Florida Hospital Cancer Institute News

Florida Hospital Cancer Institute News and Events

Community group sews “port pillows” for breast cancer patients

PALM COAST (October 14, 2011) – During this month’s meeting, Mothers Of Preschoolers (MOPS) hosted Dr. Padmaja Sai, Florida Hospital Flagler medical oncologist, at First Baptist Church of Palm Coast, 6050 Palm Coast Parkway NW, Palm Coast.

Dr. Sai spoke to the women about breast cancer and the mothers worked on special craft—port pillows specifically decorated and designed for breast cancer patients. The tiny cushions are tied to seatbelts in order to alleviate any discomfort patients may feel from the seatbelt resting on an implanted port.

“Ports are devices I place in the left chest wall that Dr. Sai uses to deliver chemo for cancer patients,” said Dr. Darren Peterson, General Surgeon at Florida Hospital Flagler.

Dr. Peterson’s wife, Candy, is a member of MOPS and delivered 30 of the donated handmade pillows to Florida Hospital Flagler’s Judith C. Macko Cancer Resource Library on Thursday, October 13. The pillows will be given to any patients who need it at the Resource Library, located inside the hospital, on the second floor at suite 2816.

Hospital hosts Pink Ribbon Tea Luncheon
Approximately 500 women came out to fight breast cancer over lunch.

MAITLAND (September 30, 2011) – On Friday, September 30, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial hosted the third annual Pink Ribbon Tea Luncheon to educate women about the importance of early screening for the prevention of breast cancer. This year, 500 women attended the event, donning their favorite pink attire at the Orlando Marriott Lake Mary.

An hour-long physician panel educated the women, featuring: Dennis Diaz, MD; Paul Goldberg, MD; Gary R. Graham, MD; Walter Hayne, MD; Joan Iacobelli, MD, FACS; Mohamad H. Masri, MD; James T. Shoukas, MD; Jeremy Steinbaum, MD; and Pedro Yepes-Hoyos, MD.

Additionally, the “Why Me?” documentary was shown, chronicling Roxanne Hopkins in her journey with breast cancer. Hopkins, a healthy, active, single mother of two daughters, and a busy career woman, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. The documentary shows this DeBary resident’s battle with the disease and the support she received from her family, friends, the community and health care team.

There was also entertainment at the Orange City hospital’s Pink Ribbon Tea Luncheon. The DeBary Dance for Health, a group of women over age 50, performed “You Gotta Have Heart” from Damn Yankees and “One” from A Chorus Line. These numbers were chosen because of the songs’ upbeat, inspirational lyrics.

Finally, Aubrey Peeples, a Lake Mary resident and student at Lake Mary Prep, sang and played the piano. Peeples has been singing and acting for 12 years and has sung the National Anthem for the Orlando Magic, three major league baseball teams and at a Peter Frampton concert. During her final song, “Footprints in the Sand,” audience members held up photos of those they know who have been touched by cancer.

The event was free to attend, but raised more than $12,600 via donations and sponsorships. These funds will go to the Florida Hospital Fish Memorial Foundation to fund mammograms for underserved and uninsured.

Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center Comprehensive Cancer Center
Celebrates One Year Anniversary

DAYTONA BEACH (October 2, 2011) – On Sunday, October 2, the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center celebrated one year of treating cancer patients in its new location at 224 Memorial Medical Parkway in Daytona Beach. To celebrate, patients, staff and community members were invited to an anniversary reception complete with tours, thank-you speeches and plenty of hugs between patients and their doctors.

“This is a big milestone,” said Luis Chanaga, Executive Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center. “In its first year, the new Comprehensive Cancer Center has made a lot of improvements in the cancer care available to residents in the area, and I think patients have really responded to the enhanced services and treatments we’ve been able to offer.”

Since the doors of the Center were first opened in October 2010, a new physician was hired – Seema Harichand-Herdt, MD – and four new positions were created with the purpose of providing patients with the best care experience possible. These new positions include two guest liaisons, a physicist and an additional lab technician.

