Groundbreaking stem cell transplant for drug-resistant epilepsy.
Welcome to our latest edition of The Forefront magazine. This issue is all about maintaining the quality of your life and getting back to the activities you love following a health setback.
Whether you’re an athlete facing knee pain, as featured in our cover story, or someone affected by acid reflux or an enlarged prostate, UChicago Medicine is here for you.
Our outpatient clinics and inpatient facilities across metropolitan Chicago, the Southland and Northwest Indiana offer convenient options for getting a timely diagnosis and treatment of the conditions that keep you from living life to its fullest.
We can also help you prevent illness, with important screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies, and empower you to make healthy choices.
The World Health Organization defines health as a state of physical, mental and social well-being, not just the absence of disease or sickness. Our UChicago Medicine teams agree, and it’s why we have spent decades researching what factors impact your health.
By partnering with our clinical experts, research division and the Pritzker School of Medicine, we’re working tirelessly to find new techniques and discoveries. This issue explores several of them, including a groundbreaking surgery for drug-resistant epilepsy.
In the spirit of health and safety, please enjoy the summer months. We’re here if you need us.
Tom Jackiewicz President, University of Chicago
Health System
Meet our midwives
Learn how the specialized nurses assist during pregnancy, delivery and beyond
Midwives are advanced practice nurses with specialized training in prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care and gynecologic and reproductive wellness.
Many parents value the emphasis on emotional support and natural birth options, said Elizabeth “Libby” Oppert, MSN, CNM, head of the midwifery program at the University of Chicago Medicine.
Typically, a midwife manages patients independent of an OB-GYN. But midwives and OB-GYNs can work together, Oppert said, with the same goals in mind: safety and supporting a preferred birth plan.
This year, UChicago Medicine's staff will grow to include six midwives. The team offers monthly “Meet the Midwife” sessions from 11 a.m. to noon on the first Sunday of each month at Comer Children's Hospital.
Oppert and Mary Kay Burke, DNP, a UChicago Medicine certified nurse midwife, answered questions about midwifery.
WHAT SERVICES DO MIDWIVES PROVIDE?
Midwives offer prenatal care and education, as well as guidance in setting and adjusting a patient’s birth preferences. We also provide labor and delivery support, postpartum care, and natural and low-intervention pain management options.
WHERE CAN I SEE A MIDWIFE?
Available in person and virtually, midwives work at multiple UChicago Medicine locations — including Orland Park, River East, South Loop and Comer Children’s Hospital, the home of the Family Birth Center. By nature of the job, midwives can spend more face time with patients.
ARE THERE BENEFITS TO MIDWIFERY?
Research has shown midwives decrease costs by reducing cesarean sections, preterm birth rates, episiotomy rates and more. They also assist with perinatal health disparities. Increasing access to midwifery care is important to our communities.
CenteringPregnancy offers circle of support
A nationally recognized model of prenatal care called CenteringPregnancy is now offered at the University of Chicago Medicine. The two-hour visits welcome 8 to 12 expectant parents with similar due dates; partners may also attend. Sessions are held at our Hyde Park location and include standard checkups and clinical education.
To make an appointment with a UChicago Medicine midwife, call 773-701-7572 or visit UChicagoMedicine.org/midwife-info
DO MIDWIVES WORK WITH OB-GYNS?
Midwives are trained to recognize complications and take immediate action, but if a patient starts with a midwife and needs an OB-GYN, there’s no delay. At UChicago Medicine, our midwives and OB-GYNs work side by side.
ARE THEY ONLY FOR PREGNANCY?
Midwives offer gynecologic wellness care throughout all life stages, from adolescence to post-menopause. This allows patients to receive continuous care from their midwife, before, during and after pregnancy.
Clockwise, from left: Katherine Willey, MSN; Mary Kay Burke, DNP; Kabirat Tepede, DNP; Elizabeth Oppert, MSN, CNM; Meghan Kilmer, DNP.
Strength in numbers
After a busy caregiver got breast cancer, a community stepped up to help
Kathleen Humphries hadn’t gone for a mammogram or seen a doctor in more than a decade.
A full-time advertising consultant, Humphries also was caring for her elderly mother, her brother and a 135-pound Rottweiler mix inside her Hyde Park home.
“I’d take my mom and brother to all of their medical appointments,” she said. “One day, my brother asked me: ‘When do you go to the doctor?’”
That led Humphries to see a primary care physician who referred her to the University of Chicago Medicine for a mammogram.
The age when women with average risk of breast cancer should get their first mammogram.
SOURCE: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
When a radiologist said the X-ray had revealed something suspicious, Humphries was calm. She knew she had dense breasts, which can make the images difficult to interpret. But she started worrying when a biopsy was ordered; the test confirmed she had stage 2 breast cancer.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” said Humphries, who was 70 at the time. “How was I going to take care of myself and everyone else?”
ROCK-SOLID SISTERHOOD
As soon as they heard the news, a group of Humphries’ longtime friends stepped in to help.
“Initially, I told them, ‘I don’t need anything,’” Humphries said. “But right away, everyone took a role doing whatever they could.”
The women planned out who could take Humphries to her appointments. They hosted Zoom gatherings. One friend called her every morning to pray. Another offered Humphries two nights in an upscale Hyde Park hotel to recover in peace after her cancer surgery.
Kathleen Humphries, second from left on sofa, with the friends who supported her during cancer treatment.
