385 Magazine - Winter 2021

385 Winter • 2021

Our People Our Stories

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2•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Winter•2020 •1

Wear a mask.

Be kind.

Protect each other.

Stop the spread.

385

Volume 5 | Issue 2

Staff

Publisher

Jack McNeely jack.mcneely@herald-citizen.com

Editor & Graphic Designer Don Foy don.foy@herald-citizen.com

Contributors Lindsay Pride Jim Herrin Paige Stanage Ben Craven

Ad Composition Becky Watkins

Advertising Roger Wells Dusty Smith Stephanie Garrett

Circulation & Distribution Keith McCormick Ronda Dodson

Business Manager Sandy Malin

385 Magazine is a publication of and distributed quarterly by the Herald-Citizen, a division of Cookeville Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored for retrieval by any means without written consent from the publisher.

385 Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited materials and the publisher accepts no responsibility for the contents or accuracy of claims in any advertisement in any issue. 385 Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or changes in information. The opinions of contributing writers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the magazine and its publisher.

Our mission is to promote the 385 zip code areas of the Upper Cumberland and to showcase their many attributes. We welcome ideas and suggestions for future editions of the magazine. Just send us a brief note via email. © 2021 Herald-Citizen 385 Magazine P.O. Box 2729 Cookeville, TN 38502 931.526.9715 Email: 385Magazine@herald-citizen.com

4•385 •Our People•Our Stories

from the

Publisher Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported at Cookeville Regional Medical Center on March 21, 2020, we’ve all been forced to take a back seat to a pandemic that has wreaked havoc globally.

To date, more than 140 of our Putnam County neighbors have succumbed to the virus while countless others have battled a kaleidoscope of symptoms, some minor, some more severe. The good news, the vast majority of people that contract COVID recover fully.

This issue of 385 Magazine is dedicated to those front-line workers that dedicate their profession to fight for the small percentage that fall victim to some of the most severe symptoms, including death. They are the unsung heroes of this pandemic.

Whether you care for COVID patients battling for their final breaths at our local hospital, watch over the elderly in nursing homes or extended care facilities, or come in contact with an infected patient as a first responder, we thank you. All too often your efforts go unacknowledged. This magazine is for you.

I’d personally like to give a shout out to the three COVID nurses that I had the pleasure to photograph for our cover – Lindsey Verble, RN, 5-East COVID unit charge nurse; Julie Hendrixson, RN, ICU COVID charge nurse; and Ashley Frizzell, 5-North COVID unit charge nurse. Although we were not allowed to photograph inside our local hospital due to obvious safety measures, I think you’ll find that their words within these pages paint pictures of hope and inspiration.

On a personal note, you may have read recently about my expanded role as group publisher for three newspaper markets – Cookeville and Cleveland, Tennessee, and Cartersville, Georgia. Although I am moving to Cleveland soon to be centrally located to all three markets, my commitment to Cookeville, its community and our readership family will not change. That includes my involvement in this quarterly magazine.

Since launching 385 Magazine in October 2016, we have now published 18 issues, which have combined to feature hundreds of personality and feature stories that reflect all that is good about Cookeville, Putnam County and surrounding areas.

This quarterly keepsake publication would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our professional Herald-Citizen staff and our loyal partners that see the exceptional value of marketing their businesses and services within these pages.

Thank you and enjoy the Winter 2021 issue of 385 Magazine.

Jack McNeely, Publisher

Lindsey Verble, Julie Hendrixson and Ashley Frizzell are COVID charge nurses at the hospital. Read their stories beginning on Page 8.

on the

Cover

Jack McNeely

PUTTING UNDERSTANDING INTO ACTION FOR YOU

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Contents

8

14

26

Nurses

First Responders

Tech Health

Caring for COVID-19 patients like nothing nurses have ever seen before.

Police officers, paramedics and EMTs try to balance public safety and what’s best for their families.

Everything has changed for the Tennessee Tech Health Services staff.

34• Why I Love…

Cookeville Regional Medical Center CEO Paul Korth.

6•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Winter•2021•7

o o C Caring for COVID-19 patients unlike anything nurses at CRMC have ever seen before 8•385 •Our People•Our Stories

i d r

Amber Jolley, RN, decked out in full PPE gear, gives a thumbs up.

d e t a n i d Chaos

U

BY LINDSAY PRIDE nderneath the masks and the gowns worn to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are the nurses who’ve worked relentlessly to bring the sickest patients back to health.

COVID-19 unit charge nurses Ashley Frizzell, Lindsey Verble and Julie Hendrixson are three of the staff members at Cookeville Regional Medical Center under the direction of chief nursing officer Scott Lethi.