The leadership team also expanded with the creation of three new management positions – an operations manager, a radiation therapy manager and a patient support services manager.

The new location, facility, technology, staff, services and amenities are statistically making a positive impression on cancer patients. Of the new radiation therapy patients who received consultation from the Comprehensive Cancer Center, 93 percent decided to be treated at this specific facility. Additionally, patient satisfaction scores have remained at an average of 100 percent over the past year, according to surveys done by the Patient Experience department at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center.

On September 12, the Center became an affiliate site to the Mayo Clinic of Florida. The Comprehensive Cancer Center enrolled as a member of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG), giving it the opportunity to participate in large clinical trials. Mayo Clinic Cancer Center serves as the research base for NCCTG, providing clinical and laboratory research expertise.

Since its opening, the Comprehensive Cancer Center has added three support groups to its roster: a Breast Cancer Support Group for those who are current patients or are one year out from finishing treatment; a Breast Cancer Survivorship Support Group for survivors of a year or longer; and Art in Therapy classes, where professional facilitators from Ormond Memorial Art Museum teach patients and caregivers art techniques ranging from painting and sketching, to crafts and photography.

The Center has also added various amenities for chemotherapy patients, such as a free lunch and welcome bags with blankets, mugs, thermometers and assorted tea bags. Patients, families, and staff members alike have been enthralled with the latest addition to the Center: Hope and Faith, the two swans donated by the Lohman Family of Lohman Funeral Homes to swim the pond in front of the hospital’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Now that all services for a cancer treatment plan are provided under one roof, the hospital’s 30,000-square-foot Comprehensive Cancer Center eliminates the need to drive around town – or even leave town - to see a specialist. Lab work, imaging, surgical consultation, support groups, nutrition therapy, financial counseling and a library and resource center are all available at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Deltona Man Thanks Florida Hospital Fish Memorial Physician with a 467 Year-Old Coin

A local man shows physician appreciation for the exceptional care he provided his wife during her battle with breast cancer.

ORANGE CITY (October 4, 2011) – In December 2009, Barbara O’Hara came to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial for a diagnostic mammogram because she felt something in her left breast. The very same day, she also had an ultrasound-guided core biopsy performed. Florida Hospital Fish Memorial radiologist Julian Kassner, MD, told Barbara and her husband Dennis the results; she had breast cancer. In fact, the breast cancer was aggressive and had already metastasized.

“I promised him I would personally double-check every study, so that nothing slipped through the cracks,” said Dr. Kassner. “And I was true to my word. Months later, I went on vacation for a week. When I came back, I ran into Dennis in the cafeteria. He asked me to review the studies that were performed while I was away and I told him I already had.”

Even though the cancer went into remission, it ultimately metastasized in her brain and she passed away on April 19, 2011.

“I wanted to do something to thank Dr. Kassner for his caring attitude,” Dennis said. “All of the doctors at Florida Hospital Fish Memorial were beyond caring, including our family doctor, Dr. Kalla. It’s most unusual today, but there is an actual real tenderness in their care.”

During the course of Barbara’s treatment, Dr. Kassner had shared with Dennis that he had recently been on a cruise and that the best souvenir from the countries he visited wasn’t junk from a tourist shop, but rather leftover foreign coins. So when Dennis won a 1544 Hungarian Silver coin at a Jacksonville coin show, he knew just what to do with it.

“It’s unusual for a person such as my wife to –

well, ‘looking forward to it’ isn’t the right words, but she wasn’t afraid to go to the hospital,” Dennis said. “There was no limit to the amount of care she received. It made my wife feel comfortable, and I just wanted to do something nice for Dr. Kassner. I wanted to do something for him to remember us by.”

Dennis gave Dr. Kassner the 467 year-old coin that has the coat of arms of King Ferdinand I on one side and the Madonna and Child on the other side. It was found on a sunken ship and the images on the coin are well preserved because it had been in cold water.