On the day of her August 2022 lumpectomy — a surgical removal of the cancerous tumor — Humphries waited with a friend in the preop area at the Center for Care and Discovery. Their laughter was so loud, a medical staffer came to see what the noise was about.
“These women are fun, and they’re strong,” Humphries said. “We find a lot of joy in each other.”
FINDING HER TEAMS
A cancer diagnosis can be scary, so a team approach to care is critical, said Nan Chen, MD, Humphries’ UChicago Medicine oncologist.
Whether patients rely on family, friends, clinical staff or a mix of individuals, “it’s really important to find support in whatever way works for you,” Chen said.
UChicago Medicine provides specialized guidance for cancer patients, including mental health practitioners, and physical and occupational therapists. Other offerings include support groups and a clinic to help address sexual side effects from cancer treatment.
“Dealing with these things is just as important as the medical care you receive,” Chen said.
Humphries’ team included UChicago Medicine breast surgeon Sarah Shubeck, MD, MS, whom she described as “the angel that I needed” and a partner who introduced herself by her first name.
She also appreciated Chen’s guidance that began at the initial diagnosis.
“Dr. Chen said: ‘I know I gave you a lot of information, but if you remember one thing about this meeting, it’s that you have a highly curable breast cancer,’” Humphries said. “Just knowing it was going to be over, and I was going to survive it, was such a relief.”
LIFE AFTER SURGERY
Humphries’ surgery was routine and successful, Chen said. She received six weeks of radiation and takes a hormone therapy medication for postmenopausal breast cancer patients.
Humphries hopes her story will remind others to stay current with health screenings.
“Looking back, I see how I fell off taking care of myself,” she said. “It didn’t dawn on me that I was being neglected. But my story
Breast cancer: Know your risk
Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, MD, is a UChicago Medicine oncologist and an expert in risk assessment and personalized treatment for aggressive forms of breast cancer. She answered common questions about screening and prevention.
WHY
IS 40 NOW THE RECOMMENDED AGE FOR A MAMMOGRAM?
There’s an epidemic of women between the ages of 40 and 49 getting breast cancer. So, the screening update is a step in the right direction. Talk to your OBGYN or primary care doctor in your 20s or 30s, so you know if you’re at average or high risk by the time you’re 30.
IS GENETIC TESTING AN OPTION?
Anyone at high risk should have genetic testing, which involves a blood or saliva test. We can look at all genetic variants that put some women at very high risk. If patients are found to have a genetic mutation, they can tell relatives they may also be at risk.
DO I NEED A BREAST MRI?
mammogram, call or visit UChicagoMedicine.org/
If you know you’re at high risk starting at age 30, or if you have dense breasts, you should get a breast MRI, which can detect tumors mammograms may miss. We have laws saying if you have dense breasts, you must be notified after a mammogram so you can opt for additional testing.
Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, MD Nan Chen, MD Sarah Shubeck, MD, MS
Top marks for hospital safety
The Leapfrog Group has granted the University of Chicago Medical Center its 27th consecutive “A” Hospital Safety Grade, making it one of only 11 hospitals nationwide — and the only one in Chicago — to achieve this distinction.
UChicago Medicine
AdventHealth hospitals in Bolingbrook, Hinsdale and La Grange also received an “A.” Leapfrog analyzes nearly 3,000 acute care hospitals using publicly available data; only one-third receive an “A” grade.
UChicago Medicine
Crown Point turns one
Our multispecialty care facility in Northwest Indiana marked one year in operation on April 29. Here are some milestones to know:
Clinic visits completed across 47 specialties
9K+ 10K+ 9 in 10
New neurosurgery leaders join UChicago Medicine
Scans given, including X-ray, CT, MRI and mammography
Lab appointments, with wait times of only about 10 minutes
Crown Point patients rated care experience as “very good”
AI comes to the exam room
Mohamad Bydon, MD, has joined the University of Chicago Medicine as the first Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery and health system leader for Neurological Surgery. Bydon, an expert in minimally invasive and robotic approaches to complex spinal conditions, previously worked at the Mayo Clinic. In August, Arthur DiPatri, MD, will join UChicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery for the Chicagoland Children’s Health Alliance. DiPatri spent more than two decades at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
A new tool is helping UChicago Medicine doctors work efficiently and focus more on face time. Ambient clinical documentation technology can record discussion during an exam and create clear, accurate clinical notes for a patient’s electronic health record. The tool, powered by Abridge AI, is always optional. Audio files are kept private and deleted after one week.
Arthur DiPatri, MD
Mohamad Bydon, MD
6 steps to a stress-free colonoscopy
For many patients, the hardest part of a colonoscopy is “the prep” — a regimen that involves a clear liquid diet and laxatives to purge the bowels.
“Once you’re done with that, it’s actually pretty easy,” said University of Chicago Medicine gastroenterologist Benjamin H. Levy III, MD. “You’re asleep during the procedure. After you wake up, you can eat an amazing lunch at home and have the rest of the day to relax and watch TV.”
The effort is worth it. Colorectal cancer, which begins in polyps that form in the inner lining of the colon or rectum, is the No. 2 cause of cancer death for men and women combined.
During a colonoscopy, a tube with a light and camera is inserted into the rectum to identify and remove precancerous polyps. This critical procedure can prevent colorectal cancer by removing polyps and identifying cancers.
TRY A NEW PREP APPROACH
Ask your doctor about a low-volume option that involves drinking less prep mixture. Another option: taking special new prep tablets to empty out the bowels.
