2006 Annual Report

MARY BIRD PERKINS CANCER CENTER 2006 ANNUAL REPORT

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CANCER CENTER

From the outset, Mary Bird Perkins was created to be available to all community members in need of its services - regardless of ability to pay. This charge has remained near and dear to the Center's mission.

In 1971, the nearest choices for radiation treatment for cancer patients in southeast Louisiana were in Texas or Alabama. They could not stay home and get radiation therapy. The community changed that.

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Mrs. Anna Lipsey, then chairwoman of the Cancer Society of Greater Baton Rouge, was contacted by physicians who wanted to create a community-owned radiation therapy center in Baton Rouge. Mrs. Lipsey asked Dr. M.J. "Jack" Rathbone Jr., chairman of the East Baton Rouge Parish Medical Society Cancer Committee, for help reaching this goal. Together they formed the Cancer, Radiation and Research Foundation.

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In 1968 the Foundation held a capital campaign that was capped by a major gift from philanthropist Paul D. Perkins whose daughter, Mary Bird, was recently deceased. The Foundation board expressed its gratitude by naming the Center after her.

Mary Bird Perkins Radiation Treatment Center opened its doors in Baton Rouge in 1971, in Hammond in 1988 and in Covington in 1998.

Today, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has two integrated cancer programs accredited by the American College of Surgeons, one with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge and one with St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington. Together with our partners, the Center is able to coordinate the entire continuum of cancer care. Mary Bird Perkins also enjoys a long-standing relationship with North Oaks Hospital in Hammond.

Mary Bird Perkins

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2006. On the pages that follow you will read about some of the people who have been helped by the Center's mission.

Fighting Cancer for Over 35 Years.

Gwen is one of the many cancer patients successfully treated at the Center over its 3S-year history.

"I hope talking about my POSITIVE EXPERIENCE will help someone else get through BREAST CANCER treatment."

Gwen Hamilton Cancer Survivor

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Howard is convinced that being able to stay home in Baton Rouge while battling her cancer helped her win the fight. ~~If you take me to Houston and I have to leave my child, my job, my family - I'm leaving my reasons for living.

They're all right here.

They are what's going to help me beat this."

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YOUNG MOTHER'S SURVIVOR SPIRIT

/IId!im;1k~;rf:dfJn Lake Charles native Marielle Howard is a survivor. "I was raised poor.

We didn't have health insurance, we had health care. That meant we only saw a doctor when we had to," she said. After graduating from LSD where she met her husband David, Howard became highly focused on career and motherhood. "I knew I wanted to be like the other women in my family - strong and independent. I believed there was nothing I couldn't handle thanks to their example."

While success at her career came easy enough, motherhood frustratingly eluded her for four years before son Hunter was born in June of 2002.

Then, two years later, Howard was diagnosed with stage IV B-cell nonHodgkin's lymphoma. What started out as a sore throat had, in five weeks, turned into a baseball size tumor requiring emergency surgery to save Howard's life. She had been suffocating without realizing it.

Because the surgeons had been unable to remove the tumor completely and because they did not know if any cells had migrated to other parts of the body, chemotherapy and radiation were both added to her treatment plan. Howard said her surgeon told her, "You will go through Hell, but you can fight it," a challenge she was willing to take on. "I am blessed," she said. "I prayed for a baby for four years. When all this happened, I just prayed for more time to raise him and be with him so he could come to know his mom."

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MARY BIRD PERKINS CANCER CENTER

Howard's radiation oncologist at Mary Bird Perkins was Dr. Maurice King. "Dr. King was wonderful," said Howard. "He didn't baby me. I wanted to know every detail. The therapists and technicians were great that way too. They all dealt with me at my worst, but they stuck by me every step of the way." Dr. King said he knew from their first encounter that he was dealing with a strong and determined woman. "Marielle understood clearly the challenge confronting her and she met it with courage, dignity and - I must say - a sense of humor. Her positive attitude contributed much to her successful outcome."

An unforeseen change in her husband's employment status led Howard to enroll her family on her employer's medical plan. The coverage went into effect only six days before Howard was diagnosed with cancer. "I was virtually six days away from being a part of the population without insurance," Howard said, "but I know the people at Mary Bird who worked to save me would have worked just as hard if I hadn't had insurance. That's the part that really sticks with me because I've had the experience of being on the other side."

Howard explained that technically she is in remission, however she said she feels cured.

"I went from stage IV to no sign of the disease anywhere in my body in seven months." She calls such care superhuman. "I got to see it firsthand. It wasn't just about going through the motions with doctors and co-pays and treatment. The staff at

Like Howard, Sarah Romero began volunteering at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center after her treatment.

"We asked MY DOCTOR at M. D. Anderson about radiation. He recommended MARY BIRD." Sarah Romero Cancer Survivor

Mary Bird cared for me in every way they could."

That is why Howard said she volunteers her time helping to promote the Center's major fundraising events. "The whole point of our existence is to help others. If you can't afford to give money, you can still give time. Mary Bird has so many supporters and I am grateful for them all. Simply put, they help people fight cancer and provide the services they need to get them through the battle." Howard gave even more of her time by participating in a patient testimonial campaign for the Center. Also taking part was her young son, who was given a special Mary Bird tee shirt for being in his mother's television segment. Hunter was so proud of the shirt, said Howard, that he wanted to wear it for his photo with Santa Claus. "Me and Mommy made a commercial so people would know what happened to her and no one else would have to get cancer," he told Santa.

Howard is grateful for the care she received at Mary Bird Perkins and for being able to get back to her busy and full life. "If you wake up with cancer, these are the people you want taking care of you. I can never thank them enough." And then, through tears, "I could not have been treated better, cured faster or given my life back more wholly anywhere else in the world and still be able to go to work, raise my son and be with my husband while battling cancer. It just doesn't get any better than that."

Son Hunter turned four last June.l

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