12CC
SUNDAY, FEB. 22, 2015
HEALTH & FITNESS
PROGRESS
TAG TEAM
MARIETTA
WellStar Kennestone Hospital’s Taghechian sisters know how to operate together naturally — HILARY BUTSCHEK —
T
hbutschek@mdjonline.com
he Taghechian sisters, nicknamed the “Tag Team,” can finish each other’s sentences and each other’s surgeries. However, Elizabeth Taghechian, 41, the older sister, does more of the talking. She and her sister, Shaya Taghechian, 34, are doctors at WellStar Kennestone Hospital who can operate on one patient together.
Above: Dr. Elizabeth Taghechian and her sister, Dr. Shaya Taghechian, are providing excellent care for their patients at WellStar’s Kennestone Hospital in Marietta in the field of gynecology and urology. Below left: The Taghechian sisters exit the Kennestone Outpatient Pavilion surgery unit after working together on a case. They recently performed a surgery together using the DaVinci robot surgical tool. Bottom left: The Taghechian sisters discuss their childhood and the journey that brought them together practicing medicine at WellStar’s Kennestone Hospital in Marietta. / Staff-Kelly J. Huff Elizabeth Taghechian, an OB-GYN, equates the work they do in the operating room to the way she and her sister collaborate in the kitchen. “We love to cook. … At home, I don’t like anybody else being in my kitchen. … But, with Shaya, she’s the only person — she gets me in the kitchen. We’re cooking it up. I don’t have to tell her anything. We work great together. She knows my weaknesses. So, take that to surgery and it’s the same thing,” Elizabeth Taghechian said. Shaya Taghechian, a urologist, said she and her sister have a natural bond that can’t be matched. “I think our brains work the same in very many ways, so when I see her do something, it’s something that I would be doing as well,” Shaya Taghechian said. “You understand the other person. They don’t have to explain anything. You understand their hand movements. You know what they’re reaching for. It just works. It’s much easier to operate with her I think than it would be with someone else.”
A FAMILY OF ‘GIVERS’ The sisters live one backyard away from each other. Each is married, and Elizabeth Taghechian has two children, a daughter, Zoya, 3, and a son, Harrison, 1. “The closest people to us really are our family,” Shaya Taghechian said. The Taghechian family, originally from Iran, has stuck together. The sisters’ parents, Ali Taghechian and Zarrin Derhami, live within five miles of the sisters’ houses in Marietta. Both Shaya and Elizabeth Taghechian were born in Tehran, Iran, but the family moved to the United States in 1983 so the daughters could achieve their dreams. “(My mom) thought I would have a better shot here of reaching my dreams,” Elizabeth Taghechian said. The elder sister said she has her mother to thank both for allowing her to have the opportunity to become a doctor and for inspiring her to practice medicine. “We used to live in high rises in Iran. My mom wasn’t a pediatrician, by any stretch of the imagination … but she used to treat all the kids in the neighborhood. Moms would come and they’d ask my mom, ‘What would you do? He’s got this.
She’s got this,’ and my mom would tell them what to do,” Elizabeth Taghechian said. Both Shaya and Elizabeth said they take after their mother, who is “a giver.” “Mom is a caring person for anything that’s living — plants, animal, people. Especially if you’re in need, my mom is always there for you. You know, whether you have cancer or you’re in a bad situation. When everyone is running away, my mom is the one that’s coming to you to help you. So, of course, when you see that as a little kid, it’s imprinted upon you that you should be there for people, especially people in need,” Elizabeth Taghechian said. Shaya Taghechian and her sister said they try to have fun at work and treat their patients like family. “I think Elizabeth and I would have tried to serve humanity or do good for the public no matter what we did. This just happens to be what we like and what we’re good at. I think that’s our ultimate goal, to help people the way we know best,” Shaya Taghechian said.
