HealthNews
Easy on the Stomach
. 7 1 -year-old woman, a
other, was admit-
ted to Sinai with abdom-
inal pain. She was stable
for several hours. Then,
suddenly, her blood pres-
sure dropped drastically
and her fever soared. In
septic shock, she was "at
death's door," according to
Jay R. Levinson, M.D.,
Gastroenterology (G.I.)
Section Chief, who re-
sponded to her code blue.
Not so long ago, sur-
geons would have had to
operate in search of the
unknown cause of her in-
fection. If the exploration
meant inspecting the
common bowel duct, the
risk of mortality would in-
crease ten-fold. After
surgery, a tube would
have been put in place for
several weeks, draining
through the skin and
inviting infection.
Instead, Dr. Levinson
inserted a narrow tube —
an endoscope — through
her mouth, down into the
bowel duct and injected
some dye. A tiny TV cam-
era on the endoscope lo-
cated a gall stone that had
moved and impacted
there, causing a painful
obstruction and, eventu-
ally, the rampaging in-
fection.
Dr. Levinson scooped
up the offending stone
with a small basket
A3
mounted at the end of his
scope. He deposited it into
the intestine, which
would flush it out with the
toxins that had built up.
The entire procedure took
less than an hour.
One hour later, his pa-
tient — incisionless and
tube-free — dramatically
improved. Twenty-four
hours later, she went
home and resumed her
daily activities.
"This is the most excit-
ing area in gastroenterol-
ogy," Dr. Levinson says.
"It is of major benefit to
the patient." More com-
monly, the laparoscope
permits non-surgical re-
moval of the gall bladder,
a procedure that reduces
recovery time from six
weeks to one and a hospi-
tal stay from one week to
less than 48 hours.
Dr. Alan Cutler, also a
Sinai gastroenterologist,
is a nationally recognized
expert in the bacterial
culprit that causes 90 per-
cent of duodenal and 50
percent of gastric stomach
ulcers. The correct diag-
nosis and treatment, un-
der his practiced eye, can
reduce the dreaded and
costly recurrence rate
from 80 percent to less
than 10 percent.
11111111111111111111
Cancer Nursing and Counseling:
Not Just Caregivers, Also Comfort Givers
A
t Sinai, unlike
most hospitals,
there is a dedi-
cated cancer
unit. The oncol-
ogists, led by Robert
Bloom, M.D., are sup-
ported by nurses who
have devoted their ca-
reers to cancer patients.
Many have acquired sup-
plemental training and
certification in this sub-
specialty.
We asked several
nurses to explain why
they chose oncology and
what the rewards were at
Sinai. Their answers are
inspirational.
"I like the patient and
family contact. I always
hope that I have given
them some kind of com-
fort and helped them
through the process,"
says Cathy McGreevy,
R.N., Nurse Manager on
the Section of Oncology.
"So often the family
members are ignored. We
include them with both
educational and emo-
tional support. We ask
how they are doing. 'Are
you eating? Sleeping?' It
reduces their anxiety to
know someone cares
about them, too."
Oncology Case Man-
ager Judy A. Hayes, R.N.,
acts as liaison between
the patient and the var-
ious treating physicians.
"I find that educating the
patients about chemo-
therapy and what to an-
ticipate increases com-
pliance because they
understand the side ef-
fects and why they're oc-
curring."
Ms. Hayes has worked
at Sinai for 10 years. She
is helping to develop a
new, no-red-tape access
program for chemother-
apy patients. Known as
the Elective Chemother-
apy Room, patients will
come in early in the
morning and have their
treatment right away. No
more waiting long, anx-
ious hours while forms
are processed and beds
made ready.
Clinical Nurse Spe-
cialist Debra Bednar,
R.N., finds oncology care
"challenging and inter-
esting. I was hooked al-
most immediately and
have never regretted this
decision. Cancer patients
are inspiring, motivated
and determined people.
And they are grateful for
the simplest things nurs-
ing does for them."
Linda Diaz provides emotional support for patients and families
through Sinai's Cancer Counseling Program.
"Many people ask me
how I can work in such a
`grim' area," says Carol
Pritchard, R.N., Oncolo-
gy Clinical Nurse. "My
reply is easy: If I were in
such a situation, I know
the kind of care I would
like. I feel it is important
to the patient that even a
small portion of such an
overwhelming problem
be positively effected.
"I've been at Sinai 10
years because of the high
standards and the level
of nursing care. But the
main reason I'm here is
the unending dedication
of my co-workers to these
very special patients."
New Breast Cancer Peer Counseling Program
hen the diag-
nosis of breast
cancer is an-
nounced to a
_ woman, she
needs far more than med-
ical information. "At Sinai,
we also address what is
happening to her psycho-
logically and emotionally,"
says Linda Diaz, Coordi-
nator of Sinai's Cancer
Counseling Program.
So Ms. Diaz, along with
the Sinai Volunteer Ser-
vices Department, have
created the Breast Cancer
Volunteer Program, a peer
counseling telephone con-
tact effort.
W
The program trains
women who have had
breast cancer and com-
pleted therapy to call a
newly diagnosed woman,
or a woman with newly
discovered recurrent dis-
ease, and offer emotional
support and information.
The woman's confiden-
tiality is respected, and
she is only contacted at
her request.
"We try to match each
woman with a volunteer
of similar age, work type,
marital status and num-
ber of children," Ms. Diaz
explains. "And we try to
get to her immediately,
during the most stressful
decision-making time."
While the volunteers do
not give medical advice,
they are prepared to deal
with questions as diverse
as: "Where do I get a pros-
thesis that I can wear with
a backless dress?" to "How
do I talk to my children
and husband about the
disease?"
The volunteers all had
to struggle to get the in-
formation they needed, so
they have a keen appreci-
ation of what it means to
have someone to talk to;
someone who sounds
strong, healthy and func-
tional. They know that
grieving is part of the re-
action to diagnosis and
they validate that emotion
and support a woman
through it.
"Women don't feel so
alone," Ms. Diaz explains.
"The program provides
hope when you're in the
middle of a potentially life-
threatening crisis."
Women may call the
Cancer Counseling Pro-
gram at (313) 493-6597 to
request a volunteer.
PE IAL ADVERT' BENI
Sinai provides ongoing breast health care from providing mammograms in attractive,
mammography-dedicated suites to offering personal support to breast cancer patients
through the Breast Cancer Peer Volunteer Program.