Since March, CRMC nurses have cared for more than 1,200 COVID-19 patients coming from Putnam and surrounding counties in the Upper Cumberland.

“A typical day in the COVID unit can best be described as ‘coordinated chaos,’” Verble said. “No two shifts

are alike. There are days when all of your attention is based around one patient who is the sickest on the floor and other days we may literally have three to five patients who are trying to crash at one time.”

Nurses in the COVID-19 unit are scheduled for 12-hour shifts, but the demands on them can extend beyond that.

“There is always something more that needs to be done, always another way to help, so the chances of actually ever leaving on time are low,” Verble said.

COVID-19 nurses try to minimize the chance of bringing sickness home to their families by changing clothes at the start and end of every shift.

CRMC Infection Prevention Manager Stephanie Etter said COVID-19 staff aren’t required to quarantine from family members.

“Basic infection prevention measures such as hand washing, cleaning commonly touched surfaces often

and removing shoes before entering their home are encouraged,” she said.

In addition to the PPE or personal protective equipment COVID nurses put on and take off as many as two dozen times per shift, they’re also responsible for delivering meals, dispensing medication and cleaning the rooms.

Preparing to enter a COVID-19 patient’s room with gloves, gown, eye protection, mask, hair net and shoe covers was more daunting at the start of the pandemic.

Hendrixson said, “When the pandemic started, it seemed like it took forever to get all the PPE on. Now, we are so fast, it seems second nature.”

“Actually being in full PPE with an N95 mask on feels like second nature to many now,” Frizzell said. “Yes, it’s still exhausting, and you feel like you’ve been forced into a sauna under those gowns, but it’s amazing how our bodies have adjusted.

“At first, wearing the N95 mask Winter•2021•9

We were anxiously waiting for (an elderly patient’s) wife to arrive. We asked him, ‘Can you hold on until she gets here?’ and he said, ‘I just can’t hold on any longer.’ We held his hand while he passed.

— Julie Hendrixson, nurse

made many feel anxious and often you would get the urge to dart out of the room, rip off the PPE and pull that mask off just to slow your breathing and draw in some cool air.

Most people don’t complain about it all anymore. I think we are just thankful we can breathe at all after watching so many patients struggle.”

Those patients aren’t just struggling to overcome the virus. Many are also struggling with lack of access to family susceptible to critical complications from contracting COVID-19.

“Being isolated from family is one of the worst things about COVID,” Hendrixson said. “FaceTime has been a great tool to stay in touch with families.”

Patients are allowed certain visitors when their health becomes critical.

“We have not limited family access during times of critical decision making,” Lethi said. “Nursing and medical staff make the decision as to what is best for the patient. If a family decides to place the patient on comfort measures, we do allow up to four designated family members. This continues to allow staff to provide care, family access to their loved one and minimizes potential exterior exposure by visitors to our staff.”

Hendrixson, who works in the ICU, said, “Unfortunately, there are instances when family are just not able to get here. A nurse is always there with a patient when they pass away.

10•385 •Our People•Our Stories

From left, Brandie Savoia, RN; Ashleigh Lawson Dalton, RN; and Gina Davis, RN, work in the COVID-19 unit at CRMC. Many times nurses have held patients’ hands as they take their last breath.”

Frizzell said, “One wife couldn’t be there because of her health risks when her husband was passing, and she FaceTimed him for a continuous 18 hours until he passed, and she was so thankful for that opportunity.”

Hendrixson recalled the death of an elderly man suffering from COVID-19, waiting for his wife to say goodbye.

“We were anxiously waiting for his wife to arrive,” Hendrixson said. “We asked him, ‘Can you hold on until she

gets here?’ and he said, ‘I just can’t hold on any longer.’ We held his hand while he passed.”

Since March, 151 (As of Jan. 18, 2021) COVID-19 patients have died at CRMC, and those deaths have taken a toll not only on the families and friends who loved them, but the nurses who cared for them.

“I have seen more nurses cry in 2020 than in all my 17-year nursing career,” Hendrixson said.

Frizzell said, “We get attached to these patients, and we love them and our hearts hurt for their families so

Winter•2021•11

To be honest, things have weighed heavily on us since this began.

We have lost so many people that we fought along with until the very end. We have cried with their families, we have held their hands as they died. We carry a heavy burden, but every day we start fresh. We fight all over again.

— Lindsey Verble, nurse Lauren Morgan, RN, works in the COVID-19 ward at CRMC.

much.”

