Maryland's Health Matters - Charles Regional - Fall 2013 - (Page 6)
Never Alone
Cancer care
and support
services help
patients like
Mary Perkins
survive and
thrive
A
listening ear can be powerful medicine. Three years after successful breast cancer treatment, Mary Perkins was
suffering again. Not because her cancer had returned—
because of a nagging complication that no one seemed to
take seriously.
Perkins, a 64-year-old Waldorf resident, had a lumpectomy and follow-up
radiation in 2009 for a cancerous tumor
in her left breast. In 2012, she had a biopsy on the same breast for a mass that
fortunately turned out to be benign.
But in the month after her biopsy,
Perkins had to go to the emergency
room for a breast infection and ended
up spending a week in the hospital.
After the infection, she developed a
Attracting Top-Notch Talent
Behind success stories like Mary Perkins are the talented, compassionate
providers of University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center. “We
hire people who are committed to quality care,” says Stephanie Simm, a
physician relations specialist who recruits new physicians. “We look for
providers who care about doing a little extra to treat their patients as
whole people who need and deserve respect and compassion—not just
medical treatment.”
UM Charles Regional’s affiliation with the University of Maryland Medical
System enhances its ability to attract highly qualified providers to the
community. As UM Charles Regional continues to expand its services,
“people are excited to discover the specialists that are available right here
in the community,” Simm says.
6 Maryland’s HealtH Matters
recurrent seroma—a buildup of fluid at
the incision site.
“When the doctor did a biopsy, it left a
big hole, so I had trouble with seroma,”
says Perkins, a retired Head Start nutrition coordinator. “My breast would swell
up, it would get hard, and it was uncomfortable to sleep or move around.”
Hoping for Help
As Perkins sought treatment for the seroma, she struggled to find a doctor who
would listen to her concerns. Each time
the seroma was drained, it quickly came
back, causing her further distress and discomfort. When she tried to ask one doctor
about a more long-term solution, “Maybe
you might want to think about a mastectomy,” he called back as he walked down
the hall. “Come back in four months.”
“I said, ‘Dear God, please help me.
Send me somebody that I can talk to,’ ”
Perkins says.
That’s when Perkins found her way to
University of Maryland Charles Regional
Medical Center. In February 2013, her oncologist referred her to Eleanor Faherty,
MD, general surgeon at UM CRMC.
to beat cancer! To watch our quick video, go to
eat
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - Charles Regional - Fall 2013
Maryland's Health Matters - Charles Regional - Fall 2013
Contents
A Healthy Start
Never Alone
A Winning Trial
Foundation Halls
It Takes Two
Healthy Happenings
Maryland's Health Matters - Charles Regional - Fall 2013
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