The Coast News (Page 1)

B18 THE COAST NEWS
DEC. 16, 2011
Tri-City performs robotic surgery
OCEANSIDE — Heart
surgeon Paul Mazur conducted
North County’s first cardiac
surgery Nov. 28 at Tri-
City Medical Center using the
new robotic apparatus, the da
Vinci Surgical System.
According to a hospital
spokesman, a day later, the
patient, Patricio Maynigo of
San Marcos, was sitting up
and talking and admiring the
small incision left by the
bypass surgery. By
Wednesday, he was touching
his toes, walking around and
savoring how great it felt to
not feel dizzy or in pain.
Tri-City Medical Center
is the only hospital in northern
San Diego County and
southern Orange County to
offer this surgery, and it is one
of just four hospitals in San
Diego County that can perform
the procedure.There are
no hospitals in Riverside or
San Bernardino Counties that
perform the surgery.
Maynigo is a 66-year-old
retired farmer from the
Philippines. He spent his
mornings and afternoons
walking his 9-year-old grandson
to and from school.
Earlier this year, those walks
became difficult; he got tired
and dizzy and had to stop
repeatedly - so he visited his
doctor. Tests revealed a block-
DEL MAR —
Construction crews have finished
all pile drilling and
installation associated with a
$4.8 million effort to stabilize
the coastal bluffs along the
railroad track in Del Mar. This
milestone means that the
most significant construction
activity in the stabilization
effort is complete. Remaining
work is expected to wrap up
within weeks.
The 1.6-mile segment of
track along the Del Mar bluffs
is an integral part of the 351mile
San Luis Obispo - Los
Angeles - San Diego (LOS-
SAN) rail corridor, which provides
a link for regional,
national, and international
movement of passengers and
freight. The North County
Transit District (NCTD)
Coaster and Metrolink commuter
rail services, Amtrak
Pacific Surfliner intercity
service, and BNSF Railway
freight service all rely on this
segment of track to serve their
customers.
SANDAG has led the con-
SMALL TALK
CONTINUED FROM B1
“heavy hors d’oeuvres,” which
may be closer to real food, but
it’s still risky. It can never be
good form to look to the
weight of the canapé trays for
your sustenance.
The good news, I suppose,
is that all those “refreshments”
are out there just waiting
for the rest of you. But
remember, once you arrive,
you have to stay until the end.
Is there a cookie baked anywhere
worth that?
Jean Gillette is a freelance
writer who is most
refreshed by staying home
with her feet up. Contact
her at jgillette@coastnewsgroup.com.
Heart surgeon Paul Mazur uses the new robotic da Vinci Surgical
System for the first time at Tri-City Medical Center to operate on North
County’s first cardiac surgery in November. Courtesy photo
age in one of the blood vessels
that feeds the heart. It was
recommended he receive a
bypass whereby the surgeon
reroutes blood from one
artery to another to improve
blood flow, thus lessening the
symptoms and reducing the
risk of a heart attack.
struction effort in collaboration
with NCTD and Del Mar.
The work is expected to be
complete before the
Christmas holiday, within the
originally estimated fivemonth
timeline.
Periodic stabilization of
the bluffs is necessary to help
preserve trackbed support to
ensure uninterrupted passenger
and freight rail service
along the nation’s second
busiest passenger rail corridor.
With more than 50 trains
per day operating on the San
Diego segment, construction
work must be performed at
night.
Working Sunday through
Thursday nights, construction
crews installed 92, three-footwide
soldier piles in seven different
areas, totaling approximately
900 linear feet. The
piles were placed in vertically
drilled shafts into the bluffs to
depths ranging from 45 to 60
feet and are designed to help
secure sections of the bluffs
for approximately 20 years.
Coastal erosion has been
Typically, a patient
receiving a heart bypass
would be put on a heart-lung
machine and a rather large
incision would be made in the
breastbone. With the da Vinci
robot, the surgeon was able to
make a smaller incision, causing
less damage to muscula-
an ongoing challenge since
the rail line was built more
than a century ago. SANDAG
and NCTD conducted stabilization
efforts most recently
in 2002 and 2007 at various
locations along the Del Mar
bluffs.
The last major stabilization
effort occurred over a
period of about nine months
from June 2007 to March
2008. During that time,
SANDAG placed 136 soldier
piles in areas spanning a combined
length of about 1,300
feet.
NCTD will continue to
monitor the stability of the
bluffs to ensure continued
safe rail operations.
Additional stabilization
efforts are anticipated in the
future and will be conducted
based on need and funding.
The $4.8 million project
was funded predominantly by
Caltrans through the State
Transportation Improvement
Program, with $224,000 from
the U.S. Department of
Transportation Federal
ture and less exposure to
other organs.
Mazur made a small incision
under the pectoral muscle
between the ribs to access
the arteries and heart to perform
the bypass. The patient
was not placed on a heartlung
machine. Because of the
benefits of the smaller incision
and no heart-lung
machine, the time needed for
recovery is cut nearly in half.
With the traditional method,
a patient was in the hospital
an average of 4 to 8 days followed
by two months of recovery;
with the da Vinci, the
patient is usually discharged
within two to four days and in
recovery for two weeks.
“It went very smoothly,”
Mazur said. “The da Vinci is
an excellent tool that makes
my job a lot easier and the
impact of the surgery on the
patient much less.”
