2014 ANNUAL REPORT ENHANCING THE LIVES OF THOSE WE SERVE TABLE OF CONTENTS page SANDRA PEARSON 03 Life after Cancer? Bring It on… page RICHARD KENNEY Cutting-edge heart procedures 05 keep him on the move page ZAILYN BYRD A rough start leads to a smoother 07 road ahead… page FATHER JOHN GEORGIA 09 Grateful for the gift of life Enhancing the Lives of Those We Serve 2 Life after cancer? Bring it on… It was February 2013, and Sandra Pearson will never forget the words she heard on the other end of the telephone. “We are sorry to inform you that the test results are positive.” She had breast cancer. A couple of weeks earlier, her doctor had discovered a lump in Sandra’s breast. At the suggestion of her good friend, