Inside Message from the Winter 2015 CEO Like many of you, I enjoy that care which is celebrated Bits & Bytes 3 taking time after the hectic in this issue of 360. Heart Attack at 40: holiday schedule settles You’ll meet a mother 4 Nicole Pugliese Shares down to reflect on what and daughter who Her Story of Survival goals I have accomplished transformed their lives and AccuBoost Provides over the past year – and their health, together, with 6 State-of-the-Art Treatment what milestones Saint Agnes the help of our award-winning for Breast Cancer has achieved as well. bariatric surgical team. You will Bariatric Dream Team: Physically, our hospital campus has also read about a 40-year-old woman Mother and Daughter been transformed over the past seven who experienced a heart attack and was 8 Team Up to Fulfill their years with our capital expansion project, saved by our cardiovascular specialists. Weight Loss Dreams the most successful in the history of A new year is a perfect time to Saint Agnes Leads Saint Agnes. From the South Tower to recommit to health with annual check- 10 the Way in Robotic the newly-expanded Cancer Institute ups you may have put off – for you, Knee Replacement in the Angelos Medical Pavilion, Saint and perhaps for your growing children A Specialized Approach Agnes has become known throughout as well. In this issue we review what 12 to Breast Reconstruction the region for its cutting edge facilities your teenage daughter should expect and advanced technology. on her first gynecological check-up. Introducing Your Teen But Saint Agnes is truly distin- Saint Agnes surgeons and specialists to the Gynecologist 13 guished not by bricks and mortar, but can work with you to make 2015 the year Calendar of Events by its historic and profound impact that you take charge of your own health. 14 on the communities we serve. Since At Saint Agnes, we are standing by to 1862 our patients, and their families, partner with you for good health and a Legacy: 15 Saint Agnes Foundation have been served and healed with our long and vibrant future. loving and dedicated clinical care. It is Bonnie Phipps President & CEO Bits&Bytes Celebrating Eleven Years of Red Dress SM Sunday Over the past decade, Saint Agnes has taken a stand to fight heart disease in women. As our Red Dress Sunday program kicks off its 11th year, we are excited to celebrate how much our mission has grown. Over 170 local churches dress in their finest reds every February to spread the message about heart health to their congregations. If you are interested in hosting a Red Dress Sunday celebration at your church, email [email protected] to get added to our mailing list and receive helpful eNewsletters. Heart disease continues to be the number one killer of women, so we still need your help in raising awareness about risk factors and prevention behaviors. Download Our Free Mobile App! Need to find a doctor on the go? Now you can access contact information and Connect With Us! directions for more than 800 doctors Inspirational patient stories. Healthy recipes and fitness tips. across a wide variety of specialties, Important wellness and prevention behaviors. Get all this all from your mobile device! Simply information and more from a veritable source you can trust. download the free Saint Agnes Hospital Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to be updated app from iTunes or Google Play. Saint with current health news, wellness tips, community events, Agnes Hospital and more. Find us at: has a number of physicians in your www.facebook.com/SaintAgnesMD community and www.twitter.com/SaintAgnesMD accessing them has www.youtube.com/user/SaintAgnesHospital never been easier! Winter 2015 36Oº 3 “I got through the procedure without any muscle damage to my heart because of the quick response of both Catonsville EMS and the team at Saint Agnes Hospital. They saved my life, and the care I received was outstanding.” - Nicole Pugliese 4 36Oº Winter 2015 Heart Attack at 40 Nicole Pugliese Shares Her Story of Survival by Tracy M. Fitzgerald ocal school nurse Nicole Pug- disease, and too often, people assume liese was driving when, out of that what they are feeling is a simple nowhere, she started to feel ache or pain, and they dismiss it. a slight burning sensation in “Someone who is experiencing her chest. Convincing herself chest pain may be more likely to realize that she was getting an upper what is happening,” Dr. Ince said. “But respiratory infection, Pugliese someone who is extremely fatigued or continued on. After all, she was only feeling short of breath might assume L40 years old. The pain gradually but it’s because they have been busy, they quickly increased, and along with it