had two great physicians – the Good Lord and Dr. Molina,” she says. “They got me through this and gave me another two years – two years and counting! I am very blessed.”
Manuel Molina-Vega, MD
Surgical Oncology
ABOUT DR. MOLINA
Dr. Manuel Molina has practiced Surgical Oncology since 2007. He specializes in surgical treatment for benign and malignant processes in the esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, bile ducts, colon and rectum, thyroid and parathyroid, adrenal gland, and melanoma and sarcoma surgery.
“Medicine and surgery have always been my passion since the day I decided to get into this career,” Dr. Molina said. “I don’t see myself doing anything else if I had the opportunity to do it again. I like to transmit that passion to my patients by always feeling happy for what I do and by always looking to give the best care possible.”
Surgical Oncology at Hollis Cancer Center
At Hollis Cancer Center, our surgical oncology team offers leading-edge procedures designed to deliver precision, faster recovery, and better outcomes.
When it matters most, world-class care is close to home.
