For Your Health - Winter 2014

Committed to the Health & Well-being of El Dorado County

Marshall Cancer

Servicesa Lifeline in El Dorado County

WINTER 2014

New Providers at Marshall Dr. Courtney on Gift Giving Safety Tips Affair of the Heart Returns in February S P E C I A L A D S E C T I O N

2 FoR YouR HEalTH / www.marshallmedical.org

AbOuT MArSHALL MEDICAL CENTEr

Marshall Medical Center

is an independent,

nonprofit community healthcare

provider located in the heart

of the Sierra Foothills between

Sacramento and South Lake

Tahoe. Marshall Medical Center

includes Marshall Hospital,

a fully accredited acute care

facility with 113 beds located in

Placerville; several outpatient

facilities in Cameron Park,

El Dorado Hills, Placerville

and Georgetown; and many

community health and

education programs. Marshall

has over 200 board-certified

physicians and a team of over

1,500 employees providing

quality healthcare services to

more than 175,000 residents of

El Dorado County.

For Your HEALTHis published as a community

service by

MArSHALL MEDICAL CENTEr

1100 Marshall Way

Placerville, CA 95667

telephone 530-622-1441

or 916-933-0913;

www.marshallmedical.org

It is intended to provide

information about health in

general as well as healthcare

services and resources

available in El Dorado County.

Information in comes from a

wide range of medical experts.

If you have any concerns

or questions about specific

content that may affect your

health, please contact your

healthcare provider.

If you have questions, concerns

or suggestions for future topics,

contact the editor, Carrie

Poggio, at (530) 626-2816 or via

email at

[email protected].

Did You Know?

In September, Marshall Outpatient Rehabilitation Services relocated from its office on Marshall Way to a new space at 1000 Fowler Way, Suite 6. The renovated space features a new exercise room and private treatment rooms as well. The office can still be reached at 530-344-5430.

Outpatient Rehabilitation Services Has Moved

New Healthcare Providers

Courtney LaCaze-Adams, MDMarshall Pediatrics4341-A Golden Center DrivePlacerville

Venkat Tirumala, MDMarshall Pulmonology1004 Fowler Way, Suite 4Placerville

Maryam Sharif-Hassanabadi, MDMarshall Internal Medicine3581 Palmer Drive, Suite 601Cameron Park

SP

EC

IAL

AD

SE

CT

ION

Marshall Pediatrics recently added a new physician—Courtney LaCaze-Adams, MD—who took over after Earl Washburn, MD retired following 37 years in practice. A mother of a one-year-old son, “Dr. Courtney” wants to share some holiday gift-giving safety tips for kids. “The holidays are a source of joy, but they also bring hidden dangers,” she says. “It’s important that parents and gift-givers keep safety in mind when choosing the type of gift to give.”

Her top categories to remember: “Age-appropriate gifts, choking hazards and food-related items are key areas to keep in mind.”

Dr. Courtney’s Gift Giving Safety List:

AGe-AppropriATe GuiDeLineS:• read the age labels on toys. They are there for a reason.• Check that toys and parts are larger than 1 ¼ inches in

diameter and 2 ¼ inches in length, especially for very young children who like to put things in their mouths.

• Ensure sports equipment is properly sized. For instance, helmets need to fit correctly and should not be purchased in larger sizes thinking that “children can grow into them.”

• Never allow small children to sleep with stuffed animals. While cute, stuffed animals are a suffocation risk for young children.

CHokinG HAzArDS:• beware of button batteries found in some toys and sound-equipped greeting cards.• Avoid balloons, small plastic parts and gifts with strings and long wires.• Stay away from clothing with strings or ribbons attached.• Avoid stickers for the very young. While stickers are fun, they can be swallowed and choked on.

FooD GiFTS AnD GooDieS:• When giving home-baked or other goods, make sure you know of any food allergies the recipient may have.• For children under one year of age, never give hard candies, raisins, nuts or other small food.

The best gifts of all? “books! Children of all ages should be encouraged to view reading as a fun activity, so stuff their stockings with plenty of books,” Dr. Courtney suggests.

Here’s to a fun and safe holiday season for all.

