Lourdes Life Stories

Spring 2013

HEALING IN COMFORT

Lourdes’ new orthopaedic suites Lourdes Foundation raises a million dollars Sleep Center diagnoses and cures sleep disorders Chemotherapy: One woman’s experience

Cardiac surgeons in Lourdes’ hybrid operating room saved Randy Kuhens’ life. Using minimally invasive techniques, the doctors also eliminated the need for a lengthy hospital stay and a difficult recovery. — PAGE 2

A WORD FROM

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Orthopaedics

OUR CEO

Cardiovascular

Charitable Giving

Infusion Therapy

Neurology

Warmer temperatures and longer days ignite a renewed spirit among us all. Whether it’s working in the yard, flying a kite or baiting a hook, spring is a season when we all make time for doing the things we enjoy.

As we embrace the hope of this new season at Lourdes we also know that life sometimes gets in the way of living. Injury and illness enter our lives regardless of the season. Our team of health professionals is here to get you back to living the life you love!

In this edition of Life Stories, we share how our Montgomery Cardiac Hybrid Operating Room helped Randy Kuhens of Gilbertsville recover from heart surgery in record time.

Then we talk to Dr. F. Thane DeWeese about our new private orthopaedic suites that allow patients and their families to recover in comfort and class.

Finally, the story that truly stands out for me in this issue is the commitment our community is making to Lourdes Foundation.

Thanks to the support of many, Lourdes Foundation has reached a million-dollar milestone to help us meet the health needs of our community.

Please enjoy this edition of Lourdes Lifestories.

When Randy Kuhens heeded the warning signs of an impending heart attack, he had surgery in Lourdes’ cardiovascular hybrid operating room and went home two days later.

RETIRED AT 62 AND ENJOYING his new life as a fishing guide, Randy Kuhens of Gilbertsville was the picture of health. “The children were getting out of college, I had started my fishing guide business and nothing could stop me,” he says. A vigorous outdoorsman and selfdescribed “fishing nut” who knows all the best spots to find bass on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, he looked 50 and had always been able to do everything a person 20 years younger could do.

When he started having problems with tiredness and shortness of breath, he assumed he was just out of shape and ordered an elliptical trainer to work out at home. It never even occurred to him that what he was experiencing could be the warning signs of a heart attack.

“Fortunately,” he says, “the people I ordered the elliptical from were late delivering it. It probably would have killed me.”

A persistent cough had already sent him to the doctor. When a chest

“I want people to hear my story because I know I’m not the only person out there who’s like I was,” says Randy Kuhens.

“You can’t ignore the warning signs.”

Steven Grinnell President and Chief Executive Officer 2

Your gift can bring comfort and healing to patients at Lourdes.

Orthopaedics

open heart surgery with a three-month recovery— three months before he’d be out in his boat,” says Dr. O’Rourke. “At other hospitals he would have had a standard sternotomy, which involves David Hogancamp, M.D. opening the sternum, Cardiologist stopping the heart and packing it in ice during surgery. That is still being done in 80 percent of heart surgeries outside of Lourdes.”

Instead Randy Kuhens went home two days after his three-hour elective James O’Rourke, M.D. surgery. It was perCardiac Surgeon formed on Oct. 8, and Kuhens started cardiac rehab in December. “The other people in the class had big scars from open surgery,” he says. “I have 10 classes left to do and I feel great.” In fact, he just got away from the snow and ice by taking his wife out on their boat in Key West.

“Those guys saved my life so that I can spend it with my wonderful wife and two wonderful children,” Kuhens says. “Dr. O’Rourke used his God-given talent to work a miracle.”

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surgeon James O’Rourke, M.D., who explains that his patient had two distinct pieces of good fortune to make up for his two pieces of bad fortune: those blockages in his arteries. The first was that Lourdes is one of the only hospitals in the region with a cardiovascular hybrid operating room (OR), enabling Drs. O’Rourke and Hogancamp to work side by side and perform a complex surgery called hybrid revascularization. “Not all surgeries require a hybrid OR, but this was a classic hybrid procedure,” says Dr. O’Rourke.