ADD FLAVOR TO THE MIX
Infuse the traditional prep medication with lemon-lime-flavored sports drink or a colorless powdered beverage mix. Some prep methods may come with flavor packets.
CHILL AND SHAKE IT
Try refrigerating the prep and shaking it first. Using a straw helps too. After consuming each glass, sip white grape or apple juice to leave a good taste behind. Avoid dark-colored juices.
SPLIT DOSES IN TWO
Your doctor can explain how to drink the first half of the solution at 6 p.m. the night before your colonoscopy and the second half later that night. This can make the process more tolerable and improve stool clearance.
BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF
The side effects of colonoscopy prep mean you’ll use a lot of toilet paper. Avoid wiping aggressively, dab the area with toilet paper. Use wet wipes sparingly to avoid irritation.
STAY HYDRATED
Starting the day before, drink plenty of clear fluids — including water, tea, apple juice, lemon-lime sports drinks, ginger ale and chicken broth. Colored foods or liquids can interfere with test results.
Benjamin H. Levy III, MD 45
Levy shared simple ways to get ready.
Book your colonoscopy in Crown Point
The age that people with average risk for colorectal cancer should get their first colonoscopy.
SOURCE: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
There’s no wait for a colonoscopy at our new facility in Crown Point, Indiana. Call 219-407-5807 to schedule. (To schedule at other UChicago Medicine locations, call 773-702-8402.)
For a decade, Laura Wallen lived with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a chronic condition where a weakened valve allows food, acid and bile from the stomach to flow back up into the esophagus.
Facing frequent bouts of vomiting and pain, Wallen restricted her diet and only visited places with a nearby bathroom. Some days, it felt risky to take a walk or go on a bike ride with her kids.
“Any kind of activity, or bending down, made it way worse,” said Wallen, 39, of Crown Point, Indiana.
Medications provided temporary relief, but they came with harsh side effects. Meanwhile, Wallen’s GERD worsened with each of her pregnancies, and she developed a hiatal hernia, which occurs when part of the stomach bulges into the chest.
RESTORING NORMAL FUNCTION
Wallen sought help from University of Chicago Medicine gastrointestinal surgeon Yalini Vigneswaran, MD, MS, who specializes in minimally invasive surgery for esophageal and gastric disorders.
Many healthcare providers recommend patients receive surgery to treat GERD only after years of symptoms and attempts to manage it. But Vigneswaran and her colleagues have studied alternatives — as well as different timing — to help.
“If the valve is repaired earlier in the disease process, a much more minimal repair may be sufficient to restore normal function,” Vigneswaran said. “It allows patients to undergo a simpler surgery that can cure their reflux, letting them eat the foods they enjoy and avoid lifelong medications.”
Early intervention has other benefits. Medication can control GERD symptoms for patients in their 30s or 40s, but it doesn’t improve the valve function, which will continue to weaken as they age.
At that point, more aggressive steps may be necessary. One option known as fundoplication — a 360-degree wrap of the upper part of the stomach around the lower esophagus — is highly effective, but it can come with side effects, such as increased flatulence and difficulty swallowing.
What is GERD?
» One-way valve between stomach and esophagus is weak
» Food, acid and bile reflux into the esophagus
» Reflux causes inflammation and irritation
‘COMPLETELY NEW PERSON’
Using small incisions and minimally invasive tools, Vigneswaran repaired Wallen’s small hiatal hernia and malfunctioning valve, restoring her digestive anatomy to cure her GERD symptoms.
Within a week of the outpatient procedure in September 2024, Wallen was “back to my old self” and enjoying leisure time with her family. She no longer takes GERD medications.
“It’s been awesome — I wish I’d done it sooner,” said Wallen, who works as an ambulatory nurse at UChicago Medicine. “Even my husband told me, ‘You’re a completely new person.’”
Laura Wallen
Yalini Vigneswaran, MD, MS
SKY'S THE LIMIT
Minimally invasive procedure helps curb inflammation, avoid surgery
As a player on two Ultimate Frisbee teams, Eli Artemakis was tough on his knees. The then-20-year-old would jump, pivot and run during multiple practices and games every weekend.
But in the summer of 2022, Artemakis’ knees started to hurt, forcing him to the sidelines. Even with rest, his knees would tighten and sometimes lock up. Standing for long periods was difficult.
The pain got progressively worse. Soon he couldn’t play Frisbee at all.
Artemakis saw a doctor who diagnosed him with patellar tendonitis — also known as PT, or “jumper’s
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)
Eli Artemakis is back to playing without knee pain.
(CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)
knee” — an overuse injury common among athletes. Platelet injections, electrostimulation and physical therapy weren’t enough to help him get back in the game.
“I knew I needed something else,” said Artemakis, who previously played for the Chicago Union, part of the Ultimate Frisbee Association’s professional league, and for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “I was losing my prime playing years.”
NEW SOLUTION IN CHICAGO
Artemakis’ father, Angelo, scoured medical journals and studies to help his son.
He found a doctor in Japan who used a procedure called genicular artery embolization, or GAE, to treat highperformance athletes with patellar tendonitis, giving them instant relief.
Angelo learned that it was also available at the University of Chicago Medicine, where vascular and interventional radiologist Osman Ahmed, MD, is one of the country’s only doctors offering GAE for patients with knee osteoarthritis.
GAE is a newer orthopaedic treatment designed to seal off problematic arteries that grow into the knee joint and cause inflammation. An oil-based agent is injected into the artery near the knee to block blood flow (a process known as embolization) to curb the source of pain.
