Excellence in Cancer Care
V
aughn of Rockville diligently had his annual physical and prostate screening every spring for almost 20 years. Vaughn, a health-conscious former athlete, started annual prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screenings at age 40, after he lost his father to prostate cancer. His tests always came back normal until one day a physical showed an abnormal PSA test.
included a referral to Don Bridges, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.
Vaughn quickly met with Barry Aron, M.D., chair of urology at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. Further tests confirmed that Vaughn had prostate cancer. While he had several treatment options to consider, Dr. Aron worked with him on a plan, which
Vaughn decided to pursue an aggressive treatment option and in March 2011, instead of getting his annual physical and screening, he started his cancer treatment, which included hormone treatment followed by five weeks of radiation.
“My first inclination was to go the surgery route,” Vaughn says. “Then I met with Dr. Bridges and he talked with me for over three hours. He wanted me to make sure that I knew all of the pluses and minuses to my options.”
“I’m very pleased that I received such good treatment and care from the team at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital,” Vaughn says. “I am feeling wonderful these days.”
The Aquilino Cancer Center will open this fall as the first community-based, free-standing, comprehensive cancer center in Montgomery County, Md. It will be located on Adventist HealthCare’s Rockville campus, adjacent to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.
A family history of prostate cancer prompted Vaughn to get checked every year. In 2010, those screenings saved his life. 7