The other piece of good fortune: “Lourdes is also the only hospital in our region that does minimally invasive coronary surgery (MICS),” he says. “I used it to do a bypass on the LAD, requiring an incision of only 3 inches in the left chest, avoiding opening the sternum.

Then Dr. Hogancamp inserted a stent in the right artery.

“Combining the two minimally invasive procedures creates a hybrid revascularization procedure, where the patient gets the best of both worlds. This is one of many operations that is a true hybrid procedure.”

The benefits of MICS would only become apparent after the operation. “Traditionally he’d have had

Infusion Therapy

X-ray and a stress EKG failed to pinpoint the source of the problem, late-night symptoms sent him to see Lourdes cardiologist David Hogancamp, M.D., F.A.C.C. A diagnostic heart catheterization revealed 90 percent blockage of the right coronary artery as well as 95 percent blockage of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD)—a condition chillingly known as “the widow maker.”

“I would watch the ads on television about heart disease being the No. 1 killer of men, and I didn’t think they were about me,” says Kuhens.

“My wife is in the medical field— I didn’t smoke, I didn’t eat crazy. But my problem wasn’t cholesterol. It was hereditary. My father had three heart attacks.

“Just to look at me you’d think I was the least likely person to have heart disease, but I was a walking time bomb. It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’”

Kuhens checked in to Lourdes and was operated on by cardiac

in Our Hybrid Operating Room

Charitable Giving

G LIVES

Heart disease causes four out of every 10 deaths in the United States.

For an appointment with a cardiologist at Lourdes, call 866-411-MD4U.

of a Heart Attack

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Chest discomfort Pain in one or both arms, back, neck or jaw Fatigue Shortness of breath Cold sweat, nausea, light-headedness

Cardiovascular

Know the Symptoms

Call 911 if you have these symptoms.

Please donate today at www.eLourdes.com.

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Orthopaedics

Many Donors, A Million-Dollar Impact

Charitable Giving

Infusion Therapy

Neurology

NEW HYBRID CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERIES that save lives and get patients back to normal activities in days rather than months. Free hospice care for poor, uninsured patients. Chronic health conditions kept under control with telemedicine monitors in the home. Imaging technology detecting breast cancer so early that chemotherapy and radiation may not be necessary.

Every patient receiving one of these services — and many others — can thank Lourdes Foundation’s donors. Generous gifts of all sizes, from thousands of donors each year, allow Lourdes to provide programs and technology that save lives and provide comfort for every patient who seeks our care.

And the impact of philanthropy is even greater, thanks to a milestone reached in 2012. For the first time in Lourdes Foundation’s history, donations to our ministry exceeded a million dollars, with the final count totaling $1,042,857.71.

“This million-dollar generosity from our community will ensure Lourdes can continue to provide the advanced healthcare and wellness programs our patients deserve,” said Tara Miller, Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer. “Through our donors’ support, we can also continue addressing the special needs of the poor and uninsured who struggle to get the care they need. It’s been my experience that when the needs are greatest, this community rallies to meet those needs in truly inspiring ways.”

A GOOD GIFT The IRA Charitable Rollover FOR MANY, AN IRA IS ONE OF THEIR most valuable assets. Congress has extended the charitable IRA rollover provision through Tara Miller Vice President and 2013, allowing you to use this asset to make a Chief Philanthropy Officer meaningful impact. If you are 70 ½ or older, you can make a significant gift to Lourdes—up to $100,000— without dipping into other investments. This distribution does count toward your required minimum distribution, and you do not have to recognize the distribution as income, which saves you taxes.

IRA Charitable Rollover gifts are an excellent option if: 쏋

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You are already making charitable contributions at your deduction limit but want to do more.

Your income level causes the phaseout of your exemptions or itemized deductions (limitations reinstated Jan. 1, 2013).