Even though he had never performed GAE on a patellar tendonitis patient, Ahmed was confident it would help Artemakis.
“The concept is the same,” said Ahmed, who has led clinical trials and spoken about GAE around the world. “We’re going into the arteries of the knee, targeting inflammation.”
WIDE USE FOR SPORTS INJURIES
The minimally invasive GAE procedure takes about 30 minutes.
To deliver the blocking agent, a catheter is placed in the upper groin area and routed
down to the knee. The patient stays in the hospital for a few hours to recover from light sedation and to make sure there are no bleeding complications.
“Then, they walk out,” Ahmed said.
UChicago Medicine was one of the first hospitals in the country to offer GAE four years ago. Since then, it has grown more popular and found a wider audience.
GAE can help patients like Artemakis who aren’t having success with traditional pain
relief methods. And it can be used for sports injuries — including Achilles tendonitis, bursitis, frozen shoulder, planter fasciitis and tennis elbow — that might have required invasive treatment.
“Conservative therapies are great, but the drawback is that you’re asking people to be out of commission a few months,” Ahmed said. “This can help you heal and get back to activity faster.”
GAE also may be an option for people who aren’t ready or not a good candidate for knee
Artemakis takes a leap during a recent team tryout event in Hyde Park.
Osman Ahmed, MD
replacement surgery due to advanced osteoarthritis or comorbidities such as diabetes and obesity.
BACK IN THE GAME
Instead of traveling halfway around the world for GAE, Artemakis simply drove from his North Side home to UChicago Medicine in Hyde Park.
His right knee received the treatment in March 2024; the left knee followed a few months later. Five weeks later, he was able to play in his final college regional Ultimate Frisbee tournament.
For Angelo, the difference in his son “was like night and day” after GAE, and the improved mobility allowed him to try out for another U.S. national team a few months later.
Artemakis said his knees “felt different” at first, and he had some weakness and soreness. Today, the 23-year-old enjoys an active life working in the communications field.
Best of all, he’s playing Frisbee again in club leagues.
“I’m very close to 100% now,” Artemakis said. “I can confidently play for long periods of time without the pain coming back. I’m definitely happy I did it.”
GAE: Who can benefit?
Genicular artery embolization (GAE) is a novel, minimally invasive procedure to treat chronic knee pain caused by osteoarthritis or other degenerative conditions. Ideal candidates may be:
» Active
» 40 years or older
» Having moderate, severe or localized knee pain
» Unresponsive to traditional treatments
» Ineligible/not wanting knee replacement
New
ortho
clinic in La Grange
UChicago Medicine offers joint care, joint replacement surgery and pediatric orthopaedics at 5101 S. Willow Springs Road in La Grange. Our team treats arthritis, fractures, muscle and sports injuries, osteoporosis and a range of body and joint pain. Call 773-834-3531 to make an appointment.
To learn more about GAE at UChicago Medicine, call 773-839-6095 or visit UChicagoMedicine.org/GAE-info
With Wi-Fi, ‘smart’ knee implants track every step of recovery
Faced with knee replacement surgery, Gerard Berish wanted to resume an active lifestyle as quickly as possible.
Berish’s orthopaedic care team at the University of Chicago Medicine recommended a “smart” knee implant to monitor his progress in real time.
Fitted on the replacement joint, the Wi-Fi-enabled implant tracks important metrics such as joint movement and weight distribution. The FDA-approved device securely delivers data to a HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based platform.
“I can log in, view a patient’s progress, see detailed information about the biomechanics of the knee and send a message directly to a mobile app,” said Sara Shippee Wallace, MD, MPH, a UChicago Medicine orthopaedic surgeon who performed Berish’s implant surgery in June 2024.
“For example, they may need to bend the knee more, try to take more walks or do a specific exercise to improve range of motion.”
Berish, now 69, said the smart knee technology played a big role in his recovery. The data it collected also helped reduce the number of follow-up visits.
“From day one, I was getting notifications to help me — everything from education to at-home exercises,” he said. “It also felt good knowing that my doctor could see my progress, and she could tell me if anything was wrong.”
Four months after his surgery, the Park Forest resident went back to enjoying strength training and indoor cycling at the gym four days a week.
Osman Ahmed, MD, performing a GAE procedure in December 2024.
Gerard Berish
COMER CHILDREN'S TURNS 20
Two decades of hope, healing and discovery. The team at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital knows there are too many victories to count. Here are a few milestones that have improved care and quality of life for young patients.
FEBRUARY 2005
COMER CHILDREN’S OPENS
The 242,000-square-foot facility — named for benefactor Gary C. Comer, founder of Land’s End, and his wife, Francie — offers cutting-edge diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical technology.
DECEMBER 2005
FIRST TRANSCATHETER PULMONARY VALVE REPLACEMENT IN THE U.S.
A 16-year-old needed a new heart valve, but scar tissue from previous operations prevented open surgery. Via a catheter through the groin, a valve was threaded up into the heart.
MARCH 2006
YOUNGEST BENEFICIARY OF INNOVATIVE “NUSS” PROCEDURE
To help correct a deformity constricting a toddler’s lung capacity, a Comer Children’s surgical team implanted a curved steel bar into the 17-month-old’s rib cage.
