We were surprised to get a phone call on Monday and hear John Schalcosky’s voice on the line.
“I’m home now, and I feel like a million bucks,” said John, founder of the popular Facebook page “The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh.”
That was surprising news. On Friday, surgeons at West Penn Hospital performed an eight-hour surgery on John, who’d been suffering for months with diverticulitis and ulcerative colitis, conditions that riddled his bowels with perforations and ulcers. John had lost more than 60 pounds and at times experienced severe abdominal pain.
Friday’s operation was an attempt to resolve those issues. John, 41, said surgeons were shocked by how well he was doing.
“I feel so good I can eat a three-course meal,” he said. In fact, he was back on solid foods.
John sent us a brief summary of the procedures surgeons conducted. Then, later, he sent a much more specific two-page description he’d produced with the help of AI – this one included terminology we’d need a medical dictionary to decipher. John’s an energetic researcher, and we’re viewing his increasingly detailed updates as evidence that he was indeed feeling better.
Over the years, “Odd Pittsburgh” has built a substantial community of people who delight in John’s posts, which dig into the region’s often quirky past. Many of the page’s 150,000 followers sent notes of support after hearing of his health issues.
After the operation on Friday, John’s wife, Lisa, posted a photograph of John asleep on a hospital bed and gave this update:
“My beautiful husband is FINALLY out of surgery and sleeping peacefully …” she wrote. “Things went mostly according to plan this time around, and we’re optimistic and determined to continue this journey, together. Goodnight, Pittsburgh!”
Then, on Monday, she posted another photograph, this one showing John and Lisa heading home three days after John’s major surgery.
“The kids and I are bursting with happiness to have him home!!” she wrote.
Steve is a photojournalist and writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he is currently on strike and working as a Union Progress co-editor. Reach him at smellon@unionprogress.com.