Hendrixson said, “Nurses have handled the increase stress of COVID differently. Some pray, some eat, and others cry. The hospital has been great in offering us counseling sessions.”

Verble said, “To be honest, things have weighed heavily on us since this began. We have lost so many people that we fought along with until the very end. We have cried with their families, we have held their hands as they died. We carry a heavy burden, but every day we start fresh. We fight all over again. We motivate. We encourage. We laugh. We tell stories.

We cry, and sometimes we dish out some tough love in an effort to make someone better.”

In spite of the sorrows, nurses rejoice in the successes of those they’ve helped overcome COVID-19.

“We consider a shift in which we have several discharges a great day because that means patients were actually well enough to go home which is our ultimate goal,” Verble said. “Not

12•385 •Our People•Our Stories

all who are admitted are fortunate enough to do so.

“Every person who is discharged home is considered a survival story,” Verble said. “I can give you 100 examples of miracles who walked out who were given very little chance of surviving. Not one story is more important than the other. We have had patients stay with us over one month and on the day of discharge, break down and cry because they know how lucky they are and also because in a way they are sad to leave us. We have grown to be an extended family to them. We have been with them through their worst days and fought beside them and restored their health.”

Three members of the Garrison family of Crossville survived COVID-19 after a long treatment at CRMC. “Early on, we had a family (mother, father, son) all in the ICU at one point,” Lethi said. “Parents required extensive ventilator support, but they all left and mom and dad were reunited outside of the hospital during their rehab. There was a staff send off in

the ambulance bay for the dad who was in the ICU for over a month.”

Nurses have also been the recipients of gratitude from the community.

Hendrixson said, “The most humbling and overwhelming part has been the outpouring of love and support from the Upper Cumberland community. Since the tornado in March through this pandemic, there have been so many instances of kindness to nurses. So many people have bought us lunch, sent snacks and gave words of encouragement.”

The nurses of CRMC also share a camaraderie only those who’ve treated COVID-19 patients can understand.

“The co-workers on my unit are honestly my best friends, so I am glad to share all the good and bad along with them,” Verble said. “Hopefully one day when COVID is a thing of the past, we can all go on a big vacation, but for now our place is at the bedside fighting alongside those who are relying on us to survive.”

•385•

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COVID-19 challenges first responders Police, paramedics and EMTs try to balance public, family safety during pandemic

F

Story By PAIGE STANAGE Photos by PAIGE STANAGE and JACK MCNEELY

irst responders are often adapting to different situations, but nothing has challenged them as often as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cookeville Police Officer Matthew Franey said the start of the pandemic was the scariest time because so little was known about the virus.

“Of course, March was already chaotic because of the tornado,” Franey said. “By the end of March, COVID came along.”

He said he thinks the biggest change for the officers is always wearing a mask and sanitizing items often.

“We did have a shortage on gloves at first, like everybody else, because everybody was wearing them like crazy,” he said. “The N95 masks were popular, too. They were hard to find.

I remember we only had so many of those per officer, so we were trying to keep the one or two you were issued as clean and possible.”

Franey has been a Cookeville Police officer for five years. He’s a K-9 officer and serves on CPD’s SWAT team. He experienced some of the most surreal moments of his career at the beginning of the pandemic.

“I remember when it all first started, sitting in my cruiser filling out a report in a parking lot when someone pulled up next to me,” he said. “He rolled down his window, and I had gotten out of my vehicle

Cookeville Police Officer Matthew Franey holds his one-year-old daughter, Cassidy, before he goes in for his night shift.

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16•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Critical Care Paramedics Tony Waters and Patrick Matthews

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Critical care paramedic Tony Waters, left, pulls up an address on a tablet so he and his partner, Patrick Matthews, can respond.

to see what he wanted. I remember his nose was red, and he just looked sick.”

The man told Franey that he was fearful that he had COVID-19, and didn’t know if he needed to take his son over to his ex-wife’s house with the possibility that their son could be contagious.

“Of course, that’s not anything I deal with,” Franey said. “But I remember looking at him, thinking ‘Oh my gosh, what is about to happen in the next few months?’”

Franey developed a routine to limit the spread in his own household.

After work, he sanitizes work items and shoes in his garage, changes out of his uniform and takes a shower.

“It was frustrating because we were careful, and my wife still wound up in the hospital,” he said.

His wife, Kaycee, was pregnant when she contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized for three days in

18•385 •Our People•Our Stories

July.

“Her being pregnant may or may not have contributed to her being sicker,” he said. “She was taken to the hospital because of her fever. They found her oxygen levels were in the low 80s, and found a little fluid on her lungs. They monitored her and gave her breathing treatments.”