FEBRUARY 2008
WORLD’S FIRST PEDIATRIC ROBOTIC BLADDER RECONSTRUCTION
Robotic tools were used to rebuild a 10-year-old girl’s severely undersized bladder. Comer Children's launched the city's first minimally invasive robotic surgery pediatric urology program in 2007.
After months battling drug-resistant Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, an 18-month-old found relief after physicians transplanted microbes from his mother’s stool into his colon.
NOVEMBER 2012
NATION’S FIRST HAPLO-CORD TRANSPLANT GIVES STEM CELLS NEW POTENTIAL
Physician-scientists refined techniques that allow cells from a half-matched donor (such as a parent) to be combined with umbilical cord blood from a well-matched but unrelated donor.
APRIL 2014
FIRST CHILD IN ILLINOIS RECEIVES MIBG THERAPY
A new treatment called MIBG (metaiodobenzylguanidine) therapy, which destroys tumor cells while preserving healthy tissue, got a 6-year-old’s persistent neuroblastoma into remission
SEPTEMBER 2016
STATE-OF-THE-ART FAMILY BIRTH CENTER OPENS
It offers traditional and natural birthing options, warm-water tubs, drug-free pain management, hormone-free induction, private recovery suites and easy access to neonatologists.
OCTOBER 2017
GROUNDBREAKING IMMUNOTHERAPY FOR PEDIATRIC CANCER ARRIVES
UChicago Medicine is the country’s first site to be certified for FDAapproved CAR T-cell therapies for specific blood cancers in adult and pediatric patients.
MAY 2018
CHICAGOLAND CHILDREN’S HEALTH ALLIANCE ANNOUNCED
A collaboration between Comer Children’s, Advocate Children’s Hospital and NorthShore University HealthSystem forms a robust network of pediatric services.
MAY 2018
REMOC JOINS THE CHICAGO SKY
UChicago Medicine became the official medical provider and a major sponsor of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky basketball team, which welcomes beloved monster mascot Remoc during home games.
AUGUST 2018
HEALING GARDEN OFFERS FUN, THERAPEUTIC RESPITE
Inspired by Dr. Seuss, a redesigned play garden accommodates all abilities. It boasts shapes, textures and color — as well as nature and art — to build cognition, motor skills and more.
MARCH 2020
COMER CHILDREN’S ASSISTS CLINICAL TRIAL FOR PEANUT ALLERGY TREATMENT
After Comer Children’s was among several sites in a landmark clinical trial to study Palforzia — an oral immunotherapy to help build tolerance to peanuts — the drug received FDA approval.
SEPTEMBER 2020
NEW PROGRAM TARGETS YOUNG PATIENTS’ GYNECOLOGIC NEEDS
A special collaborative care team provides a full range of services for diagnosing, assessing and treating gynecologic concerns in younger patients.
FEBRUARY 2021
NOVEL LASER HEMISPHERECTOMY STOPS EPILEPSY
Using a minimally invasive approach to disconnect the right and left sides of the brain and the left epilepsy-generating zones, doctors at Comer Children’s and the Department of Neurosurgery stopped a boy's seizures.
OCTOBER 2022
“SIM CENTER” MOBILE AMBULANCE ROLLS OUT
The UChicago Medicine Simulation Mobile Unit (“Sim Center”), a colorful refurbished ambulance, hosts patient transport training plus CPR and Stop the Bleed demonstrations.
SEPTEMBER 2023
FIRST SMALL BABY UNIT OPENS ON THE SOUTH SIDE
Located in the NICU, the 16-bed unit offers womblike features such as dim lighting, positioners and soundproofing. A multidisciplinary team is trained to meet babies’ unique medical needs.
SEPTEMBER 2023
COTTAGE GROVE CLINIC EXPANDS PEDIATRIC CARE
In conjunction with Comer Children’s, UChicago Medicine opened a clinic to serve more South Side families. It offers family medicine, general pediatrics, and other services.
OCTOBER 2023
RBC RACE FOR THE KIDS MARKS 20 YEARS
Launched by Jean and Daniel Mohan, a grateful patient family, the largest community fundraiser for Comer Children’s has raised over $3.8 million and seen 18,000plus participants.
JANUARY 2024
NEW SICKLE CELL GENE THERAPIES ARRIVE
Comer Children’s is one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer new federally-approved gene therapies to help eliminate vaso-occlusive crises and other issues, and that offer an alternative to bone marrow transplants.
Kids and surgery: 4 ways to get ready
Having an operation can be scary, especially for young people. Child life specialists play a special role helping pediatric patients and their loved ones prepare for the big day.
But the conversation should begin at home, said Amy Carter, MS, CCLS, lead child life specialist at UChicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital. She shared ways for families to get ready together.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Younger children may benefit from preparation one day in advance, and with fewer details. For example, “we talk about anesthesia as being a special sleep — different than sleeping at night — and that it's a special medicine to make sure your body doesn't feel anything,” Carter said.
PROVIDE CHOICES
Give children a sense of control by letting them pack a special bag. A patient might choose to watch videos via a tablet on the way to the operating room, hear music before getting anesthesia or share their surgery news with friends. “They can have a choice in how they process the experience,” Carter said.
ENCOURAGE QUESTIONS
Allow your child time to think and ask questions about their operation. Carter uses hands-on teaching resources such as dolls and books. Older children “may want to write questions down for their providers or think about what their parents can ask for them,” she said.
STICK TO A SCHEDULE
Routines provide structure amid change and the unknown. Before — or after — a surgery, pediatric patients might miss school or have days when medical needs rule out the possibility of doing homework. Maintaining your family's familiar, day-to-day activities, when feasible, can provide comfort.