You are subject to the new 39.6 percent ordinary income tax bracket, the increase in taxes on capital gains and dividends to 20 percent, and the new 3.8 percent tax on investment income and capital gains, all effective on Jan. 1, 2013.

You do not itemize deductions.

Additional income from your required IRA withdrawals will cause more of your Social Security income to be taxed.

You wish to remove up to $100,000 from your taxable estate.

You would like to avoid taxes of up to 60 percent on IRA funds not distributed during your lifetime.

To make an IRA Charitable Rollover gift to Lourdes:

Cardiovascular

Contact your IRA plan provider for its procedures.

You can make a qualified charitable distribution of up to $100,000 by Dec. 31, 2013, counting toward your required minimum distribution.

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To inform us of your gift or for more information about the IRA Charitable Rollover and other giving options, contact Tara Miller, Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer at 270-444-2353.

Through your giving, we help to heal.

LOURDES HAS LONG BEEN THE preferred choice for joint-replacement procedures in Western Kentucky because its board-certified surgeons and highly skilled support staff offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to orthopaedics. Now something new has been added: 20 completely redesigned orthopaedic patient suites located on the fifth floor of the main building.

Part of a multimillion-dollar renovation project that started in August 2012, the unit features private rooms, walk-in showers, sleeper sofas and flat-screen televisions. The new rooms also have wider doorways and bathrooms that provide easier access for recovering patients. “The bathrooms are incredible,” says Lourdes orthopaedic surgeon F. Thane DeWeese, M.D. “They can even accommodate wheelchairs.”

“The room where you recover after surgery,” he continues, “is private, quiet, clean and modern—an environment that encourages healing. In every respect, you feel as a patient that Lourdes cares for your comfort.”

Start with privacy. “When I first came to Lourdes,” says Dr. DeWeese, “I was amazed that people shared rooms. Now all our orthopaedic suites are private.” In addition to privacy, these roomy suites offer more space for physical therapy and for family members who wish to stay with the patient overnight.

“At Lourdes people like to have their family with them after surgery,” says Dr. DeWeese. “Now we can offer them a sleeper sofa instead of reclining chairs.”

The concern for patient privacy can even be seen in the redesign of the nurses’ station, which is equipped with glass dividers out of respect for patients’ confidentiality and their healing rest, which needs to be shielded from the sounds of a busy nurses’ station.

Asked to name the most striking feature of the new rooms, Dr. DeWeese passes over the soothing colors and flat-screen

televisions. “Each room has excellent lighting,” he reports with pleasure, “as well as floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a view from one of the highest buildings in Paducah.”

But he cautions against getting too attached to the view, because your stay will probably be short.

“Lourdes surgeons use minimally invasive techniques to replace joints of the hip, shoulder and knee,” he says. “That means that joint-replacement patients check in for surgery on Tuesday morning and leave Friday.”

Create your legacy. Include Lourdes in your will or estate plans.

Orthopaedics

private suites for orthopaedic patients

Neurology

Lourdes unveils new

F. Thane DeWeese, M.D. Orthopaedic Surgeon

Charitable Giving

Infusion Therapy

Lourdes’ orthopaedic team performs twice as many joint-replacement surgeries as other area facilities and offers the highest level of postoperative care. To see an orthopaedic surgeon at Lourdes, please call 866-411-6348.

Cardiovascular

The spacious suites are designed with patient comfort in mind.

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Orthopaedics Neurology

Sleep Lab Provides Insight into

Insomnia

Missing sleep affects your home life, work life, mood and medical

Infusion Therapy

health.

Cardiovascular

Charitable Giving

WE SPEND A THIRD OF our life sleeping, during which the brain restores not only itself but the bodily life support systems it regulates, including the cardiovascular and immune systems. “Missing sleep doesn’t just make your brain tired,” says William Hogancamp, M.D., the newly appointed medical director of the Lourdes Sleep Lab. “It affects your home life, work life, mood and medical health.”

