Orthopedics, Senior Care, Patient Stories
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A New Knee Keeps This Diver Underwater
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For more than thirty years, Dick Carey has spent his free time underwater. The 76-year-old from Severna Park conducted oyster surveys in the Chesapeake Bay for decades and has been a volunteer scuba diver for the National Aquarium since 1982. Now he owns a farm in West Virginia and hopes to raise a few cattle. A man like Dick doesn’t have time for the knee problems that had been starting to slow him down. After years of managing his pain Dick decided on a total knee replacement with Paul King, MD, and he’s once again unstoppable.
My knee had been going for a long time. I had some arthroscopic surgery in 2004 and then I was getting cortisone shots. It just got to where I couldn’t continue doing that because it just didn’t fit my lifestyle. I scuba dive, I have a farm, and with a bad knee that you can only stand on for less than two hours in a day just wasn’t hacking it.
Before the surgery, I was favoring my right leg. When the weather was warmer, I was repairing the fence in some areas and I didn’t finish because within two hours of going out to work on it, I was back sitting down the rest of the day because now my back started to hurt. I was seeing a pain doctor and he wanted to give me a block in my back because he said I had a pinched nerve. I didn’t want anyone messing with my back, so, I talked with my personal doctor. He urged me to wait until after the knee surgery.
Nearly seven weeks after the operation I went up to the aquarium and did a special event. You don’t know how good that was. I didn’t want to give up the aquarium.
Soon after, I left for the farm out in West Virginia to continue working on the fence. I’m glad I waited because I haven’t had any problems since the knee replacement. You have no idea how much better it is. So with the farm, the diving and my lifestyle, it’s pretty important to have a knee that works.
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Cancer Care, Patient Stories
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Early Detection Key for Treating Woman’s Lung Cancer
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It had been thirty-six years since Sunny Janin quit smoking, and while asthma had been a problem for her, she had not expected the lung cancer that snuck up on her. At 66, the Stevensville resident had been seeing her doctor for follow-up after knee surgery at AAMC. She had lost weight, and was fatigued and having night sweats. The doctor ran some tests to see what was going on. Because of her history, CT scans revealed a few spots on her lungs that a bronchoscopy and biopsy had missed.
She was immediately placed in the lung screening program where she was closely monitored with CT scans every three months. Her original fatigue and night sweats were unrelated to any lung problem, and they quickly passed. She assumed her health was fine. For a year-and-a-half her CT scans remained the same. Then, doctors saw a change in her lungs between one scan and the next.
It was stage one lung cancer. “Within three weeks, I was in surgery,” Sunny said. “It was caught so early I didn’t need any other treatment with radiation or chemo.” Her thoracic surgeon Stephen Cattaneo, MD, said regular lung screening with CT for high risk patients like Sunny has been proven to save lives because it can catch the cancer in its early stages when treatment is most effective. “Most lung cancers aren’t found until they’re fairly wide spread within the chest or until they’re metastatic,” he said.
“I didn’t have any symptoms. But AAMC is very aggressive about early detection. That was the key for me,” explains Sunny.
Now, at age 70, she continues to practice yoga and care for her husband. “I have a full life,” she says, enjoying her grand children, proctoring for the community college, and until recently, serving as a tour guide at the Naval Academy. “It was that early detection that was key for me.”
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Community, Infectious Disease
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7 truths about COVID-19 you should know
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Every day we learn something new about the coronavirus (COVID-19). But as we continue to gather new information, myths about the virus have also been spreading fast. It is critical that we are able to tell apart facts and misinformation, especially as it impacts vulnerable communities.
Current data shows an unequal burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Health disparities among racial and ethnic groups are traced to economic and social conditions, such as living conditions, work circumstances, underlying health conditions and access to care.
Here are the facts:
Truth 1: COVID-19 has the potential to affect everyone.
COVID-19 impacts all races and ethnicities. However, older people and people with other underlying health conditions – such as asthma, heart disease and diabetes – are at a higher risk of getting seriously ill.
Truth 2: It is not proven that certain hot drinks or foods will prevent infection.
There is no evidence that drinking hot fluids, lemon juice or alcohol, or eating hot peppers or garlic, will prevent you from getting COVID-19. There are two different paths just past our tongue. One is our esophagus for food and liquids. The other is our trachea for breathing. Inhaling small droplets of the virus is the most common way the virus enters our bodies.
Truth 3: Children, teens and young adults can get the virus.
The virus infects people all ages. However, older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions are more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.
Truth 4: Bathing in hot water does not prevent the virus.
Taking a hot bath after exposure to COVID-19 will not kill the virus inside your body. Your best defense is preventing exposure. For example, washing your hands often, wearing a face covering and physical distancing from people who aren’t in your household. Since distancing from people is not always an option for everyone, wearing a mask or facial covering is especially important. Frequent and thorough hand washing is best. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer is also an option when access to soap and water is limited.
