When Carol Eck, R.N., MBA, began her nursing career in 1976, she never envisioned she would serve in a leadership role at one of the top cancer centers in the nation. “I thought I would always be a bedside nurse, and I never thought I would work in oncology. But I can’t imagine being anywhere […]
Stories in this issue of Momentum are stitched together with a common thread—the crucial role that surgeons play in cancer treatment and recovery. It’s a role that can be overlooked. While the media spotlight focuses on emerging cancer treatments—immunotherapies that spur people’s immune systems to attack tumors, and targeted therapies that keep cancer cells from […]
Mike Janowski was prepared to fight for his country. He had just graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in May 2014 and was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, his first duty assignment. Soon, he would find out the foe was in his body. Janowski, then 23, had just completed his first week […]
Looking over his chickens at his home in Tompkinsville, Kentucky, Jerry Ford says taking care of this energetic brood is what kept his spirits up after he had facial reconstructive surgery at Vanderbilt two years ago. As an HVAC technician Ford often crawled through cobwebbed spaces, so he thought an irritated spot on his right […]
In the past, traditional craniofacial reconstruction allowed little pre-planning; surgeons had to decide exactly where they would cut while they were in the operating room. Now, through the use of virtual surgical planning (VSP), physicians can plot out surgeries in advance. One of the first steps in a facial reconstruction is to run computed tomography […]
Reconstructive plastic surgery is actually the oldest form of plastic surgery, having developed from the need to treat soldiers with traumatic injuries in World War I. Reconstructive plastic surgeons go a step beyond making someone look good; they restore form, function and health to bodies, and usually have a large impact on a patient’s quality […]
Reconstruction of the breast falls into two main categories: implant-based and tissue-based reconstruction. With all reconstruction surgery, there are follow-up procedures to build or better define a nipple, as well as to refine the breast shape and to address any incisional scarring. The Vanderbilt Breast Center offers several types of plastic surgery operations that can […]
Malpractice awards and settlements are eight times greater when physicians misdiagnose sarcoma than when they make other mistakes, according to a review of 32 years of court cases. For orthopaedic surgeons, the indemnity payments were 17 times higher. However, primary care physicians were more apt to be sued. The review is the latest effort by […]
Sarcoma crept into their lives in different manifestations. An aching hip, a bump on the shoulder, a swollen leg. A rare cancer that materializes in bone or soft connective tissue, sarcoma is a decoy disease. It can pop up in virtually any area of the body. Its symptoms vary according to the location of the […]
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) has launched seven clinical trials for sarcoma drugs since 2015, with three of those opening up for participants as recently as August 2016. “We are in great need of novel therapies,” said Scott C. Borinstein, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Pediatric Sarcoma Program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. […]
