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Baptist Health COO Benefits From Cancer Program

Baptist Health COO Benefits From Cancer Program
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Jul. 29, 2015 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 29, 2015 | 10:14 AM | PADUCAH, KY
The nationally-accredited cancer care program at Baptist Health Paducah has finished investing $4 million in the latest technology – new radiosurgery, radiation therapy, “brain mapping” MRI and surgical navigation equipment.

Dollars, however, cannot define value when it comes to your brain health, according to one of the first patients to benefit from it. 

“I never expected the events of the last few weeks,” said Bonnie Schrock, “but they have given me one more reason to be grateful for our capabilities.”

Schrock is not just any patient; she’s the hospital’s chief operating officer. An experienced public speaker, she began in late 2014 noticing symptoms, affecting her ability to find the right words. Finally in May, she realized the severity and sought medical attention, which led to the discovery of a brain mass the size of an egg.

Her doctor, neurosurgeon Thomas Gruber, MD, scheduled her for brain surgery, but first he used the hospital’s new functional MRI to map his surgical plan for a precise incision and pathway to avoid functional parts of her brain. The new MRI software determines which parts of the brain handle critical functions, such as thought, speech, movement and sensation. She was the third patient to benefit from the new capabilities.

The next day, he performed a craniotomy with a new Brainlab surgical navigation system showing her brain and his every surgical move on a jumbo screen in the operating room. He removed the mass, and five days later, the pathology report revealed that the mass was not cancerous, but instead was a vascular malformation. 

Schrock has been recovering the last six weeks and plans to return to work on Monday.

“I am so excited to be returning to serve the hospital and our community,” she said. “I feel better than I have in a very long time, and I am blessed to expect a full recovery.”

Schrock said when she received the shocking diagnosis, she could have gone anywhere for treatment. “We have this brand new equipment that offers even greater precision than before,” she said, “and I trusted our team of caregivers and their capabilities. It was also important to me to have the support of my family and friends here, which is a big part of healing.”

In addition to the functional MRI and Brainlab navigation system, Dr. Gruber said the recent investment in cancer care also includes an upgrade of one of the hospital’s two radiation therapy linear accelerators to perform noninvasive stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiation therapy. (Stereotactic means imaging markers are used to guide the beam of radiation or the surgeon to the precise spot needing treatment, sparing all of the tissue around it.)

The SRS-SBRT technology will bring a significant change in radiation therapy, with the first patients expected next month. For some, it will reduce the number of radiation treatments from weeks to days. 

“This new technology, which treats moving targets with advanced speed and accuracy, is considered leading-edge cancer care at the forefront in the fight against cancer,” Dr. Gruber said.

William A. Brown, hospital president, said the hospital invested in the latest technology as part of its long-term commitment to cancer care, which began when the hospital purchased its first cobalt equipment in 1967. Its radiation therapy program became Kentucky’s first nationally-accredited program in 1998; and the comprehensive cancer program has been nationally-accredited since 2001.

“I am so proud of this cancer care team,” Brown said. “We are part of a statewide network, giving us access to 165 national clinical trials, so our patients get the very latest treatment available in the fight against cancer. Our local oncologists work with our primary care doctors, surgeons and other specialists to provide top-ranked quality cancer care right here at home, and we have been blessed by support from the community we are privileged to serve to be able to offer the latest diagnostic and treatment technology.”



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