February 24, 2012 - Baptist Memorial Online

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Leader Green Cover_ƒLeader_Alt_Cover.qxp 2/23/12 5:02 PM Page 6Cyberknife radiosurgery system treats patient’s cancerous tumors, restores lifeprescribed antibiotics. A week later, Cox wasn’t feeling any better, andshe made up her mind that something just wasn’t right.“Let’s continue on,” she said, and she pushed her doctor to explore theproblem further.Her doctor suggested a 24-hour watch with a pulmonary specialist. “Iknew that I had something going on in my body, and before I even visitedthe doctor I had my bags packed and was ready to go,” said Cox.The pulmonary specialist diagnosed Cox with bacterial pneumonia andsuggested she have a lung biopsy. “The word ‘biopsy’ was really scary tome, but I knew there had to be something more going on than pneumonia,”said Cox.Just two weeks after her initial visit to her family physician, Cox wasdiagnosed with stage four lung cancer.Cyberknife patient Joan Cox plays with her granddaughter, Haidyn, in their home.Cox received Cyberknife radiosurgery treatment for stage four lung cancer inOctober 2009Joan Cox went with her husband to his appointment with their familyphysician in October 2009. She decided while she was there, she wouldget a quick check up. Feeling as if she was suffering from an upper respiratoryinfection, a quick exam was all she expected.After an examination of Cox, her physician ordered chest X-rays and“I didn’t smoke, and I had no family history of cancer. I was completelyshocked,” said Cox. “Here I am 56 years old, lying in the hospital withwhat I though was pneumonia. I couldn’t believe it.”Once the shock settled in, Cox was ready to push forward in her fightagainst her cancer.“I am a driven spirit, and I push myself a lot,” said Cox. “I was determinedto focus on the positive and find the best possible treatment.”Continued on page 5SAFETY MATTERS: TAKE CARE TO GIVE CARECheryl Berry, nursing director atoutranking nearly every industryproper equipment and tools, like thedown, follow the proceduresBaptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto,including mining, manufacturingpatient lift program, to maintaincorrectly and report at-risk behav-is able to lead her team to provideand construction.optimum health and stay in theiriors when you see them. If thisbetter care with less of a risk forinjury thanks to a new patient liftsystem recently installed at BaptistDeSoto.According to a report released bythe U.S. Bureau of Labor andStatistics on workplace injuries andillness in 2010, health care workerschosen career beyond the age ofretirement.“We want our employees to beable to stay in their chosen career ashappens, our accident rate will dropdramatically.”“Our employees are our mostimportant asset,” he said. “We are“One of the largest benefits ofexperienced an injury rate of 5.2 outlong as they wish,” said Deneseall busy but with the right tools andusing equipment to lift and transferof every 100 full-time workers; aBryant, employee health servicesprocedures we can have a safe workpatients is that it will decrease worknumber well ahead of constructiondirector. “Baptist strives to create anplace.”related injuries, says Berry. “Ournurses are now able to focus more oftheir energy on bedside care and lessworrying about a potential backinjury. As a result, careers will bemore productive and life outside ofwork is improved.”The new patient lift program isjust one step Baptist is taking to(4.0) and mining (3.7).“Over 80 percent of injuries arecaused by four types of incidents thatare a direct result of risk behaviors,”said Mitchell Payes, Baptist riskmanagement director. “We areseeking to combat these behaviorsby increasing awareness in fourareas: safe employee and patientenvironment where a nutrition servicesworker, a nurse or agroundskeeper can stay in the workforceand not have to leaveprematurely because of a workrelated injury.”Better quality of life for Baptistemployees is the goal of the newsafety measures, said Payes.Payes said no punitive actions willoccur for reporting at-risk behavior.“We want to hear what suggestionsour employees have to combat thesenegative behaviors,” said Bryant.“We want open dialog about what ishappening and what we can do tomake our work place safer.”improve the lives of colleagues andpatients.Though the nature of health careworkers revolves around helpingpeople maintain optimum health,health care workers have the highestrisk for injury themselves,handling; slips, trips and falls;material handling injuries; andneedle sticks.”While safety measures andtraining have always been a priority,Baptist is taking extra steps toensure that employees are given the“We want our employees to takecare of themselves so that they inturn are able to provide care topatients.”“Creating a culture focused onsafety requires everyone to makechanges in their daily routine: slowFor suggestions or commentsabout creating a safer work place,please email Mitchell Payes atmitchell.payes@bmhcc.org orDenese Bryant atdenese.bryant@bmhcc.org.