Feeling the love
Complex double-organ transplant gives new hope, heart and liver to active mother
Shortly after she was born, Laura Valentine turned blue.
Doctors discovered that the infant’s heart only had one ventricle (or lower chamber) instead of two, making it harder to pump oxygenated blood throughout the body.
In addition to this rare heart defect, Valentine has situs inversus — a congenital condition where organs inside the abdomen are positioned in a mirror image, or reversal, of normal anatomy.
These and other health challenges led Valentine to receive a dual-organ transplant last summer at the University of Chicago Medicine.
Today, with a new heart and liver, the 35-year-old is thriving. Valentine got engaged, enrolled in a doctoral program, and even climbed 94 flights of stairs to the top of a famed skyscraper as part of a charity event.
“I’m living my life because of others who gave me the greatest gift,” she said. “It’s overwhelming. There is no word to describe it.”
LIFESAVING REFERRAL
Valentine had her first open-heart surgery before age 2. She enjoyed a typical childhood and early adulthood — with milestones that included attending college and becoming a mother.
But in July 2023, doctors found she had been experiencing silent atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat without any noticeable symptoms. It had caused her to develop blood clots in multiple organs.
Although medications and procedures got Valentine out of immediate danger, a major concern loomed: Her heart and liver were failing.
Valentine was referred to UChicago Medicine, where she met with Valluvan
Jeevanandam, MD, Director of the Heart and Vascular Center, and Michael Earing, MD, Chief of the Section of Pediatric Cardiology.
They knew the case would be difficult, but they took on the challenge, working with experts to perform imaging scans to make intricate 3D models and figure out how to perform a transplant with Valentine’s unorthodox organ placement and circulatory system.
“It takes more than a team to care for complex patients,” Jeevanandam said. “It takes a metropolis.”
On February 13, 2024 — the day before Valentine’s Day, which is also National Donor Day — Valentine was accepted to UChicago Medicine’s Heart Transplant Program.
PREPARING FOR TRANSPLANT
While waiting for suitable donor organs, Valentine walked four miles every day through the halls of the Center for Care and Discovery, a regimen she followed at Jeevanandam’s insistence.
“When you’re a really hard case that not a lot of people will take, and you find someone who’s willing to treat you, you do whatever he says,” Valentine said, with a laugh.
A commitment to “prehabilitation,” including physical therapy, was key to a successful operation and recovery, according to Jeevanandam and members of Valentine’s care team.
“She’s a young, active mother, and she had all these goals and things she wanted to get back
"I'm living my life," says Laura Valentine, at home with her 8-year-old daughter.
to after her hospitalization,” said Allison Postel, PT, DPT, a UChicago Medicine inpatient physical therapy supervisor. “I didn’t have to sell her on the benefits of working hard to build strength.”
Valentine’s young daughter, then 7, visited regularly throughout the stay, playing charades and other games with staff.
NEW HEART, SAME LOVE
After 84 days in the hospital, Valentine received good news: A suitable donor had been found.
“The first question my daughter asked me after we explained the situation was, ‘Are you still going to be able to love me when you get a new heart?’” Valentine said. “Because in the mind of a kid, love is synonymous with your real heart.
“I told her: ‘I get to love you with two hearts now.’”
Using their 3D model, Jeevanandam and Earing, as well as UChicago Medicine pediatric cardiologist Stephen Pophal, MD, and Rolf Barth, MD, Director of Liver, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, painstakingly plotted out how to position Valentine’s new heart and liver.
“We called ourselves the ‘surgical Twister team’ because everyone was contorting themselves and bending over backward to make this operation work,” Jeevanandam said.
Valentine spent almost 24 hours in the operating room last June, emerging with a new, fully functioning heart and liver. She went home just 16 days later for a joyful reunion with her family in New Lenox, Illinois.
BIG STEP FORWARD
A few months after the surgery, Jeevanandam cornered Valentine at a holiday party he was hosting.
“You’re joining our team for the stair climb, right?” he said, referring to Hustle Chicago, an annual charity event in which participants race up the 1,632 stairs at 875 North Michigan Avenue, formerly known as the John Hancock Center, to raise money for lung disease.
Valentine was encouraged. She trained hard and completed the climb just two months later with her fiancé, Ryan, and several UChicago Medicine staffers who had become friends. Upbeat Celine Dion tunes playing in her earbuds supplied extra motivation.
Valentine is now preparing for a 5K race supporting organ donation.
World-class care for heart transplant
The Heart Transplant Program at UChicago Medicine routinely takes challenging cases, including those denied at other hospitals around the country. Program benefits include:
» Some of the shortest wait times in the nation for donor hearts
» High one-year survival rates for heart transplant recipients
» Multi-organ transplant expertise that's among the world's best
She’s also sharing her story. Ann Nguyen, MD, a UChicago Medicine cardiologist and medical director of the Heart Transplant Program, has connected Valentine with other complex congenital heart disease patients who are awaiting transplant.
“I know I’m a bit of a medical miracle,” Valentine said. “If I can put myself out there to help others learn how to treat patients like me, or help patients like me feel a sense of comfort because I made it this far, I’m always going to do that.”
To make an appointment with the UChicago Medicine Heart Transplant Program, call 773-207-4384 or visit UChicagoMedicine.org/heart-info
What it takes to get a heart transplant
Our multidisciplinary team completes in-depth evaluations to determine an individual’s eligibility for transplantation. Here’s what happens:
MEDICAL EXAM
The team looks for signs of infection or disease via blood and pulmonary stress tests, diagnostic imaging and dental exams, among other things.