She was released, and didn’t have any further complications. Their daughter, who was seven months old in July, had a little cough and snotty nose around that time, he said.

“She didn’t get tested, but because my wife had it, we just kind of assumed she (daughter) had it, too,” he said. “It seemed like she did okay with it. It didn’t affect her sleep or anything. Two weeks later, she was kind of over it.”

Although he has worried for his family, he still has a job to do to keep Cookeville citizens safe.

“Police officers are constantly

adapting, even before the pandemic,” Franey said. “In the end, we still have a job to do, regardless of what’s going on in the world, or in our world.”

Putnam County critical care paramedic partners Tony Waters and Patrick Matthews said they still remember the first COVID-19 patient they transported.

“Whenever they evacuated the nursing home in Sumner County, they called me and Tony in and told us we were going to go down there and help evacuate,” Matthews. “We only hauled one patient, but that was the scary one because we knew he had it, no doubt about it.”

Waters said, “The guy was very stable, but it was still nerve-wracking because there were so many unknowns at that time. I believe we transported him to DeKalb County Hospital where he was treated.”

Waters has been a paramedic for more than 15 years. Matthews has

been an EMT since 1995. They’ve been partners for nearly three years.

Both agreed the hardest part has been the fear of bringing COVID-19 home to their families.

“That’s the worst part,” Matthews said. “I have a wife and three kids at home.”

Waters and Matthews have not contracted the virus, but they know about 10 or 12 emergency medical service employees who have.

“We’ve had a couple of employees who have lost really close relatives, too,” Matthews.

Some precautions set in place to protect them are always wearing masks, respirators, gloves and “gowning up.” Patients are also treated as if they have the virus until proven otherwise.

The paramedics work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, and are off work the next week. During their work week, they are on call for the 12 hours they are not scheduled to work.

Winter•2021•19

Firefighter/paramedic Patrick South has been working in emergency medical services since he was 18 years old.

Waters and Matthews said they haven’t seen their work hours increase, despite challenges brought on by the pandemic.

“I’m going to say calls (to come into work) have not increased because of the pandemic just because we have more personnel to cover those shifts,” Waters said. “We got called more before we added extra units to day shift.”

Putnam County EMS has about 60 full-time employees, and probably close to 100 including the part time employees, Matthews said.

Waters said, “I think this year (2020), we’re going to break 19,000 calls for the year. It’s been increasing the past few years from all the people moving here. The calls we answer is a reflection of the population density.”

Cookeville firefighters said they’ve also had a busy year, filled with changes from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Before, we didn’t have to wear masks all the time,” said firefighter/ paramedic Patrick South. “And it definitely changed our response. Be-

cause if it’s a confirmed COVID call, we dress out for it with the medical suits we can put over our clothes, the respirator, medical glasses and with an N95 (mask).”

Short said they always wear a mask, even at the station.

“We wear the face masks in the truck and while we’re driving,” Short said. “If we’re in a common area together, we wear our masks. Really, the only times we don’t wear them are when we’re in our bedrooms, outside, or working out.”

Lieutenant/paramedic Shawn

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20•385 •Our People•Our Stories

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Hotsinpiller said when the pandemic first began, the firefighters would only leave the station to answer calls, and to get fuel for the fire trucks.

“That’s how it was for the first three months,” Hotsinpiller said. “We’ve been disinfecting the trucks and station twice a day.”

The firefighters work 24 hour shifts, and are off for 48 hours. Some bring clothes from home to wear into the station, and change back into them when they finish their shifts. They also have a washing machine and clothes dryer, which helps keep their clothes clean from both the virus and carcinogens they’re often exposed to when responding to fires, said Capt. Benton Young.

Young is one of the firefighters who recently received the COVID-19 vaccine. He got his second dose Jan. 21.

“I hope it helps,” Young said. “We’ve had people who have had to be off for quarantine and if they test positive, so that’s been a challenge this year. We’ve also had a lot of overtime this year because of it. But other than that, we’ve not had to change the way we work.”

Hotsinpiller had COVID-19 at some point, but he doesn’t know when.

“Probably half of the department has had it at some point in time,” Hotsinpiller said. “The biggest fear is us

taking it home to our families. For me, taking it home to my wife and kids. That was the worst of it, even though they all had COVID. But I’m still doing the same things I had been at the start (of the pandemic), like disinfecting when I get home, and putting everything in the dirty clothes.”

Engineer/EMT Brandon Lee faced additional challenges dealing with the pandemic. His home on Charlton Square was destroyed in the March 3 tornado.

