- News & Press Releases, Women's Health, Pediatrics, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogThe first thing most people learn about parenthood is that plans have to be flexible. So it was fitting that the new Hackerman-Patz House would open four days early to provide a young family the temporary home they needed when their little girl was born premature. Lucinda Avis was running errands near her home in Solomons, Maryland when she went into labor. She was two months early. Though she had closer options, she drove the hour and a half to AAMC because she wanted the quality medical care she knew the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) could provide. But an hour and a half is a long way from home. Her new daughter Audrey was born healthy, but she required medical support until gaining her strength. For her husband and 20-month-old son, this could have meant a lengthy stay in a hotel room or a daily drive back and forth from Solomons to visit Lucinda and the baby. But the Hackerman-Patz House offered them a better option. A home away from home, the Hackerman-Patz House provides affordable accommodations to patients and their families right on the AAMC campus. “It’s a huge benefit that we can all be here together,” says Lucinda. “I can sleep with my family and be right here near the hospital.” The 20 rooms share a common sitting room, kitchenette and playroom, so families have space to relax and recuperate. “My husband was here yesterday for four hours with our toddler,” she says, “and they didn’t have to just stay in our room all day, because there’s all this other space.” When Lucinda arrived at AAMC, The Hackerman-Patz House was still days away from opening. But she and her family needed to be together, and to be close to little Audrey. So staff opened their doors and welcomed the Avis’s. “I really feel like they’ve gone above and beyond what they needed to do. It’s just been more than what was expected.” With the help of the Hackerman-Patz House, Lucinda and her family were able to focus on welcoming their new daughter and celebrating her arrival.
- Community, Men's Health, Women's Health, Heart Care, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogFor patients without a primary care doctor, answers to medical questions can be hard to come by. Often it’s easier to ignore a health issue, hoping it will go away, than it is to seek treatment. Fortunately, 55-year-old Donald Agee discovered the Community Health Center before it cost him his leg. He visited the clinic July 2011 with numbness in his right toes, dizziness and blurred vision. A long history of smoking and high blood pressure led the doctors to run some tests on Donald’s heart. The results concerned them, and they referred Donald to the cardiology department at AAMC. It was a timely call because cardiologists discovered a weakness in Donald’s heart and narrowing of the arteries in his right leg. Without treatment, his leg would have become severely damaged from lack of blood flow. In situations like this, patients who wait eventually require amputation to save their lives. Doctors put two stents in to open and shore up the damaged arteries and restore circulation. Donald said he felt better immediately, and is thankful the community health center was there when he needed it. “If I hadn’t of gone to the clinic, I would have lost my leg,” he said.
- Men's Health, Women's Health, Heart Care, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogThe traditional approach to angioplasty, a medical procedure in which cardiologists clear blockages in coronary arteries, involves inserting a catheter into the patient’s femoral artery, a very large blood vessel buried at the groin deep in a patient’s leg. Now cardiologists at AAMC have another route to restore blood flow to the heart muscle—through the wrist. It’s called radial artery angioplasty and is especially beneficial to patients like Jim Smith, 68, of Centreville, MD. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after suffering a heart attack. Doctors on the Eastern Shore had sent him across the Bay Bridge to AAMC where nurses, technicians and cardiologists were waiting for him in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. The Cath Lab team is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to save the lives of heart attack patients. For Jim who had already had a deep vein thrombosis removed from his leg, catheterization through the femoral artery posed a slightly higher risk of complications. Fortunately, interventional cardiologist Scott Katzen, MD, was able to offer a newer, safer route to Jim’s heart—catheterization at the wrist, the radial artery. “The radial artery approach has a lower risk of bleeding complications,” said Dr. Katzen who has performed hundreds of radial artery catheterizations. “It’s more comfortable for the patients, and they literally can be in bed sitting up eating their lunch a half hour after the procedure.” After a femoral artery catheterization, patients must lay flat for several hours. By inserting the catheter, a long and narrow tube, into the radial artery and threading it up to a patient’s heart, Dr. Katzen cleared the blockage. The catheter has a tiny balloon inside which is deployed to open the clot. In some cases, cardiologists also may insert and leave a stent to keep an artery open. A stent is a small narrow metal mesh tube-like device. Since September 2012, Dr. Katzen has been performing radial artery catheterizations regularly at AAMC, and patients like Jim have been impressed with how easy it was to go through. “It was amazing. There was no pain involved at all,” said Jim. “It was just like having blood drawn except that instead of drawing blood they put a catheter in there.” The day after his heart attack, Jim was back at home. “The procedure was just so smooth and easy,” he said, “There were no after effects or any recovery time, it was really great.”