Keep the Holidays SafeMarshall’s New Pediatrician Offers Gift Giving Safety Tips

For more information about Marshall, visit www.marshallmedical.org or follow us on Facebook.com/marshallmedicalcenter, twitter.com/MarshallMedical or Google+ Marshall Medical Center.

www.marshallmedical.org / FOR YOuR HEALTH 3

Better Care for You

SP

EC

IAL

AD

SE

CT

ION

Survival Starts with Screening and Support Services“A cancer diagnosis will stop you in your tracks,” says Rashmi Ramasubbaiah, MD, the new oncologist and breast/GI cancer specialist at Marshall Hematology & Oncology in Cameron Park. Dr. Ramasubbaiah says that the questions, fear and unknown outcome can feel paralyzing. Even waiting for mammogram results when you’re told additional testing is needed can feel like torture.

“For women, breast cancer is the most widely publicized and well-known form of cancer, but it’s also one of the ones where we have an excellent screening program with mammograms,” she says. “If more women would get their yearly mammograms after age 40, or sometimes even earlier, we could cut way down on deaths from this dreaded disease.”

SP

EC

IAL

AD

SE

CT

ION

Marshall Cancer Services a Lifeline in El Dorado County

Cover Story

patient navigator Carol Case, BSn, MS reviews helpful literature with a patient. Many resources are available for cancer patients and the community at the Marshall

Cancer resource Center in Cameron park.

rashmi ramasubbaiah, MD (right) and Helen Garcia, rn discuss the importance of routine mammograms to detect breast cancer as early

as possible, as it was in Helen’s case several years ago.


Insurance orMoney Issues?in el Dorado County, Marshall Has the Answer for Mammograms

Given the dramatic importance

of annual screening

mammograms, Marshall’s

Cancer Services program works

with Marshall Foundation for

Community Health, as well as

Susan G. Komen Foundation, to

provide free and reduced cost

mammograms to women who do

not have insurance or who can’t

afford the test.

“We’ve had a recent case of a

young mother who didn’t have

insurance or the money, and

didn’t know of the available

resources, so she put off getting

a lump checked out,” explains

Cancer Services Director Wendy

Goossen. “It turned out to be

cancer, and during that time it

continued to grow and spread.

Now our patient is going through

aggressive treatment to cure it,

but if we had caught it earlier,

it would have been much

better.” Wendy says this should

never happen again. “With the

resources we either directly

have, or can direct people to,

there is no reason any woman in

our county shouldn’t be getting

her yearly mammogram, or a

mammogram when there is a

reason for concern.”

For more information, contact Marshall Cancer resource Center at 530-672-7050.

Viewing cancer as solely a physical illness is a losing proposition. Marshall’s approach is to view it as a whole-life condition, one that requires treatment of all kinds. Melding the arts and other community events with support for Marshall’s Cancer resource Center is one way that we have enhanced this effort. Since 2007, the annual Threads of Life event has featured an auction of fine quilts, arts and other valuables to benefit the Cancer resource Center. The Images of Hope program expands on that, providing various art classes and other enrichment activities to cancer patients and the community. “Without volunteer and community support for these and other programs, the level of support we’re able to offer our patients and families would be greatly diminished,” says Cancer Services Director Wendy Goossen. “because of our community, we are able to give back through funding and providing support groups, art therapy, yoga and meditation classes, gas cards and transportation assistance, no cost and low cost mammograms and emotional support services.”

Arts and Community InvolvementBoost Cancer Program

The Marshall Cancer patient transport car helps cancer patients get to and from appointments so they don’t

miss important check ups and treatment. The car was donated by Thompson’s GMC/Buick.

In her practice, Dr. Ramasubbaiah stresses the importance of regular mammograms. One patient who knows well how important they are is Helen Garcia, RN. Helen herself has been an infusion and oncology nurse for Marshall for many years. In 2002, a routine mammogram detected calcifications, which are risk factors for developing breast cancer later on. “I had a lumpectomy and was told not to miss a yearly mammogram,” Helen recalls. Sure enough, two years later, a mammogram picked up a suspicious lump that turned out to be cancerous. “They found it so early, at stage zero, that I was able to have only a partial mastectomy, radiation and tamoxifen, and I didn’t need chemotherapy at all,” Helen says.

Helen, whose cancer was successfully cured, says her experience had a distinct upside. “I have friends in Wyoming who hadn’t gotten their mammograms in years. After I was diagnosed, they all went in to get them, and now, every year on our birthdays we give ourselves the most important birthday gift of an annual mammogram, so we don’t forget, and so we get to have many more birthdays,” she explains.