“We lost everything,” Lee said. “Then like two weeks later is when everything shut down, and we needed to get things.”

Despite the challenges, Lee said he and the department have been lucky because they haven’t had to shut any of the four fire stations down because of a lack of manpower.

Young said, “But if we had to do that though, we have plans in place that would allow us to. When the pandemic started, we had to plan for the worst and hope for the best. My hope is that we won’t have to use those plans.”

Town

Ten

• Grand Opening for 2021 - March 17th @ 11am Granville Museum and Sutton Homestead opens with a 2021 theme “Women and Their Contributions”.

• Spring Fashion Show and Ladies Luncheon March 20th @11 am. Theme “Beauty in Bloom”.

• Weekly Bluegrass Dinner Show

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Honoring Huff & Myers Family. Mayberry Lucy DayProfessional Actors Performing & Mayberry Cruise In • Cornbread and Moonshine Festival - May 1st A full day of events with Moonshine Tasting, cornbread baking contest, Decanter Museum Grand Opening and more!

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Six Years After Lymphoma Diagnosis

CRMC’s State-of-the-Art Cancer Center Offers Treatment for a Rare Lymphoma

S

IX YEARS AGO, Bobby Sebastian of Cookeville, an avid cyclist for years, started having a very difficult time completing the usual trips with his cycling group.

His family doctor drew some blood, and when he got the results, he sent Sebastian to a hematologist at CRMC. They found that his hemoglobin count was only six, and he was hospitalized for anemia.

At first, he chalked it up to getting out of shape from taking a couple of months off to remodel his home. But when he was still having extreme fatigue two months later, along with drenching night sweats and itchy skin, his biking friends — several of whom are doctors — encouraged him to see his doctor.

“It took four units of blood just to get my hemoglobin back up to 10, and for a man, normal is somewhere between 13 to 18,” said Sebastian.

22•385 •Our People•Our Stories

He was placed in the care of Dr. Venumadhav Kotla, an oncologist at the Cookeville Regional Cancer Center.

The Cancer Program at Cookeville Regional Medical Center

I’m doing fine. I feel good. I rode my bicycle 20 miles this morning up the mountain, so life is good.

BOBBY SEBASTION “I was hoping I’d picked up some kind of blood parasite or something on one of these mission trips,” said Sebastian, who is the missions pastor at Life Church. “But they did a bone biopsy on me, and the results showed that I have a rare, stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma called Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM).”

Bobby Sebastian with his wife, Delayne

WM grows in the bone marrow and crowds out the normal cells that make blood cells. Symptoms of WM can include anemia, fatigue, weakness, blurred vision, loss of vision, headaches, loss of appetite, fever, sweats, weight loss and possibly numbness or “pins and needles” sensations in the feet and legs.

“WM is a slow-growing lymphoma that is not very aggressive,” said Dr. Kotla. “The defining feature of Waldenstrom is production of IgM protein, an immunoglobulin that is not a functioning protein. It makes the blood viscous (thick), which is what causes the symptoms patients experience.”

Sebastian was placed on an immunotherapy medication called Rituxan®, which was able to control his disease for three years before he relapsed.

“Because his relapse happened closer to the use of our first choice of treatment, we could not use the same treatment, so we switched to a medication called ibrutinib (brand name Imbruvica®), which is a very new, targeted therapy option that was approved by the FDA in 2017,” said Dr. Kotla.

Sebastian has continued to do well on Imbruvica for three years now. Fortunately, even if he were to develop side effects or become unresponsive to this treatment, there are several other options available for his continued care.

“From a patient perspective, this is a disease that has evolved from where it was very difficult to manage because there were no standard treatments available a decade ago, and now we’re able to bring the progress of science to the clinic,” said Dr. Kotla. “This disease truly never goes away, but you can get very effective control.”

Sebastian also loves riding his motorcycle.

And, for him, managing his WM is simply a matter of continuing on his medication and having his blood checked regularly.

“I’ll probably have to have my blood drawn every six weeks for the rest of my life, but hey, I’ll take that,” said Sebastian. “Dr. Kotla is wonderful, and the nurses — I’m spoiled. At the Cancer Center, I walk in, two minutes later they come get me, 10 minutes later I’m walking out of the building with a printout in my hand. The Cancer Center here is wonderful.”

Now six years past his diagnosis with WM, Sebastian is continuing to enjoy life.

“I’m doing fine. I feel good. I rode my bicycle 20 miles this morning up the mountain, so life is good,” said Sebastian.

For more information about the Cookeville Regional Cancer Program, please visit crmchealth.org/cancer or call (931) 783-2497.