PSYCHOSOCIAL EVALUATION
This helps determine if a person has the motivation, family and emotional support, and psychological stability to handle surgery and recuperation.
PHYSIOLOGICAL REVIEW
Knowing a patient’s current condition can provide a better understanding of any hurdles that could affect completing future rehab and physical therapy.
WAITING LIST ENROLLMENT
After joining a list managed by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), eligible transplant patients are tracked by the severity of their condition; wait times can vary widely.
POST-TRANSPLANT CARE
The transplant team monitors progress and care during a hospital stay and in recovery. The first year is vital for combating rejection episodes.
Valluvan Jeevanandam, MD
Rolf Barth, MD
Michael Earing, MD
Ann Nguyen, MD
What your urine says about your kidney health
Facts to know when you go
A core function of the kidneys is to clean your blood by expelling waste products and excess fluid as urine.
Patrick Cunningham, MD, a nephrologist at the University of Chicago Medicine, explained how changes in urine — such as color, cloudiness or unusual smell — could be signs of kidney problems, and when to see a doctor.
UChicago Medicine offers a Nephrology Clinic at the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine in Hyde Park and a monthly satellite clinic at our River East location.
WHAT DO THE KIDNEYS DO?
Kidneys are designed to filter out “bad” substances and only hold onto those that are
essential for good health. Every day, we eat and drink different things, so it’s the kidneys’ job to keep all kinds of chemicals in our bloodstream in perfect balance. When that process is thrown off, it can show up in your urine.
WHAT SHOULD MY URINE LOOK LIKE?
The look of your urine may vary depending on what you eat and how much daily fluid you’ve consumed (ideally 15.5 cups for men and 11.5 cups for women). If you’re well hydrated, it might be clear. If you get up in the morning and you haven’t been drinking fluid overnight, it’s going to look darker — and that’s normal.
HOW SHOULD MY URINE SMELL?
It’s common for your urine to have some smell, and it doesn’t necessarily mean anything is wrong. But if you notice something that’s very unusual from how it smells ordinarily, it might be the sign of a urinary tract infection, or UTI, which is
caused by bacteria that enter the urethra and then the bladder.
WHAT IF MY URINE IS CLOUDY, FOAMY, PINK OR REDDISH?
Cloudiness can also indicate a possible UTI. A little foaminess is normal, but if it looks like the foam on the head of a beer, that could be a sign of excess protein in your urine. A pink or red color could indicate various kidney diseases or conditions that affect other parts of your urinary tract, such as your bladder.
WHAT ARE OTHER SYMPTOMS OF KIDNEY DISEASE?
Signs may include a buildup of fluid in your legs or abdomen. Sometimes, autoimmune kidney diseases are associated with a new rash or strange joint pains. Kidney disease can also cause difficulty breathing or blood pressure that’s suddenly much harder to control. Call your doctor right away if you experience any of these issues.
Patrick Cunningham, MD
‘He’s back!’
Water jet therapy provides quick relief from enlarged prostate
An enlarged prostate turned Guillermo Arellano-Garcia’s life upside down.
The condition, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, is common among older men. It occurs when the prostate gland grows and presses against the urethra, causing problems with urination and negatively impacting sexual function in some cases.
Arellano-Garcia, a forklift operator from Addison, Illinois, frequently felt the urge to urinate but couldn’t. He had to wear a catheter, and he developed urinary tract infections.
Medications and two different prostate procedures only brought temporary relief.
“I didn’t want to leave the house,” ArellanoGarcia said. “I was walking around and going to work, but I felt like I was dead because I was so depressed.”
Arellano-Garcia followed his primary care physician’s advice to visit the University of Chicago Medicine, where urologists ran tests to rule out prostate cancer and bladder malfunction.
SMART TECHNOLOGY
UChicago Medicine urologist Mahmoud Khalil, MBBCh, talked to Arellano-Garcia about his options, which included Aquablation, or water jet therapy.
The relatively new technology uses robot-assisted, image-guided water jets to blast out excess prostate tissue without impacting nearby anatomy tied to urinary control and sexual function.
Despite being delivered at high pressure, the water jets spare important structures that prevent semen from entering the bladder — a condition called retrograde ejaculation that
commonly occurs after most other prostate surgical procedures.
Water jet therapy, offered at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial, only takes about an hour.
“It’s pretty smart technology,” Khalil said. “We not only can treat the prostate efficiently, but also preserve ejaculatory function. That’s unique and a great advantage for patients.”
BRIGHT OUTLOOK
Since receiving water jet therapy at Ingalls in September 2024, Arellano-Garcia, now 65, has been pain- and problem-free.
The prostate tissue was abated so thoroughly that Khalil doesn’t expect Arellano-Garcia to require additional treatment. He’ll only need yearly follow-ups.
Arellano-Garcia felt ready to return to work two days after the procedure — and his outlook remains positive.
“It changed my life,” he said. “I feel great now. People even say to me, ‘He’s back!’”
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
WHAT IS BPH? The term for an enlarged prostate. It is called “benign” because the gland is not cancerous. The condition starts around age 40; about half of men 60 and older have it.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
Symptoms include dribbling of urine, frequent urge to urinate, getting up at night to urinate, painful ejaculation, and painful or burning urination.