“All of the doctors here bend over backwards for their patients,” said Dr. Kassner. “Even with the sad reality of Barbara’s outcome, they still had a good experience at Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, and I think that in itself is the ultimate recognition.”

Pilates in Central Park Raises Nearly $2,000 for Battling Breast Cancer

PALM COAST (October 2, 2011) – Rotaract, Florida Hospital Flagler, The Palm Coast Observer, and Fitness One hosted the second annual breast cancer awareness initiative, Pilates in Central Park, on Sunday, October 2 at 9 a.m.

More than 100 people attended and raised nearly $2,000 for the Florida Hospital Flagler Foundation’s Cancer Care Fund. These funds directly support Flagler County women by providing screening mammograms, diagnostic studies and education to qualified individuals who are uninsured and seeking assistance.

Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center’s New Affiliation with Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

DAYTONA BEACH (September 12, 2011) – Today Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center Comprehensive Cancer Center announced that it is now enrolled as a member of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG).

Dedicated to bringing clinical trials with promising new cancer therapies to communities where patients live, the NCCTG is a national network of cancer specialists at community clinics, hospitals and medical centers in the United States and Canada. NCCTG specializes in researching methods of treating and preventing cancer, as well as methods to alleviate the side effects of cancer and cancer treatments.

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center serves as the research base for NCCTG, providing clinical and laboratory research expertise. More than 200 Mayo Clinic physicians and Ph.D. scientists actively participate in all stages of NCCTG research, including clinical trial development, treatment and data analysis. In addition, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center provides centralized statistical and operations support for the NCCTG network, coordinating the administration and data analysis for all NCCTG clinical trials.

With this enrollment, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center becomes an affiliate site to Mayo Clinic of Florida. By becoming a member of NCCTG, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center now has the opportunity to participate in large clinical trials.

“More than 1.3 million people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer this year,” said Christopher Windham, MD, Surgical Oncologist and Medical Director and the Director of the Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Program at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center. “By becoming a member of NCCTG, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center expands the advanced medical cancer care for our region. This will positively impact patient care by giving patients access to clinical trials locally, avoiding the need to travel to be in a trial, sometimes having to go out of state.”

A clinical trial for breast cancer patients will be opened first, followed by additional cancer trials in the near future.

Since NCCTG began, over 60,000 patients have participated in NCCTG clinical trials. Over the past 27 years, NCCTG physicians and researchers have conducted clinical trials that have strengthened their understanding of cancer and cancer treatment. This knowledge has led to the development of better treatments that have improved the quality of life for cancer patients and helped many patients live longer.

Swans Grace Patients of Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center

DAYTONA BEACH (September 8, 2011) – Two new arrivals are gracing employees, patients and community members alike at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center. They are not patients. They are not even human. But rather, they are swans.

Nancy Lohman, member of the Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center Governing and Foundation Boards of Directors, and her family generously donated two male swans to swim the pond in front of the hospital’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

As owners of Lohman Funeral Homes, Lohman and her family created a garden, complete with a lake and their very own swans, five years ago at 1423 Bellevue Avenue in Daytona Beach.

“For five years, we’ve had families tell us how peaceful, tranquil and serene the swans made them feel at our garden,” Lohman said. “When my husband, Lowell, and I toured the Comprehensive Cancer Center and saw the infusion room that overlooked the lake, we thought that the cancer patients would appreciate that same beautiful, tranquil feeling the swans bring.”

Lohman was right.

“While the lake has always served as a place of serenity and peace for our patients receiving infusions and chemotherapy, the swans have added a new dimension of life,” said Luis Chanaga, Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Executive Director. “Now it is more than a beautiful panoramic view, but a place for patients to view nature. When they see the swans, they are immediately filled with happiness and joy.”

In their excitement over the new arrivals, both the employees and patients of Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center submitted their ideas for what to name the pretty pair – 216 suggested pairs of names in total. Members of the executive team selected their three favorite pairs of names, and the final decision was made in an employee vote. And thus, the names Faith and Hope were given to two newest members of the hospital care team.

