Delicious food. Incredible music. Unique people and culture. As a native New Yorker turned New Orleans resident, Barry Birnbaum will tell you that there is no place in the world quite like the Crescent City. Avid music lovers, he and his wife, Nancy, first visited Jazz Fest in 1995. They enjoyed themselves so much that on the plane ride home to New York, he turned to his wife and told her they were coming back every year. So, every year afterward, they returned for the music, the food and the many friends they made along the way.
Finally, in December of 2021, they moved to New Orleans for good.
Barry and Nancy quickly grew roots within the community. Whether it was visiting the Maple Leaf on a Tuesday night, catching a local concert at Tipitina’s or working at the Jazz Fest beer tent where they volunteered every year since Hurricane Katrina, retired life in New Orleans was everything they dreamed and more.
Then, in the summer of 2024, Barry noticed something alarming. He wasn’t feeling like himself and visits to the restroom were painful. He called to make an appointment with a urologist but was told the earliest opening was three months out. He knew that was far too long, so he reached out to some of his New Orleans connections. Within an hour, a friend called back with a name and a number for a local urologist. He was seen the next day.
After tests and scans, the urologist found a growth on Barry’s bladder. He removed what he could and then suggested to Barry that he visit Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Metairie, which focuses on urologic cancers, for additional consultation.
The following week, after his scheduled biopsy, Barry sat down with Mary Bird Perkins’ Dr. Carrie Marquette (left), medical oncologist, and Dr. Jessie Gills (right), urologic oncologist. They confirmed what Barry most dreaded to hear. He had bladder cancer and it had just crossed into the muscle wall outside of the bladder.
“I told my wife point blank – we didn’t retire and move to New Orleans just so that I could die here,” said Barry. “I refused to let this be the end of my story. I had so much living left to do.”
Barry’s care team explained the different ways the disease is typically treated, then asked him something he wasn’t expecting: “What do you want to do?”
Barry had thought about this. He knew a friend of his father’s, a Marine in World War II, who had his bladder removed and had lived with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. Barry told Dr. Marquette that he was intent on keeping his bladder. She looked at him and said, “OK. Then that’s what we’re going to do.”
To be on the safe side, friends encouraged Barry to seek a second opinion. He visited another local facility and the doctors told him that removing the bladder was simply how it was done. When Barry pushed back and asked about the approach his Mary Bird Perkins team was taking, they told him that wasn’t by the book.
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “They’re doing what I want,” Barry said. “Not what your book says.”
When he returned to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Metairie, Barry’s care team put him on 12 weeks of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. For radiation, Barry visited the Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, a relatively short drive from his home. There, he was treated by Dr. Konstantin “Kos” Kovtun using some of the Cancer Center’s most advanced and leading-edge technology – Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART). This technology combines MRI imaging with radiation delivery to target his cancer with remarkable precision. What would normally require twenty individual sessions took only five.
Throughout this whole process, he felt the loving embrace of his community. He received calls and regular visits. Friends showed up at his door with meals. As Barry says, “New Orleans is a city that takes care of its own.”
Finally, after his last treatment, a Mary Bird Perkins team member walked Barry down the hall and pointed to the bell on the wall. This was his moment.
“I rang that sucker as hard as I could,” he said. “The Cancer Center team saved my life. They absolutely saved my life – and preserved my quality of life.”
Today, Barry continues to follow up with his care team and is awaiting his next scan. He and Nancy are hopeful about their future and getting back into their rhythm of life.
Jazz Fest 2026 was wonderful and he’s already looking forward to next year. He was also at the Maple Leaf not long ago, on his feet listening to George Porter Jr., feeling like himself again.
He is grateful for the team that listened to him and found a way to treat him on his own terms.
“I can’t say enough about the team at Mary Bird Perkins,” he said. “They really, genuinely care about their patients. You talk to them and you can just tell how much they care.”
During May, Bladder Cancer Awareness Month, and beyond, physicians at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center encourage eligible patients to learn more about bladder preservation clinical trials, including the national ARCHER trial (NRG-GU015), which is evaluating ultra-hypofractionated radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Dr. Scott Delacroix serves as the national Principal Investigator of the ARCHER trial. The ARCHER study is designed to determine whether shorter-course, cutting-edge radiation treatment can maintain cancer control while significantly improving convenience and quality of life for patients seeking bladder preservation. The study is currently enrolling eligible patients nationwide.
For more information about the ARCHER trial and bladder preservation treatment options, including a patient education video, visit NRG Oncology ARCHER Trial.
For more information about Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Metairie, visit marybird.org.