HOW IS IT TREATED? The least invasive option is water jet therapy, which can offer lasting relief. Other approaches involve surgery or lasers, but they require longer recovery.
To make an appointment with a urologist at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial, call 1-866-976-4043 or visit UChicagoMedicine.org/BPH-info
Mahmoud Khalil, MBBCh
Guillermo Arellano-Garcia, pictured with his wife, Socorro Dorado-Arellano.
Jonathan Nemeth’s epilepsy is so severe that muscle contractions caused by seizures broke his spine twice. It has also postponed life milestones, such as getting a driver’s license.
“Mentally, it doesn’t make me stressed as much as it makes me depressed,” said Nemeth, who lives in Batavia, Illinois.
The 22-year-old now has reason to hope. He’s been seizure-free since a novel operation at the University of Chicago Medicine transplanted stem cells into his brain.
Nemeth’s surgery is part of the first clinical trial in humans to investigate how labgrown cells can effectively treat seizures in deep areas of the temporal lobes on both sides of the brain.
The approach could be life-changing for people who don’t respond to seizure medication or, like Nemeth, are not candidates for surgical removal of the tissue where seizures originate.
“This is the first treatment to actually attempt to correct disease biology in bilateral epilepsy,” said Peter Warnke, MD, Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at UChicago Medicine.
QUIETING THE NOISE
A seizure occurs when abnormal electrical activity in the brain disrupts normal brain function.
For Nemeth, who has medication-resistant bilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, this disruption can cause staring episodes, confusion, memory lapses or uncontrolled movement.
Repeat seizures can cause a loss of interneurons — the brain cells that help communicate with other cells, process information and control movements.
2.9 million people in the U.S. have epilepsy
1 in 3 patients with epilespy can't control their seizures with medication
SOURCES: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Epilepsy Foundation
Nemeth’s transplant replenished those critical cells with the goal of rebalancing the brain’s electrical activity.
SEIZURE-FREE AND HOPEFUL
During the operation, performed in February at the Center for Care and Discovery, Warnke used an imaging system to target precise areas on both sides of Nemeth’s hippocampus.
Then, with the help of robotic technology, Warnke directed a narrow tube through Nemeth’s skull to inject stem cells into the tissue in those targeted areas.
Warnke and his team are confident. Numerous experimental studies, he said, have shown that the lab-grown transplants effectively integrate for the long term to stop hyperactive brain cells from causing seizures.
Nemeth is being closely monitored. Because the stem cells were cultured in a lab, he will take immunosuppressive medications for about one year.
Warnke considers the procedure to be “truly restorative neurosurgery.” And Nemeth, who plans to get a driver’s license, is “optimistic and hopeful about my future now.”
To make an appointment with a UChicago Medicine neurosurgeon, call 773-831-6111 or visit UChicagoMedicine.org/epilepsy-info
Jonathan Nemeth with his dog, Ember.
Peter Warnke, MD
Gifts with heart
Donors support robotic cardiac surgery training, innovation
When Beth Scott, MD, needed heart surgery, she knew she didn’t want traditional coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
“I know the amount of time in the hospital, the pain involved and the time it takes to recover,” said Scott, a retired radiologist from Philadelphia.
Scott and her husband had just moved to Chicago. They discovered the best option for care was at the University of Chicago Medicine, where Husam Balkhy, MD, Director of Robotic and Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, has performed minimally invasive techniques since the early 2000s.
Robotic cardiac surgery can repair the heart without opening the chest. It is as safe and effective as open-heart surgery, Balkhy told them.
Scott’s husband, Bob Glickman, recalled his overwhelming relief following the surgery in 2023. “Beth was facing a really high probability of death,” he said. “But she was home in less than 48 hours, resuming normal activity in two to three weeks.”
Robotic cardiac surgery is only available at a few highly specialized cardiac centers, including UChicago Medicine. Still, equipment is costly, practitioners require
extensive training and patient demand is high, all of which can extend wait times.
Scott and Glickman have joined a growing community of philanthropists focused on supporting the training of more robotic cardiac surgery practitioners to help make the procedure more widely available.
Other supporters share the enthusiasm. Faced with the prospect of heart surgery, Ian Watson’s primary care physician at
Northwestern Medicine encouraged him to consult with Balkhy about robotic surgery.
The option “gave an enormous sense of calm,” said Watson, a Hyde Park resident who cited a quick recovery and improved quality of life after his own heart surgery as inspirations to support Balkhy’s work.
For Dan Moceri, a lifelong interest in innovation and technology prompted him to create the Robotic Cardiac Surgery Catalyst Fund to support training for heart surgeons to master robotic techniques.
Moceri, of Prospect Heights, Illinois, called Balkhy “a skilled surgeon who took the next step” to augment “his incredible skills” using the technology.
“In 2012, my wife and I created our foundation,” Moceri said. “Since she passed away from cancer, I’ve continued the work. We wanted to provide support where we can make a huge difference.”
Moceri’s effort will also help fund new equipment to provide robotic surgery in a range of disciplines at UChicago Medicine, including general surgery, gynecology, otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat), spine and urology.
Bob Glickman and Beth Scott, MD
Husam Balkhy, MD, Director of Robotic and Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery.
Dan Moceri Ian Watson
The University of Chicago Medicine 5841 S. Maryland Ave., MC 1110 Chicago, IL
The University of Chicago Medicine
5841 S. Maryland Ave., MC 1110 Chicago, IL 60637
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