The Cancer Program at Cookeville Regional Medical Center

Winter•2021•23

SAM GLASGOW STILL ENJOYING LIFE 10 YEARS AFTER DIAGNOSIS WITH A RARE LYMPHOMA Sam Glasgow with a wooden chair he built

Advanced Care at CRMC Cancer Center Allows Him to Get the Therapy He Needs Close to Home

S

am Glasgow of Cookeville, a very active retiree, realized something was wrong when he was getting increasingly tired on his regular bike rides.

“I noticed that, going up Brotherton Mountain, I was getting more winded than I should have, so I started having my blood checked, and my hemoglobin was going down,” said Glasgow. “They did tests to see if I was losing blood, and they found out that I wasn’t making blood.”

A bone marrow biopsy showed that Glasgow had Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM), a rare type of lymphoma (cancer of the lymph tissue) that grows in the bone marrow and crowds out the normal cells that make blood cells.

“WM is a slow-growing lymphoma that is not very aggressive,” said Dr. Venumadhav Kotla, Glasgow’s oncologist at the Cookeville Regional Cancer Center. “The defining feature of Waldenstrom is production of IgM protein, an immunoglobulin that is not a functioning protein. It makes the blood viscous (thick), which is what causes the symptoms patients experience.”

Symptoms of WM can include anemia, fatigue, weakness, blurred vision, loss of vision, headaches, loss of appetite, fever, sweats, weight loss and possibly numbness or “pins and needles” sensations in the feet and legs.

With proper treatment, however, patients with WM can continue to live long, active lives.

“The treatments can range from something simple, like careful observation, especially if patients are not very symptomatic, to very mild treatments like immunotherapy with a medication called Rituxan®,” said Dr. Kotla.

“If the disease starts escalating, depending on the intensity, there are chemotherapy regimens that can be used.”

Glasgow was diagnosed with WM in 2011 and underwent therapy with

Rituxan and a chemotherapy called Velcade® for a year and a half. His WM went into remission with no further symptoms until November 2019, when his regular, follow-up blood checks showed that his hemoglobin levels were dropping once more. Dr. Kotla placed him on a second regimen of Rituxan, which he receives every eight weeks, and Glasgow’s blood counts are improving, meaning the therapy is working.

Fortunately, even if Glasgow has another relapse in the future that is not responsive to Rituxan, or if it should happen too soon to use Rituxan again, there are many other options available for his continued care.

“I tell patients that we’re probably never going to run out of treatment options,” said Dr. Kotla.

Because of the state-of-the-art care available at Cookeville Regional, patients with WM can receive the therapies they need right here in our community.

“Years ago, people would have had to go to Vanderbilt earlier in the course of their disease, but now these patients have been able to be cared for in the community for several years,” said Dr. Kotla. “I think we still would be able to care for them for years to come with the available advances in medicine.”

Glasgow, a retired pathologist who worked at CRMC for 26 years, was glad to be able to stay close to home for his treatments.

“It’s been almost 10 years since I was diagnosed, and the care I’ve received at Cookeville Regional has been the very best,” said Glasgow. “You don’t have to drive to Nashville. We have great doctors who have all the chemo and immunotherapies that you need, right here in Cookeville.”

For more information about the Cookeville Regional Cancer Program, please visit crmchealth.org/cancer or call (931) 783-2497.

The Cancer Program at Cookeville Regional Medical Center

24•385 •Our People•Our Stories

DON’T DELAY IF CANCER SYMPTOMS OCCUR LEARNING THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF VARIOUS FORMS OF CANCER can help you get diagnosis and treatment when it’s more likely to be effective. Following is a list of what to look for with some of the most common types of cancer. Visit www.cancer.org to learn more about the cancers listed below, as well as other cancers and their signs and symptoms.

Breast Cancer

Possible symptoms of breast cancer include: • • • • • • • •

A new lump or mass, either hard or soft Swelling of all or part of a breast (even if no lump is felt) Skin dimpling (sometimes looking like an orange peel) Breast or nipple pain Nipple retraction (turning inward) Nipple or breast skin that is red, dry, flaking or thickened Nipple discharge (other than breast milk) Swollen lymph nodes (Sometimes breast cancer can spread to lymph nodes under the arm or around the collarbone and cause a lump or swelling there, even before the original tumor in the breast is large enough to be felt.)

Lung Cancer

Most lung cancers do not cause any symptoms until they have spread, but some people with early lung cancer do have symptoms.