- Men's Health, Orthopedics, Women's Health, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogChristopher Bell first injured his knee playing tennis nine years ago. Seven years and two surgeries later, he was still in pain, and his options were narrowing. Fortunately, a new study at the AAMC Research Institute brought state-of-the art treatment to the Annapolis resident that no one else in the region could offer him. After his injury, one of the bones in Christopher’s knee had developed what doctors called small potholes. They caused enough pain that he could no longer play tennis. Microfracture surgery, which involves drilling into the pot holes to encourage scar tissue growth provided nearly two years of relief. But when the pain returned, his only other option was a partial knee replacement. “I went to three other doctors,” Christopher said, “including the orthopedic doctor for the Baltimore Ravens, and it was either quit playing tennis or have a partial knee replacement.” That’s when Thomas Harries, M.D., at Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center offered him another option. Through the AAMC Research Institute, Dr. Harries was participating in a national study of a new procedure called HemiCap joint resurfacing. It’s an outpatient procedure that has been used in Europe for four years, and is now being evaluated for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the U.S. “A hemi cap is a small metal implant that restores the joint surface and keeps the joint from deteriorating further,” said Dr. Harries. “It’s like filling a pothole in the road. If you don’t fill it, it’s just going to get worse and worse.” The metal implants provide a permanent solution to this kind of chronic knee pain and preserve the healthy portion of the knee. Dr. Harries said 30 or 40 other institutions participated in the study, and after two years of patient follow up, the procedure is in review by the FDA. “It’s not available to the general public yet,” Dr. Harries said. “For me, being involved in the research end means an opportunity to gain more knowledge of these cutting edge procedures and the different products out there. It benefits your patients to have a physician who is keeping up with the modern technology and involved in developing it.” Christopher is walking proof of those benefits. His knee feels great, and he plays tennis every Thursday night. “It was absolutely surprising that I was able to be part of the study and have this cutting edge procedure at Anne Arundel Medical Center right here in Annapolis.”
- Community, Giving, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogFour years ago, local photographer and Davidsonville resident Linda McCarthy began applying her talents to benefit her community. As a 20-year veteran photographer specializing in weddings and family portraits, Linda often found herself taking great photos of babies, and thought they would make a wonderful local calendar. But she wanted this to be more than a calendar – she wanted this project to have a positive impact on her community. Thus the Angel Calendar was born. Partnering with the AAMC Labor and Delivery Unit and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Linda met dozens of families that had beautiful babies, some of whom had survived and thrived thanks specifically to the care and dedication of the NICU team. “As I would take photos of these adorable babies, I would hear the most wonderful stories about the family’s experience at AAMC’s NICU and their sincere appreciation of the care their babies had received,” explains Linda. “It gave me such joy to know I was creating a way for these families to say thank you to people who had played such an important role in their lives.” Since 2009, Linda’s Angel Calendar has raised more than $70,000 to support care for NICU babies at AAMC. “The Angel Calendars have brought a special magic to our NICU with a miracle worker leading the charge,” praises NICU Clinical Director Carol Lacher. “Thanks to the efforts and generosity of Linda and Visual Concepts Photography, we purchased much needed special emergency carts, chairs for family members to sit in while staying in the room with their baby, and special the room lighting for medical treatments.” “I have always believed in giving back to the community,” explains Linda. “What can be better than knowing you are helping someone who truly needs it!” To learn more about the Angel Calendar project, go to Visual Concepts.
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