Mazur trained with one
of the leaders in the field and
has performed the surgery on
numerous occasions.
Along with thanking his
surgeon, Maynigo also
praised his Intensive Care
Unit nurse, Giana Novelli, for
her kindness and compassion.
For more information about
Tri-City Medical Center, visit
tricitymed.org.
Bluff stabilization is moving ahead
Transit Administration.
West Coast General
Corp. and Condon-Johnson &
Associates, Inc. served jointly
as general contractors for the
project. CALTROP provided
construction management
services.The project was engineered
by David Evans and
Associates, Inc. Other subconsultants
included Helix
Environmental Planning, Inc.,
Leighton Group for geotechnical
services, and Everest
International for hydrology.
Additional information
about the project is available
online at sandag.org/delmarbluffs.
The San Diego
Association of Governments is
the San Diego region’s primary
public planning, transportation,
and research
agency, providing the public
forum for regional policy decisions
about growth, transportation
planning and construction,
environmental management,
housing, open space,
energy, public safety, and
binational topics.
MiraCosta College starts enrollment
COAST CITIES —
MiraCosta College’s spring
2012 semester starts Jan.
23. Enrollment is on the
increase at MiraCosta, but
great classes are still available,
including transferlevel
courses in these disciplines:
accounting, administration
of justice, anthropology,
architecture, art,
astronomy, automotive
technology, biology, biotechnology,
business administration,
business office technology,
chemistry, child
development, Chinese,
communication, computer
studies/science, counseling,
dance, drafting, drama,
earth sciences, economics,
English, film, French, geography,
geology, German,
health, history,
Horticulture, Hospitality,
Humanities, Italian,
Japanese, Kinesiology,
Library Science, literature,
math, media arts technology,
music, nursing, oceanography,
pharmacology, philosophy,
physics, political
science, psychology, reading,
real estate, sociology
and Spanish.
Classes are offered
during the day, evening,
weekends and online.
Students may also enroll in
self-paced classes taught in
computer labs on campus.
MiraCosta also offers a
selection of classes with
late-start dates, that conclude
at the same time as
“regular” courses.
Tuition is $36 per unit
for California residents. For
more information, to register
for classes or to request
a class schedule, call (760)
757-2121 or visit miracosta.edu.
Financial aid and
scholarships are available.
LEARNING TO GRIEVE
Project Manager Yvette Williams, a gospel singer, performed
at the “Light Up A Life” memorial presented by
Hospice of the North Coast Dec. 4, at the Oceanside
Museum of Art. Above, she displays one of the custom-created
crystal ornaments sold to enable HNC to continue
treating hundreds of terminal patients whose families will
never be billed. To purchase an ornament or to learn more
about HNC, visit hospicenorthcoast.org or call (760) 431-
4100. Courtesy photo
Encinitas announces
holiday parade results
ENCINITAS — On a picture-perfect
winter
Encinitas night, tens of thousands
of cheering spectators
lined up on Coast Highway
101 to watch the Holiday
Parade Dec. 3.
This year’s parade
theme was “Encinitas 25 —
Celebrating our Beginning,”
highlighting the city’s 25th
anniversary and its five communities.
Judging categories this
year included Best
Representation of Year 1986,
Most Unusual, Best
Performance and Best Use of
Flowers.
The Parks and
Recreation Department, the
Encinitas Holiday Parade
Committee and the parade’s
panel of community volunteer
judges congratulate the
winners in the following
judging categories.
Be sure to check out the
slideshows of the parade
hosted by our sponsor Angel
Printing at
facebook.com/angelprint.
Winning entries included:
— Best Use of Theme:
First place: N.B.I.A.P.B.
Second place: YMCA Bear
Princess Nation. Third place:
DEMA.
— Best Use of Lights:
First place: North County
School for the Arts, Second
place: Team in Training.
Third place: DEMA Third
place: Encinitas Elks Lodge
—Best Use of Flowers:
First place: Encinitas Elks
Lodge. Second place: Mira
Costa College. Third place:
Girl Scouts Encinitas Service
Unit.
— Best Children’s
Group: First place: YMCA
Bear Princess Nation.
Second place: YMCA
Redhawk Nation, Third
place: Dance Connection.
Fourth place: North County
School for the Arts
— Best Performance:
First place: Ada Harris
Elementary. Second place:
Mira Costa College. Second
place: Encinitas Country
Day School.Third place: Girl
Scouts Encinitas Service
Unit
— 1986 theme: First
place: N.B.I.A.P.B. Second
place: YMCA- Bear Princess
Nation. Third place:
Olivenhain Country Day
Preschool & Infant Center
— Community: First
place: Encinitas Country
Day School. Second place:
San Diego Woody Club.Third
place: Leucadia Town
Council
— Best Marching
Band: First place: San
Dieguito Academy Marching
Band. Second place: La
Costa Canyon High School
Marching Band. Third place:
Oak Crest & Diegueño
Combined Marching Band
— Most Unusual: First
place: Team Paradox
Robotics. Second place:
Encinitas Country Day
School. Third place: SDA
Japanese National Honor
Society.
— Best Overall: First
place: YMCA Bear Princess
Nation. Second place:
DEMA, Third place:
Encinitas Country Day
School.