The most common symptoms of lung cancer are: • • • • • • • • • •

A cough that does not go away or gets worse Coughing up blood or rust-colored sputum (spit or phlegm) Chest pain that is often worse with deep breathing, coughing or laughing Hoarseness Loss of appetite Unexplained weight loss Shortness of breath Feeling tired or weak Infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia that don’t go away or keep coming back New onset of wheezing

If lung cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it may cause: • •

• •

Bone pain (like pain in the back or hips) Nervous system changes (such as headache, weakness or numbness of an arm or leg, dizziness, balance problems or seizures) from cancer spread to the brain Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice) from cancer spread to the liver Swelling of lymph nodes (collection of immune system cells) such as those in the neck or above the collarbone

Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer might not cause symptoms right away, but if it does, it may cause one or more of these symptoms: •

A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool, that lasts for more than a few days

• • • • • •

A feeling that you need to have a bowel movement that’s not relieved by having one Rectal bleeding with bright red blood Blood in the stool, which may make the stool look dark Cramping or abdominal (belly) pain Weakness and fatigue Unintended weight loss

Ovarian Cancer

The most common symptoms include: • • • •

Bloating Pelvic or abdominal (belly) pain Trouble eating, or feeling full quickly Urinary symptoms such as urgency (always feeling like you have to go) or frequency (having to go often)

Others symptoms of ovarian cancer can include: • • • • • • •

Fatigue (extreme tiredness) Upset stomach Back pain Pain during sex Constipation Changes in a woman’s period, such as heavier bleeding than normal or irregular bleeding Abdominal (belly) swelling with weight loss

Pancreatic Cancer

Early pancreatic cancers often do not cause any signs or symptoms. By the time they do cause symptoms, they have often grown very large or already spread outside the pancreas. Having one or more of the symptoms below does not mean you have pancreatic cancer. In fact, many of these symptoms are more likely to be caused by other conditions.

• • • • • • •

Jaundice Belly or back pain Weight loss and poor appetite Nausea and vomiting Gallbladder or liver enlargement Blood clots Diabetes

Bladder Cancer • • • • • •

Blood in the urine Having to urinate more often than usual Pain or burning during urination Feeling as if you need to go right away, even when your bladder isn’t full Having trouble urinating or having a weak urine stream Having to get up to urinate many times during the night

Bladder cancers that have grown large or have spread to other parts of the body can sometimes cause other symptoms, such as:

• • • • • •

Being unable to urinate Lower back pain on one side Loss of appetite and weight loss Feeling tired or weak Swelling in the feet Bone pain

Melanoma Skin Cancer • •

The most important warning sign of melanoma is a new spot on the skin or a spot that is changing in size, shape or color.

Another important sign is a spot that looks different from all of the other spots on your skin (known as the ugly duckling sign).

Other warning signs are: • • • • •

A sore that doesn’t heal Spread of pigment from the border of a spot into the surrounding skin Redness or a new swelling beyond the border of the mole Change in sensation, such as itchiness, tenderness or pain Change in the surface of a mole – scaliness, oozing, bleeding or the appearance of a lump or bump

Prostate Cancer • • • • •

Problems urinating, including a slow or weak urinary stream or the need to urinate more often, especially at night Blood in the urine or semen Trouble getting an erection (erectile dysfunction or ED) Pain in the hips, back (spine), chest (ribs) or other areas from cancer that has spread to bones Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or even loss of bladder or bowel control from cancer pressing on the spinal cord

Stomach Cancer • • • • • • • • • • •

Poor appetite Weight loss (without trying) Abdominal (belly) pain Vague discomfort in the abdomen, usually above the navel A sense of fullness in the upper abdomen after eating a small meal Heartburn or indigestion Nausea Vomiting, with or without blood Swelling or fluid buildup in the abdomen Blood in the stool Low red blood cell count (anemia)

Source: American Cancer Society

The Cancer Program at Cookeville Regional Medical Center

The Cancer Program at Cookeville Regional Medical Center • 2020

9 Winter•2021•25

Everything Has Changed Tech Health Services working to keep campus safe, healthy

S

ince COVID-19 reared its ugly head in the spring of 2020, the health care profession has been bombarded with challenges.

At Tennessee Tech Health Services, those challenges have come in the form of trying to keep more than 10,000 students and 1,200 faculty and staff safe and healthy during the pandemic.

“Everything we were doing a year ago has changed,” Tech Health Services Director Leigh Ann Ray said. “Just from the whole procedure of how health services operates to how we provide patient care, even for non-COVID issues, has changed. We have spent the past year researching, trying to find the best practices and the best ways to provide patient care in a safe, effective manner.”