“Hope and Faith are not only key elements of care at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center, but they are also team members here at our Comprehensive Cancer Center,” said Chanaga.

Florida Hospital DeLand Celebrates Completion of $5.2 Million Cancer Institute Expansion

DELAND (August 21, 2011) - On Sunday, August 21, residents got a behind-the-scenes look at the newly upgraded Florida Hospital DeLand Cancer Institute and all of its state-of-the-art technology, as the facility celebrated the completion of its $5.2 million expansion.

More than 175 members of the DeLand community came out to the Florida Hospital DeLand Cancer Institute, located at 680 Peachwood Drive, DeLand, for the family-friendly activities, including tours, live music, BBQ-style food, an obstacle course challenge and games.

Daryl Tol, Florida Hospital DeLand CEO/President; Jennifer Lyons, Florida Hospital DeLand Foundation; and Mayor Bob Apgar spoke about the renovations, upgrades, technology and community benefits the institute now offers, while Rudolph Sterling, Florida Hospital DeLand Chaplain, offered a blessing.

As part of the expansion, the facility’s size was increased by more than 25 percent, now more than 7,800 square feet. Additionally, both the interior and exterior of the existing building was renovated to mirror the hospital’s current façade.

In addition to the construction, the Florida Hospital DeLand Cancer Institute upgraded the technology available to fight cancer by adding the latest tools in radiation oncology, including Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography (PET-CT).

Tissues, organs, and many tumors are not rigidly fixed in one position. They can move several centimeters inside the body due to natural physiological processes, such as breathing. Because of this, IGRT Respiratory Gating is essential to tracking and targeting tumors with radiation. This feature provides more precise tumor targeting, which means radiation beam dosage levels can be increased, allowing tumors to receive a higher dose of radiation while nearby healthy tissues receive very little.

With Florida Hospital DeLand’s new GE Discovery PET-CT 600, doctors can better determine whether a mass is malignant (cancerous) or benign (not cancerous). This equipment has highly-advanced capabilities, which include: the highest image-sensitivity in the industry; improved image quality of scans in areas prone to motion, such as in the lungs; and a comfortable bed for patients up to 500 pounds, limiting the effects of claustrophobia.

Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center’s “Art in Therapy” Program

DAYTONA BEACH (August 24, 2011) – In a quiet room, seven people are practicing brushstrokes with watercolors. Ormond Beach resident Bill Albro leans over to the person sitting next to him and asks what color paint he has his brush on. Albro, a machinist by trade, is colorblind and is receiving radiation therapy at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center for prostate cancer and is having fun learning to paint with watercolors.

It’s all a part of the Daytona Beach hospital’s “Art in Therapy” program, where participants of all levels are taught art techniques in painting, sketching, crafts and photography. It is designed to give cancer patients, survivors and caregivers a new outlet to express emotions and creativity, something central to healing and recovery.

“Modern medical practitioners agree that recovery from a large variety of ills, both physical and mental, can be aided and accelerated using the therapeutic powers of art,” said Luis Chanaga, Comprehensive Cancer Center Executive Director at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center. “We worked hand-in-hand with the Ormond Memorial Art Museum to develop the ‘Art in Therapy’ program at our cancer center to give patients and those that care for them another option that supports our holistic approach to healing.”

Susan Richmond, Ormond Memorial Art Museum director, worked with the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center to develop this program and is pleased to bring the healing and therapeutic side of art to patients and their family members.

“For an hour and a half, these people here have a chance to not think about anything else other than the happy memory they are painting,” Richmond said. “It’s a creative release.”

The class is taught by Karlene McConnell, a longtime Ormond Beach resident and professional artist. The former special education teacher has more than 10 years experience in breaking down the tips and techniques to teach both those who have never held a paintbrush before, as well as others with experience.

Not only has her love of art moved her to teach, but several personal losses this year have propelled McConnell to lead the program at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center. Within the past year, McConnell’s cousin has passed away and both of her in-laws have been lost to lung cancer.

“Art is wonderful therapy. It’s something I do to relieve stress,” McConnell said.