Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare - (Page 50)

Spotlight on: Community Hospital the inside New technology is providing women more treatment options E arly last May after Maria Lopez had a routine mammogram, her results came up suspicious and she was asked to have more follow-up tests and a breast MRI. "I was scared when the technician said I needed to have a biopsy and they would leave a marker in my left breast; I really got upset. I felt I didn't need more tests. I needed answers," she says. Instead, Lopez decided to go back to M. Nabil Shabeeb, MD, a general surgeon on staff at Community Hospital in Munster that she had seen 10 years earlier for another procedure. "I felt he could help me; I trusted in his care; he would know what to do. He performed a core needle biopsy in his office, which confirmed a cancer diagnosis. Then he referred me to Dr. Nicholson at the Women's Diagnostic Center for a PEM test." Women like Lopez with a diagnosis of breast cancer are getting answers sooner, thanks to groundbreaking technology being used by the Community Hospital Women's Diagnostic Center in Munster. Positron emission mammography (PEM) by ElisE sims story is an advanced imaging system that is being used to further define a breast cancer diagnosis. HigH-TecH care "We are excited to introduce this revolutionary technology to better care for our patients," says Mary Nicholson, MD, fellowship-trained, dedicated breast radiologist at Community Hospital and regional director of breast imaging services for Community Healthcare System. "Identifying new or recurrent breast cancer at the earliest stage possible gives each patient the best chance of a superior outcome. PEM answers a lot of questions, such as 'Is it cancer or not cancer?' 'How much cancer do I have?' 'Is it in both breasts?' 'Can I still have a lumpectomy?' and 'Do I need to be concerned that it has spread to the lymph nodes?'" While PEM, which is a type of molecular imaging, does not replace regular screening mammograms, it is an important supplemental tool used to locate and determine the best treatment. It offers the highest possible specificity, allowing radiologists, breast surgeons and oncologists to study molecular abnormalities located inside tumor cells. Data gathered this way reveals accurate information regarding stages of cancer and determines the most appropriate treatment and finds cancer recurrence earlier. A smaller version of the high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, PEM's metabolic imaging allows the physician to make the optimal cancer care decision for masses as small as 1.6 mm, the size of a grain of rice, by providing an unprecedented ability to distinguish between benign (noncancerous) and malignant (cancerous) masses. a closer look PEM technology is providing patients like Maria Lopez with answers and getting them to treatment faster. Here, Lopez consults with her plastic surgeon, David Robinson, MD. 50 WINTE R 2 013 PEM's 3-D high-resolution images reveal what's happening deep inside the tissues. First, the patient is injected with fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG), a glucose

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare
Contents
Community Message
Community Briefs
Timely Answers, Quality Treatment
Breathing for Bonnie
Powered by Patients
Got Excuses?
Managing Your Health with a DIY Tool Kit
Is It the Stress Talking?
The Wonderful World of Greens
Knee-to-Know Basics
On the Cover
Run for Your Life
14 Good-for-You Gifts
Special Delivery
Virtual Health
SPOTLIGHT ON: Community Hospital
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Catherine Hospital
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Mary Medical Center
Getting Babies ‘Back’ to Sleep

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare