Back in the Game SS’ online patient forum – Back in the Game –
H
HSS Provides Once-in-a-Lifetime Skiing Experience for Pediatric Patients
now has more than 1,600 patient stories! The postings share how HSS helped patients get
“back in the game.” Every month we will include one of the stories that highlights the extraordinary care members of the HSS family provide.
Read how HSS helped Brenton Hard of Astoria, NY get back in the game. In May 2015, I injured my right knee playing for the professional Ultimate Frisbee team in NYC. The injury consisted of a sharp pain at the front of my knee and constant throbbing, which restricted me from anything more than lightly jogging with extreme discomfort. After consulting with other doctors/hospitals in NYC and frustratingly receiving misdiagnoses and poor patient care, I finally obtained a consultation with Dr. Moira McCarthy. Within our first appointment she properly diagnosed me as having cartilage damage in my kneecap and a partial patella tendon tear. She took the time to help me understand the
n March 2, HSS brought nine pediatric
O
progressed in their
patients, along with their families, to Windham
abilities throughout the
Mountain Resort in Windham, NY for a day
day. It also provided a
of skiing. This trip was part of the Adaptive Sports
great opportunity for
Academy operated by the Lerner Children’s Pavilion,
socialization between
which runs a variety of local, regional and national
families and peer support.
trips for HSS pediatric patients.
“Each year, I look forward
The children who took part in the trip ranged in
to skiing alongside the
age from eight to 21 and have a variety of physical
children to watch as they
disabilities affecting their upper and/or lower
surpass their goals and
extremities, including cerebral palsy. They were paired
expectations and realize
with volunteers from the Adaptive Sports Foundation
all their bodies can do,”
to learn how to ski despite physical limitations using
said Dr. Scher. “The
Dr. David Scher poses with two of the children on the ski trip.
adaptive ski equipment. The group was pleasantly
Windham ski trip is a unique opportunity for me to
surprised to find that three of the volunteer instructors
spend time with and support my patients outside of
had personal connections to HSS, including Susan
their hospital visits.”
Marconi, RN, an HSS nurse; a grateful patient of
The children had an amazing experience and
James Farmer, MD; and the grandmother of a patient
realized that they have the ability to accomplish
of Daniel Green, MD, all of whom were eager to give
their goals. The children and their parents com-
back to HSS and its youngest patients.
mented that their confidence was built and they
Also on hand to help the children were six members
were happy to have a day where the focus was not
of the HSS family – Peyton Katz, Pediatric Patient
on correcting disabilities, but on acquiring new skills
and Family Care Coordinator; Lisa Drefus, PT, DPT;
and abilities. In fact, they even asked about next
Lorene Janowski, DPS, OTR/L, MS, C/NDT; John
year’s ski trip on the way home.
Denneen, Director, Pediatric Service Lines; David
Thank you to all members of the HSS family and phil-
Scher, MD, Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon; and
anthropic community for making this trip possible!
Richard Fleury, Executive Director, HSS Radiologists.
issues with terms I could understand and drawings. She then laid out options for me, the last one being surgery. After following the subscribed plan there was unfortunately no significant improvement, thus in September we decided to move forward with surgery. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been in Dr. McCarthy and her staff’s care during this process, with an additional huge thank you to her office manager, Alicia. My insurance company was not easy to deal with, but they did everything they could to sort it out.
The purpose of the ski trip, which is an annual event, is to expose patients to new physical challenges and social experiences and to reinforce their therapy goals. The trip also encourages independence, which was made evident as the children gained increased self-esteem Nine pediatric patients from the Lerner Children’s Pavilion went skiing at Windham Mountain Resort. and self-confidence as they
The surgery ran extremely smooth. Every staff member was incredibly professional, with excellent patient oriented care. The healing and physical therapy recovery, however, was certainly not easy,
Employee of the Month
but I stuck with it and within five months I was running again and have been able to do serious
February 2017, Tatyana Litvinko
hiking, backpacking and back to Ultimate less than
Congratulations to Tatyana, Employee of the Month for February!
one year after the surgery.
Tatyana is a Patient Services Liaison in the Department of Service
Since the surgery in November 2015, my fiancé,
Excellence who has been a member of the HSS family since 2015.
Amelia Ni, and I have relocated to Phoenix, Arizona.
She has been described by her colleagues as upbeat, courteous and
She is actually a previous employee of HSS and is
professional and a great role model for other team members.
about to complete her first year of medical school.
Working in a Family Atrium at the Hospital, Tatyana interacts with
Out here I have been able to take full advantage of
patients and family members on a daily basis. She does so with a posi-
the surgery Dr. McCarthy performed on my knee
tive attitude and always goes above and beyond to make sure all needs
and am outside several times per week running,
are taken care of. Several visitors have praised Tatyana for her caring
playing sports and hiking. My overall quality of life
demeanor and her sincere concern for the well-being of patients.
has increased significantly because of Dr. McCarthy and her HSS team. I would like to express deep gratitude toward them and HSS. You treated us like family and I would come back in a heartbeat, but hopefully won’t need to!
6
Tatyana is a quick learner and is always available to share her knowledge with her colleagues. She is extremely reliable and has established excellent relationships with various departments across the Hospital. She is respected for her hard work, calm yet strong character and her willingness to always help.