Truth 5: It’s possible that if you don’t feel sick or show any symptoms you can still spread the virus.
Many people who feel well can actually have COVID-19 and spread it. It’s important to follow the CDC’s recommendation to wear a mask and maintain six feet of distance from others.
Truth 6: Hospitals are safe.
Hospitals are safe, ready and open to provide you safe expert care, including preventive appointments, select surgeries, procedures and diagnostic testing. Safety protocols are in place to offer the highest standards of care. Our doors are open and we are ready to treat patients with non-COVID related medical needs in a safe environment.
Truth 7: Everyone can seek medical care.
Seeking medical attention will not make any legal processes, like getting a green card, more difficult in the future. Everyone should seek medical care if needed.
As we continue to learn more about this pandemic, it’s important that you take care of yourself. Do not delay or be afraid to seek medical care when you need it.
Authors
Tamiko Stanley is the director of Diversity and Inclusion at Luminis Health.
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Graduate Medical Education, News & Press Releases
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Anne Arundel Medical Center Announces Internal Medicine Residency Program
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Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) has received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to start an Internal Medicine Residency Program. This will be a three-year residency program with 15 residents per year for a total of 45 residents when the program reaches full capacity.
The Internal Medicine Residency Program accreditation marks another important milestone for Graduate Medical Education (GME) at AAMC as the hospital’s third ACGME-accredited residency program. AAMC received accreditation for its General Surgery Residency Program in 2016 and OB-GYN Residency Program in 2019.
“We are expanding our role in the larger world of health and medicine to ensure talented and well-trained physicians for the future health of our community,” said Barry Meisenberg, MD, FACP, chair of Medicine and designated institutional official for GME at AAMC. “In launching a new residency in Internal Medicine, we continue to raise the level of care given to our patients.”
“At Anne Arundel Medical Center, high-quality care goes hand-in-hand with research, learning and innovation to carry out our mission to enhance the health of the people we serve,” said Nargiz Muganlinskaya, MD, MMS, FACP, program director of Internal Medicine Residency. “We are proud to bring new physicians into our team-based culture of patient and family-centered care, where they will learn from a distinguished and diverse faculty.”
In 2015, the ACGME approved AAMC as a sponsoring institution for GME programs, allowing AAMC to initiate individual residency programs. The GME program at AAMC provides training to doctors after they have completed medical school.
AAMC anticipates interviewing approximately 300 Internal Medicine residency candidates from October 2019 through January 2020. Fifteen residents will match with AAMC through the National Residency Matching Program in March 2020, and they will begin their first day of residency on July 1, 2020.
Learn more about GME at AAMC by visiting www.AAHS.org/Graduate-Medical-Education. Watch our video to hear program officials describe AAMC’s unique learning environment for residents, as well as the benefit of a teaching hospital to the community.
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Men's Health, Women's Health, Heart Care, Patient Stories
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Emergency Care with a Heart
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When Robert Youngblood and his wife, Beatrice walked into the hospital on July 29th, they were excited to see their granddaughter and her brand new baby girl. The 79-year-old Glendale resident had no inkling that he was just minutes away from a major heart attack, but he’s thankful he was here when it happened.
We went down to the hospital to see our new great granddaughter, Paris Francesca. Grandma was holding her, and she handed her over to me. About 45 seconds later, I broke out into a cold sweat.
I recognized it right away. I just handed the baby over to my wife, and I guess I said I wasn’t feeling right. The next thing I knew I was stretched out on the floor. Everybody else just took over, and it seemed like half of Anne Arundel Medical Center was in the maternity ward where I was.
At first, I didn’t feel any pain, but by the time they got me to the emergency room, my pain was getting close to a ten out of ten. It was really starting to hurt. The doctors and nurses were there doing all the necessary things, and they ended up putting a stent in. Everything was just handled so quickly and it was like military precision. It is a top notch plus organization.
After that, when I was in a room, I was treated well by everyone—even the nurses that come in to stick your finger and check your blood all night. I nicknamed them vampires, but I smile when I say it. Even they were truly great.
Robert’s wife, Beatrice agrees. Although it was a horrible thing to go through, she says it couldn’t have happened at a better place.
I can only say that if anyone were to ask me where should they go if they need a hospital, Anne Arundel would be my first choice. Absolutely. The picture is still in my mind, how a deluge of nurses came into the room, and then the doctors came. The next thing I knew they were wheeling him down the hall, and they were making sure family was following—making sure we were all there and taking care of us, too. We stood out in the hall while they were in the emergency room with him, and my son said, ‘look at the staff, look how everybody is here.’ They were calm and just doing what needed to get done. It was calming for us.
I’ve noticed, even when you walk in the door, everyone smiles. I’ve yet to have someone that’s not spoken to me, even staff members walking down the hall, they will smile.
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