OPERATING TOGETHER Elizabeth Taghechian said she knew she wanted to be an OB-GYN after seeing her mother go through a difficult pregnancy before her sister was born. “After I was born, my mom was pregnant, and she lost a baby. It was a horrendous kind of delivery and she was told not to ever get pregnant again because the same thing would happen. Of course, I was so lonely. I wanted a sibling to play with, and I just prayed for that,” Elizabeth Taghechian said. When her mother became pregnant again, Elizabeth Taghechian said doctors advised her to get an abortion but her mother refused. After a closely monitored pregnancy, Shaya Taghechian was born. “I wanted to do for somebody what they did for me and my mom,” Elizabeth Taghechian said. Shaya Taghechian was inspired to go into urology after watching her sister train to become a doctor, and they’ve reached a height in their careers working together at the same hospital. “That was my dream. It was always my dream to be here where we’re working together in the same place, and we’re working on the same patients. It’s always been a dream, so we feel like we’re living our dream,” Elizabeth Taghechian said.
KENNESAW
New WellStar Pediatric Center designed with children in mind HILARY BUTSCHEK hbutschek@mdjonline.com
WellStar Health System opened its new Pediatric Center in Cobb in July to give children a place where they can feel at ease. The 20,000-square-foot pediatric doctor’s office, which cost about $13 million, is on Barrett Parkway near the intersection of Cobb Parkway. The walls are painted light blue and green and the hallways, decorated with bubbles, seaweed and fish, curve through the building like waves. The one-floor building provides an environment that’s fun and inviting for children, said Dr. Avril Beckford, the chief pediatric officer for WellStar Health System and a member of its board. “Our vision for this center was that a parent could walk in and feel like they were completely at home, and that it’s fun and it’s welcoming,” Beckford said. The center offers patients from birth to age 21 a place to visit a doctor and have physical therapy or get an x-ray, a CT scan, an MRI or lab tests. The physicians at the center do not perform surgeries there. The center also features a pharmacy where parents can pick up medications right after a doctor’s appointment. A total of 15 physicians rotate through the center, each with their own set of patients, and one is on duty at all times, Beckford said. She said the community was in need of
WellStar Chief Pediatric Officer Avril Beckford, M.D. and Pediatric Operations Assistant Vice President Varma Rameswar sport hard hats for a walkthrough of the new WellStar Pediatric Center, which opened on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw last July. / Staff-Kelly J. Huff a dedicated place parents could take their children for diagnoses and preventative health care. In fiscal 2013, all 16 of the WellStar locations combined saw 198,382 children come in for office visits, and 80,924 children went to the emergency room, said Tyler Pearson, WellStar spokesman. Beckford said the center was made with
parents in mind, too, so it makes going to the doctor convenient and quick. “We did invest in space and time and energy, so it’s not looking at the dollars, it’s about the patient care and patient experience,” said Varma Rameswar, who oversees practice operations. The medical equipment was also designed and arranged with children in mind. For
instance, before going in for an MRI or CT scan, children can watch a stuffed animal get an MRI with an imitation of a CT scanner, called the kitten scan. Beckford said the process of learning how the scan works will calm most children down, often enough that they don’t have to be sedated when they go through the procedure. There are multiple interactive areas children can use to distract themselves from the seriousness of being in a doctor’s office. When a child goes into a room to get their own CT scan, at the flip of a switch, the walls around the machine become an underwater scene, a jungle or a beach. “The machine can be noisy, so they can look out and it’s like they’re looking through a submarine window,” Beckford said. She said these small details are what make the center a wonderful environment for children. “That smiling face at the front desk, that nurse who holds your hand, that tech who knows you and/or your mom is really scared, that radiologist who knows he’s got to be super skilled to make this noninvasive and then all surrounding environment — it makes them feel comfortable,” Beckford said. After working in pediatrics for 30 years, Beckford said she enjoys her job so much it feels as if she has never worked a day in her life. To contact the center, call (678) 594-7337.