Leader Green Cover_ƒLeader_Alt_Cover.qxp 2/23/12 5:01 PM Page 1M O R E N E W S A N D E V E N T SAsk the ExpertContinued from page 3Perhaps the most important lifestyle change: avoiding cigarette smoking at allcosts. Women who smoke are two to six times more likely to develop heartdisease.What age should women be proactive in preventing heart disease?Ideally, women should be proactive in prevention at all ages. Heart diseaseprevention focuses on knowing your numbers; that is, being aware of bloodpressure readings, cholesterol, blood sugar, weight and BMI.Most of these are tested annually at a doctor’s visit. A once-yearly visit iscrucial in keeping abreast of problem numbers as they arise.Beverly Jordan, right, vice president of nursing and chief nurse executive for Baptist MemorialHealth Care, flexes her muscles with the Williams family at the kickoff reception for Habitat forHumanity of Greater Memphis. Baptist will build the 400th Habitat house as part of our centennialcelebration.Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphisand Baptist to build 400th homeHabitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis and Baptist Memorial HealthCare are partnering to build a home for a local family. The home will be the400th home built by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis.As the home’s exclusive sponsor, Baptist paid the entire $60,000 sponsorship,and Baptist colleagues will work all the 480 shifts required tocomplete the project, putting in more than 2,400 hours of labor.This home will be the third house sponsored by Baptist. By the completionof this milestone build, approximately 1,440 Baptist colleagues will havevolunteered their time on a Habitat build site, providing nearly 6,500 hoursof volunteer service valued at more than $137,000.The soon-to-be new homeowners, Canida Williams and her family, willalso help build the house, which is set to be dedicated Wednesday, May 9.A native Memphian, Williams is the mother of Bryan, Brittny and BradliWilliams, ages 17, 14 and 11. She is excited about her opportunity to be afirst-time homeowner.When asked what home ownership meant, Williams said, “It means theAmerican dream. Every man, woman or child dreams of owning their ownhome.”She looks forward to being able to hold a set of keys to a house of her own.Williams is thankful to the Baptist volunteers because she will finally be ableto give her children “a home to call their own.”Baptist Memorial Health Care is Memphis Habitat’s largest health carepartner.“As Baptist is celebrating its 100th year of caring for patients in the Mid-South, it is appropriate that we continue to partner with community groupsto give back,” said Stephen C. Reynolds, president and CEO of BaptistMemorial Health Care.“Home ownership means the American dream.Every man, woman or child dreams of owningtheir own home.”Canida Williams, soon-to-be homeowner of a Habitat for Humanity home.Healthy habits can all be started at a young age, ideally in childhood. Oncewomen reach early adulthood, it is essential to begin a focus on maintaininghealth throughout the child-bearing years to prevent diseases, not onlycardiac disease, in the post-menopausal phase of life.CoxContinued from page 4With the help of an enthusiasticoncologist, who told Cox thather treatment was about having afuture and about a hope to find whatwill work, she began traditionalradiation therapy. After 30 individualradiation treatments to herlungs, a spot was discovered on herspine.The next line of defense was a newcancer treatment tool calledCyberknife.Cyberknife is a radiosurgerysystem that is a non-surgical treatmentfor tumors in the body,including the prostate, lung, brain,spine, liver, pancreas and kidney. Itcan treat both cancerous andnoncancerous tumors. It works bydelivering very high doses of radiationto a small treatment area withextreme accuracy, allowing for safertreatment of the surroundinghealthy tissues.The Baptist Centers for CancerCare at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis recently acquired theCyberknife technology with the helpof Dr. Jason Weaver, a neurosurgeonwith Semmes-Murphy Neurologicand Spine Institute.“Our goal is to provide comprehensivecare to tumor patients,”explained Weaver. “With theCyberknife, it is important to recognizethat this is another tool in thefight against such tumors, and treatmentssuch as surgery,chemotherapy and Cyberknife maybe used in combination.”Cyberknife can dramaticallyreduce treatment time and can becompleted in as little as five treatments.Doctors are able to usereal-time images to guide treatmentwith the equipment.“What a blessing,” said Cox. “Iwas able to get this treatment in anhour and a half verses 30 doses in a30-day period.”Cox was the sixth person to havetreatment using Cyberknife atBaptist Memphis since the arrival ofthe new technology in September2011.“As I was lying there having mytreatment, I couldn’t believe that Iwas looking up at this machine thatwas killing my cancer,” said Cox.The purchase of Cyberknife reaffirmsBaptist’s commitment toprovide premier health care to Mid-South patients.Cox now has her cancer undercontrol, is feeling great and still hasher positive attitude. “I am blastingit out everywhere,” says Cox. “Irecommend Cyberknife to anyonewho needs to have this type of care.”For additional information,please call 901-226-0340.
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February 24, 2012 - Baptist Memorial Online

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