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Winter•2021•27

Tennessee Tech Health Services Assistant Director Kim Williams (left) and director Leigh Ann Ray. Ray, who has spent the past 26 years as a nurse practitioner, including the last 10 at Tech, says her life has changed drastically since the pandemic hit.

“My day is filled with questions and meetings, seeing patients, talking to parents and sick individuals, coordinating with the state regarding testing and managing staff,” Ray said. “I have done a lot of things this year I have never done before.”

Ray and her staff have continually helped provide quality, affordable health care at the on-campus facility.

Now, she and her staff have added COVID testing and contact tracing to their regular duties.

“I have to give praise to my staff,” said Ray. “Everybody has pitched in and done things they have never

28•385 •Our People•Our Stories

been asked to do before. They are dealing with COVID every day, and nobody has backed down from the challenge. Everybody has been willing to do their part and more.”

The Tech administration did its part by doubling the amount of health services staff. The extra staff handled more than 6,500 patient encounters during the fall semester and helped distribute more than 1,000 flu vaccinations.

“When I was preparing for the fall semester, I was very fearful. I didn’t know how we were going to get through it,” said assistant director Kim Williams. “I know now that integrated safety guidelines — the masking, social distancing, contact tracing — make a big dent in it. It is the only way we kept this campus on

track last semester.”

Williams, who is in her seventh year at Tech, says the health services staff battles more than just a virus.

“Every day, almost hourly, things change, guidelines change, recommendations change,” said Williams.

“We fight a lot of opinions and politics even though we know what is always in the best interest of the students, faculty and staff here at Tech and in the community. We have to fight all of those things as healthcare providers because we want to keep people safe.”

Williams has had to make some personal sacrifices. With all of the COVID testing she does on a daily basis, she has limited contact with the outside world.

“I have not had anything to do

with anyone outside of my household since March, including my parents who are chronically ill,” Williams explained.

“I am not safe to be around, and I will not take it to someone else if I know I can prevent it. It’s a huge sacrifice we have to make as healthcare workers.

It’s worth the sacrifice. I have to follow the rules and the guidelines.”

With the increased workload and sacrifices, Ray and her staff battle fatigue and stress. She says they deal with it the best they can.

“We talk about things a lot.

We vent, rant and rave to each other,” said Ray. “At the end of the day it has all worked out.

I have great family support or it would be tough. Health care workers, for the most part, seem to be very resilient, and it helps being able to talk to each other.”

With the emergence of the COVID vaccine, Ray is optimistic about the health of the Tech campus.

“I feel like we are in a good place. We demonstrated that in the fall,” Ray said. “I am hoping the vaccine will become more available to those who want to take it. Our students showed a lot of responsibility, and we were able to manage the positive cases and those who were exposed.”

For information regarding COVID-19 at Tennessee Tech, go to https://www.tntech.edu/ covid19/index.php.

•385•

Robert Brady of Tennessee Tech Health Services administers a COVID-19 test.

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Contact me to make a plan that lets you focus on being good at life.

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Winter•2021•29

Why I Love… Cookeville Cookeville Regional Medical Center CEO

Paul Korth Where did you grow up? How did you become interested in healthcare?

I grew in up Celina. My family moved there when I was in fifth grade, and I was always interested in accounting and numbers. I decided to enroll at Tennessee Tech and received a degree in Business with a major in Accounting. I always believed a good education would lead to something special, I just didn’t know it would be healthcare.

Where did you work before Cookeville Regional Medical Center? How did you become the CEO? After college graduation, I worked at a CPA firm in Cookeville for two years and then I got a job at Clay County Hospital as the Chief Financial Officer from 1987 to 1991.

I worked at Livingston Regional Hospital for eight years before I joined Cookeville Regional Medical Center in 1999 as CFO. In 2013, I became Chief Executive Officer.

What do you love about your job?

The thing I love most about my job is no two days are the same. It’s a fast-paced industry that is always changing, which makes it very exciting on a daily basis.

What are the challenges of leading a medical center during a pandemic?

The challenges of leading CRMC during the pandemic are the unpredictable and uncertainty of what lies ahead.

From not knowing where needed supplies (PPE) are going to come from or when, to the number of patients that are going to need our services, or do we have enough staff, supplies, beds and all the other things needed to

30•385 •Our People•Our Stories

treat them.

What is CRMC’s role in the future of healthcare in the Upper Cumberland?

The future for CRMC is to continue to deliver high quality care for the services that the patients of the Upper Cumberland need.

Winter•2021•31

Bold. Fearless. Confident.

Across the country and here at home, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles have met the challenges of the pandemic head on. Thank you for ďŹ ghting on the front line.