New game plan: Ostomy bag after colon surgery doesn’t stop 73-year-old basketball player from winning gold medal

As one of the country’s top basketball players in his age division, Mel Mocco was devastated last year when he learned his colon had to be removed.

It meant he would have to wear an ostomy bag — a pouch that attaches to the body and collects stool — for the rest of his life.

The Mokena, Illinois, resident worried he wouldn’t be able to compete on the basketball court, travel with his wife or enjoy lake swimming with his grandchildren.

But since Mocco’s colectomy surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine, and with support from the hospital’s ostomy care team, he has been able to do all those things and more. This summer, he brought home the gold medal for Team USA at the Masters Basketball Association’s world championships in Switzerland.

“My quality of life is better than I could have ever imagined,” the 73-year-old said.

Mocco, a lifelong athlete, admits the ostomy bag was an emotional struggle at first. He kept it a secret from everyone for months, including his basketball teammates, for fear they’d treat him differently.

As time passed and Mocco became less self-conscious, he returned to his normal activities and became a shining example of how life doesn’t have to stop with an ostomy bag.

“We always tell our patients, ‘The only limitations you will have are those you put on yourself,’” said Mocco’s UChicago Medicine gastroenterologist, Russell D. Cohen, MD.

History with ulcerative colitis

At age 17, Mocco was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine (the colon and the rectum).

People with ulcerative colitis are more likely to get colon cancer than the average person. The longer you have the disease, the higher the odds, Cohen said.

Medication kept Mocco’s disease under control for more than 50 years. He did regular colon cancer screenings, but they never showed any signs of cancer until 2024. That’s when multiple precancerous lesions were found. It was time for his colon to be removed.

Because this would be a life-changing surgery, the Moccos sought a second opinion. They were impressed by what they read about UChicago Medicine’s Digestive Diseases Center, one of the nation’s top-ranked centers for gastrointestinal conditions, including ulcerative colitis and colon cancer.

They met with UChicago Medicine’s inflammatory bowel diseases team — including Cohen, gastrointestinal surgeon Roger D. Hurst, MD, and their support staff — to discuss Mel’s options. Once they decided on the colectomy, the team explained all the steps involved.

“We didn’t just want someone who could do the surgery. We wanted someone who was No. 1 in the field. So that’s how we came to UChicago,” said Mocco’s wife, Patti. “We met with Dr. Cohen and Dr. Hurst and hit it off right away.”

A major surgery like this can be hard for an active person like Mocco, Hurst said.

“It takes a lot of courage to make that decision, but he made the right decision,” Hurst said. “It helps if you have good stoma care, and we have extremely good stoma care at UChicago.”

During the surgery, Hurst removed Mocco’s colon and created a stoma, an opening in the abdomen where waste can exit the body into the ostomy bag.

The recovery was quick, in part because Mocco was in such good physical shape, his doctors said. Ten days after surgery, he walked 1 1/2 miles. He shot basketball a few weeks after that and played in his first game at 14 weeks post-surgery.

Comprehensive ostomy care

UChicago Medicine’s ostomy care program is run by advanced practice nurses (APNs) who can independently manage a patient’s entire spectrum of ostomy care.

That program includes pre- and post-surgery education and ostomy care, both as an inpatient and outpatient, and a support group led by a certified wound, ostomy and continence nurse that many patients find beneficial. Patients can see their surgeon, gastrointestinal provider and ostomy APN all on the same day.

“What sets our program apart is the close collaboration between our ostomy APNs, surgeons and gastrointestinal specialists are all within the same clinic,” said UChicago Medicine outpatient ostomy APN Laura Williamson, MSN.

The newest technology is used to ensure each patient is comfortable, secure and confident with their ostomy bag. They also offer designs such as Mocco’s black ostomy bag, which looks more like a large cell phone holder than a medical device.

UChicago Medicine’s ostomy care program is so highly regarded, it attracts patients from other hospital systems and healthcare facilities.

While most services are offered in Hyde Park, some patients are seen in Orland Park and Hinsdale.

The ostomy clinic is part of UChicago Medicine’s top-rated comprehensive Digestive Diseases Center, whose clinicians work from locations in Hyde Park, Orland Park, Hinsdale, Northbrook, River East, and starting this fall, Crown Point, Indiana.