Triple board-certified as a neurologist and sleep medicine specialist, Dr. Hogancamp cites a classic study of Olympicquality athletes whose balance, endurance and reaction times deteriorated after just two hours of sleep deprivation. “Physicians are famous for William Hogancamp, M.D. staying up 36 hours Neurologist straight taking care of

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patients, but they are more apt to make mistakes if they do,” says Dr. Hogancamp. “Their reaction time slows down to what it would be if they had .08 blood alcohol content. Medical schools have instituted new protocols to guard against that.”

Many people lose sleep not by choice but because of sleep disorders such as sleep apnea (interrupted breathing) that they may not even be aware of. At the Lourdes Sleep Lab located on the fourth floor of the main building, patients referred by Dr. Hogancamp sleep with leads attached to their bodies while sleep technician Tina Poole, RRT/RPSGT, grades their sleep, and the director analyzes her findings to diagnose any disorder and treat it.

Poole’s favorite story is about the man who had become so hateful that his wife forced him to go to the lab. “Sleep apnea

was making him so tired and irritable during the day that they were on the verge of divorce,” recalls Poole. “When he started to feel better, he turned out to be a real joker. One night when he was wearing a device to restore airflow during interruptions, I noticed at five in the morning that he had no airflow at all.

When I went into the room to check he laughed and said, ‘I’m not dead!’ He had shut it off to scare me. That was the biggest change I’ve seen.”

How much sleep is enough?

“It varies between six and nine hours, depending on the person,” Dr. Hogancamp says.

“Your body knows what works best by the time you’re in your 20s, and if you try to get less than that, it will exact a toll.”

For a referral to the Sleep Lab, please call 270-444-2660.

Your gift can bring comfort and healing to patients at Lourdes.

One woman’s breast cancer journey at Lourdes

“Since I was diagnosed last

Orthopaedics

April, I have not had one bad experience with anyone

ADVANCED

I saw at Lourdes.”

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TREATMENT in comfortable surroundings A YEAR AFTER DENISE WASULESKI of Donogola, Ill., began her treatment for breast cancer at Lourdes, she wrote this brief

and surgery, I am now cancer-free, and I attribute my

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statement: “After many tests, chemotherapy Daniel A. Howard, M.D., with patient Denise Wasuleski

success on this journey to God, prayers, a positive attitude and, last but not least, to the wonderful medical staff at Lourdes.”

Please donate today at www.eLourdes.com.

Equipped with nine comfortable new chairs and flat-screen TVs, it is located on the ground floor of the Marshall Nemer Pavilion and is easily accessible by car.

“The nurses are wonderful—very caring and ready to answer questions,” she says.

“Since I was diagnosed last April, I have not had one bad experience with anyone I saw at Lourdes. With this fastgrowing cancer, it’s especially important to catch it early.

Get your yearly mammogram and do your monthly self-exam.

I might not be here today if I hadn’t.”

Charitable Giving

Because she responded well, Wasuleski could have opted for a lumpectomy to remove the shrunken tumor when her six months of chemotherapy were over. “I chose to have a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction instead because of the cancer’s rapid growth,” she says. “I’d heard of cases where it came back, and I didn’t want to live with that anxiety.”

She started her treatment on the fourth floor of the main hospital building, where infusions were given in three separate rooms. She then moved to Lourdes’ new IV infusion suite, which opened in January. “The new suite is one big, open room with everybody together, making it easier for the nurses to monitor us,” she says.

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Wasuleski lists chemotherapy before surgery because that was the order in which she had them. Her Lourdes surgeon, Daniel A. Howard, M.D., explains: “Denise had what appeared to be a large, aggressive cancer. Chemotherapy before surgery is starting to make a difference with this kind of tumor, called triple negative breast cancer, which accounts for 20 percent of breast cancer cases but has caused a disproportionately large number of deaths in recent years.

“Treating with chemotherapy first shrinks the tumor and allows us to perform less traumatic surgery. People who respond well to preoperative chemo are the ones who do well subsequently, and Denise’s prognosis is extremely good.”

To schedule a mammogram at Lourdes’ Women’s Center, call 270-444-2175.

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