Nina Rubino absolutely loves her cardiologist. She has struggled with a variety of health issues over the years, including a hereditary blood disorder she calls “Mediterranean strain anemia” or Thalassemia. It’s part of this feisty woman’s Sicilian heritage and she takes it in stride.

But as her health issues mounted up, Nina finally decided to find a cardiologist close to home, and for her that literally meant right down the hall at Deborah Heart and Lung Center where she was working.

“I knew I needed a heart doctor,” she said “and I looked at the new list of Fellows, and saw this young man who looked just like my son. That was it.”

Soon after she was under the care of Dr. Charles Sineri, and Nina was convinced she wanted her health in his expert hands.

“I was so nervous when I first went to see him. My blood pressure shot up. Now I know I’m a high-strung Sicilian but Dr. Sineri was immediately able to calm me down. He is so down to earth and such a people person.”

Dr. Sineri was also able to help Nina get her health back on track, since Thalessemia can strain the heart.

“He has helped me so much,” she said “and I know he’s Italian, and away from family.”

So of course Nina had to cook up some of her favorite dishes for him, including Ciambotta, a traditional southern Italian regional stew. “He loves it.”

When Nina learned that Dr. Sineri’s Fellowship was coming to an end and he would be leaving to practice at Georgetown, she was as proud of him as if he were her own son.

“I was so full of pride when I heard where he was going and I said ‘I am going to do something for his office’.”

That “something” was a month-long labor of love art creation, a detailed heart, made by painstakingly placing individual “diamond” beads onto a sticky art template. A rolling pin swiped over the top and clear acrylic glue finished it off.

Dr. Sineri was floored. “I was so happy to get this,” he said. “It was spectacular, so detailed even down to the coronary arteries. Nina made me feel so special.”

As for Nina, whose health is on-track, and who is on her way to a new job closer to home in Barnegat. “I told him, ‘You are starting a new chapter in your life, but don’t forget to go back and read the old chapter.’”