According to Dr. Ramasubbaiah, Helen’s case is a good example of treatment plans that might be surprising to women who equate breast cancer with always losing their hair from chemo. “In Helen’s situation, it was caught so early, she never even needed the chemo that so often makes the hair fall out,” she explains. “I cannot stress enough that regular screenings not only save lives, but they dramatically impact the course of treatment. In general, the sooner breast cancer is found, the less severe and dramatic the treatment.”

www.marshallmedical.org / FOR YOuR HEALTH 5

SP

EC

IAL

AD

SE

CT

ION

Foundation News

The car door opened as emergency room staff pulled a gurney alongside. “Can she sit up?” they asked. “No,” he replied. The air was warm and still as they gently pulled her onto the white sheet. The bright emergency room parking lights lit up the dark sky. She had helped to raise $3 million dollars for the new emergency room that opened eight months earlier and, aware of her surroundings, it all seemed surreal.

Within seconds she was surrounded by nurses asking questions. “How long ago did this pain start? Does she have any health problems?” and the list went on. Her husband answered as best

he could. She could understand the questions, but couldn’t speak. The abdominal pain had become so severe, it took all the energy she had. Soon the doctor appeared asking questions. “Do you normally get this type of pain? Do you have any chronic problems?” He was so gentle, so caring, that she felt safe despite the circumstance.

For years she had dealt with episodes of abdominal pain, usually brought on by stress. She’d had so many tests to analyze why the pain would appear out of the blue, sometimes in the middle of a meeting where she faked being OK until she could lie down. She had given up ever finding an answer. She learned to deal with the pain pretty well, but this time it was different. It wouldn’t go away.

It was now 2 a.m. as they pushed her down a long hallway to Diagnostic Imaging. As they approached the room she had flashbacks, a premonition of sorts. In 2000, along with other community members who cared about making Marshall’s healthcare the best it could be, she had helped to champion a cause to raise a million dollars for a Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) machine. She had always felt someday she would need to use its technology. Jerry Arnold, MD performed the test. Finally, they had answers! A flopping and twisting of the large intestine, which cut off the blood flow to that organ, was seen in the diagnostic test. If she had been driving across the desert to Montana, which she and her husband did frequently, the intestine could have perforated. After years and years of recurring episodes, her best option now was surgery. While it was major surgery, the procedure was simple.

With surgeon Al diVittorio, MD, she felt confident. He had cared for her father a few years earlier and she knew firsthand of his compassion and expertise to

Investing in Health…why should it matter?

For more information on how you can help your community, your children, your neighbor or even yourself, contact Marshall Foundation at 530-642-9984 or www.marshallfound.org

SP

EC

IAL

AD

SE

CT

ION


karen Good, executive Director of Marshall Foundation for Community Health, and thankful Marshall patient.

“Do you normally get this type of pain?”

handle this situation well. After six weeks, she was back to work with no more pain.

is investing in health important? Does it matter?

In the year 2000, Karen Good, the Executive Director of Marshall Foundation, had given $3,078.66 as her part in the million dollar fundraising campaign, never realizing that in 2013 it would literally save her life! Today more than ever, she will tell you that the outcome of campaigns is important, but the impact of saving a life is what investing in health is all about.

Heart Health

With February around the corner and Marshall hosting its second annual Affair of the Heart, it’s time to brush up on some heart healthy tips. Thanks to Scott Vasconcellos, MD, of Marshall Cardiology, we have the most indispensable suggestions for keeping your ticker happy, provided here.

Dr. Vasconcellos shares the top goals for heart health by the American Heart Association:1) Engage in regular physical activity – at least 30 minutes

five days a week, or 45 minutes 3 days a week. More is better. Some is better than none.

2) Eat a healthy diet3) Don’t smoke – if you do, quit4) Maintain a healthy weight5) Manage blood pressure6) Control cholesterol7) Keep blood sugar at healthy levels

Dr. Vasconcellos explains, “The big secret is, if you take care of 1, 2 and 3 above, it’s a good bet the rest will follow. Some tips I would share about physical activity is first of all, that some is better than none, and that more is better. Exercise and diet, healthy living,

Stay Well with Heart Healthy TipsCardiologist Scott Vasconcellos, MD, shares some suggestions

is the single most important thing you can do to prevent heart disease.”

For diet, eat appropriate amounts of and better foods. The American Heart Association web site has excellent guides for healthy eating. Essentially, focus on getting more fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, low fat and low salt foods. Avoid canned and processed foods and take some time to plan out your meals and snacks in advance so you’re not getting desperate and grabbing junk and fast food because it’s easy.

These are easy fixes that can help you take charge of your health and your heart.

Marshall Cardiology has three locations, in placerville, Cameron park and el Dorado Hills. Visit marshallmedical.org/cardiology for more information.

