Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008 - (Page 6)

working in tandem with those on the screen. The Stealth is used again to cut out the circle of bone above the St. Anthony Central Hospital is now home to the St. Anthony Regional tumor, and once more to mark the dura covering the brain. Mountain Cancer Center. Kevin Schewe, M.D., FACRO, serves as the center’s “This allows us to make the smallest possible medical director of oncology, with Barry Gardner, M.D., serving as medical opening,” Levy says. “We now have the tumor director of radiation oncology. Schewe and Gardner have nearly 30 years of dead-center in the middle of the dura opening combined experience in radiation oncology and offer a full range of radiation which is dead-center in the bony opening.” oncology services, including combined-modality therapy, intensity-modulated In Lively’s case, the surgical team was able to remove the tumor and margin tissue radiation therapy (IMRT), high-dose rate-remote after-loading brachytherapy safely through an opening less than 3 inches and Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery. To learn more about brachytherin diameter. apy for breast cancer, turn to page 56. For more information on St. Anthony During the course of Lively’s care, Levy Regional Mountain Cancer Center, visit stanthonycentral.org. identified a second, much smaller tumor in the falx, the area separating the brain’s hemispheres. “We’ll use the Gamma Knife to treat the superior sagittal sinus venus channel—was of particular that later this year,” he says. concern given the tumor’s continued growth. Two tumors—one resolved with open surgery, the second After hearing the facts, Lively elected to have surgery to through noninvasive radiosurgery. remove the tumor. With Levy’s encouragement, she also Lively describes her surgical experience as a “totally decided to wait until after the Professional Picture Framers’ positive” one. Association gathering in Las Vegas. A shadow box she had “I had the surgery on Wednesday—it took about six hours. created to showcase her grandAfterward, I had a total of three Tylenol and I father’s violin had garnered was done. On Sunday, I was released.” the organization’s international So the next time you’re in Granby, stop by award for excellence. Lively Streamside Art. See the violin shadow box that wanted to claim the award won international honors and see Lively, too— in person. healthy once again thanks to neuroscience and art. the procedure In February 2008, one week after receiving the honor, she entered St. Anthony Central Hospital for her procedure. “I was at the top of my game,” The advanced StealthStation system works she says, “and I was ready.” by analyzing preoperative diagnostic scans The surgical procedure Levy of the patient—usually CT images or MRI. describes also involves framLively’s violin shadow box Once loaded into the system, advanced ing at its finest. Well before the computer technology translates this inforfirst incision is ever made, an mation into precise 3-D images that help surgeons map the safest, advanced visual navigation system called the StealthStation® is used to target the tumor with least invasive path to the target site in the patient’s body. three-dimensional precision. Next, the StealthStation system assists the surgeon in the oper“Before the surgery, we place special markers ating suite, where it produces three-dimensional, real-time images called fiducials on the scalp,” he says. “These of the procedure in progress. The system can even merge images fiducials then show up on the MRI as our referfrom multiple sources and manipulate the pictures, allowing physience guide for marking the tumor’s location. We then transfer these reference points into the cians to view them from any angle. In effect, surgeons are able to Stealth navigation system, which builds a threesee behind delicate or hard-to-reach areas of the patient’s unique dimensional model.” anatomy without disturbing the surrounding tissue. The patient’s head is then positioned in a Source: medtronic.com special holder that enables the surgical team to match the marker positions on the scalp how it works 6 vim & vigor • winte r 2 008 http://www.stanthonycentral.org http://www.medtronic.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008 Contents Friendly Faces For Your Health 'Tis the Season to be Safe Eat Your Veggies Joint Effort Fresh Beginnings Decades of Opportunity Keeping Score Your Big Give Roll Up Your Sleeve Tidings of Comfort and Health Blueprint for Safety The Smoke-Free Mom-to-Be Childbirth Trends Moms Choosing Midwives Community Sections Dollars & Sense Ask the Experts

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008

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