are out of shape, or maybe that they came nausea, dizziness, profuse sweat- are anemic. These non-classic signs ing and numbness in both arms, all can be real indicators of a heart condi- common symptoms of a heart attack. tion. This is why it’s so important to Pugliese was in trouble, and now she see your doctor on a regular basis for Within a few weeks of her stent pro- knew it. check-ups and screenings.” cedure, Pugliese started participating Catonsville Emergency Medical Ser- in Saint Agnes’ Cardiac Rehabilitation vice (EMS) responded to Pugliese’s 911 Program. Today, her schedule remains call and transported her to Saint Agnes very busy with a full-time job and two Hospital’s Chest Pain Emergency Room, daughters to care for, but she is choos- where it was quickly confirmed that she ing to make her health a top priority. Understanding what health condi- was in fact having a heart attack. Within She eats smarter, exercises regularly tions are prevalent on each side of five minutes of her arrival, Pugliese was and takes the right medications to keep the family tree can also be helpful in moved to the Cardiac Catheterization her cardiovascular health in check. assessing your risk for cardiovascular Lab, and a stent was placed. “I am trying to limit my stress, get disease or heart attack, but Dr. Ince “I got through the procedure with- enough rest and listen to my body,” stresses that people without a family out any muscle damage to my heart Pugliese said. “This event significantly history are not necessarily immune. because of the quick response of both changed my life, but because of it, I “People still have the mentality Catonsville EMS and the team at Saint am now on the right path.” that it won’t happen to them,” he said. Agnes Hospital,” Pugliese said. “They “Sometimes I see patients who have no saved my life, and the care I received ______________________ family history of cardiovascular disease was outstanding.” and they are caught off guard when Dr. Carlos Ince, Chief of Cardiol- For more information about we detect a problem. I have to remind ogy at Saint Agnes Hospital, played the Cardiovascular Institute or them that someone in their family has a key role in Pugliese’s care on that our Cardiac Rehabilitation to be the first. It can happen, and it can fateful evening. He often explains to be at an earlier age than most people Program, visit us online at his patients that there are classic and think. Nicole is an example of that.” TeamSaintAgnes.com. non-classic symptoms of cardiovascular Winter 2015 36Oº 5 AccuBoost Provides State-of-the-Art Treatment for Breast Cancer by Susie Breaux McShea renda Afzal knew it allows greatly improved precision “It is a good example of the the statistics. In her in treatment and less damage to personalized medicine approach career as a nurse and surrounding tissue such as the that makes Saint Agnes distinct an environmental heart and lungs." from many other cancer treatment health educator and Afzal explained that the process centers,” Dr. Hudes explained. advocate, she had spo- is “like a mammogram, but tighter After the AccuBoost treatments, ken to women count- and for a longer period of time.” Afzal also had a few weeks of tra- less times about the incidence She described staying in position ditional radiation therapy. But, she Bof breast cancer – 1 in 8 women. for 10 to 11 minutes as the radiation finished treatment in time to go “Still, I really wasn’t expecting it,” is carefully targeted to the affected on a long-planned family trip to St. Afzal said about her diagnosis of area. Treatment is twice daily. Maarten with her husband, two of breast cancer just before Thanks- Afzal appreciated that the her children and her grandchild. She giving of 2013. AccuBoost treatment continues for describes it as a “glorious vacation; Thanks to surgery and radiation fewer weeks than other therapies. the best of our lives!” therapy with the new AccuBoost While there is some discomfort, it In fact, Afzal describes the whole system at Saint Agnes Hospital, is not painful, she said. And the process as not only “life changing,” Afzal had swift and targeted treat- benefits are worth it. but also “life affirming.” ment and has a good outlook for On her first day, the staff at the ongoing recovery. Saint Agnes Cancer Institute gave ______________________ The Saint Agnes Cancer Institute her a fluffy pink robe. “It was like is the only cancer center in Maryland wrapping myself in comfort,” she For more information about Breast to offer the AccuBoost procedure as said. That warmth was mirrored by Cancer treatment, visit our website a radiotherapy treatment option to the technicians who worked with at TeamSaintAgnes.com.