Thursday, Feb 27 • 4 – 7:30 p.m. Cameron Park Community Center 2502 Country Club Dr., Cameron Park

A FREE event focusedon heart health

Presented By

Wine TastingFree Screenings

Chair Massage

Boutique ExerciseDemos

Healthy Bites

for an evening of heart-healthy foods by local restaurants, wine tasting, health screenings and talks presented by Marshall Medical Center experts.

Join us

Save the Date!

$5

CoMMuNITY HEalTH EDuCaTIoN ClaSS SCHEDulE

HeALTHy preGnAnCyDesigned for women who are thinking about becoming pregnant or have recently become pregnant, the class focuses on nutrition and exercise, fetal development, prenatal tests, hazards to avoid and preventing preterm labor.Wednesday, December 11, 2013Wednesday, February 5, 2014 7-9 p.m.(funded by generous grant from Marshall Foundation for Community Health)

CHiLDBirTH eDuCATion 6-week seriesThis class provides information on labor, delivery and postpartum issues.Thursdays, April 3-May 87-9 p.m.

CHiLDBirTH eDuCATion 1-Day IntensiveA custom designed childbirth class for those who do not have the time for the traditional 6-week class format.Saturday, December 7, 2013Saturday, February 8, 2014Saturday, March 22, 2014 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.Fee: $60

THe BreASTFeeDinG experienCe This class will help you understand breastfeeding, learn techniques and positions, and will give you the confidence to handle common breastfeeding challenges.Wednesday, December 4, 2013Wednesday, March 12, 2014 6-8 p.m.Fee: $25

BABy BASiCS This class reviews basic newborn care for the first few weeks of

life. Topics include newborn characteristics, physical and emotional needs of the baby, as well as health and safety skills.Wednesday, December 4, 2013Wednesday, February 12, 2014 7-9 p.m.Fee: $25

HeALTH CAreer expLorATion DAy eVenT Come spend a day with our medical professionals and gain insight into the exciting medical fields. Call 530-626-2990 for more details.Fee: $15

SMokinG CeSSATion 7-Week SerieS Pre-registration required and space is limited. Mondays, January 6-February 17, 2014Fee: $75

HEalTHY lIVING DIaBETES EDuCaTIoN ClaSSESLive your best life with diabetes! Our classes can help you gain the knowledge and tools to remain motivated with your healthy lifestyle in the days and years ahead.

inDiViDuAL DiABeTeS eDuCATionAppointments with our Registered Nurse, CertifiedDiabetes Educators (CDEs), are strongly encouraged especially if:• You are newly diagnosed• Beginning a new medication• Need extra support to gain control.Learn about the latest tools and techniques for self-management of your diabetes.

inDiViDuAL nuTriTion eDuCATionOur Registered Dietitians (RDs) are available for appointments to discuss:• Diabetes meal planning• Weight management/Cholesterol

control

• Medical Nutrition Therapy for most medical conditions

HeALTHy LiVinG CLASS: DiABeTeS eSSenTiALS, CArBoHyDrATeS, FooD & you • What diabetes is • Controlling blood glucose levels • using your meter effectively• Carbohydrates and diet • Meal planning • Managing your weightThursday, December 59:30-11:30 a.m.Placerville

HeALTHy LiVinG: your MeTer & GAininGBeTTer ConTroL• Making sense of your blood

glucose numbers• Medication options• Tips on eating outWednesday, January 151-3 p.m.Placerville

HeALTHy LiVinG: your pLAn For SuCCeSS• Reducing your risk—long term

complications• Exercise—make it work for you• Staying motivated• Diabetes and emotionsTuesday, December 31-3 p.m.Cameron Park

CLASS LoCATionS:681 MAin ST., STe. 206/207, pLACerViLLe3581 pALMer Dr., BLDG. 600 CAMeron pArkFor More inForMATion CALL: (530) 672-7021

Marshall Health & Wellness Programs & ClassesMarshall’s programs can help you get healthy and stay healthy. Offering services for all ages and stages of life, we hope to see you at one or more of the classes below. Our Community Health Education Classes include Smoking Cessation and Childbirth related classes, in addition to a babysitting class. Call 530-626-2990 for more information and to register. We also offer diabetes and Nutrition Education through our Physician Clinic Services. Call 530-672-7021 for more information.

Programs & ClassesS

PE

CIA

L A

D S

EC

TIO

N


For Your Health - Winter 2014

Documents

Transcript of For Your Health - Winter 2014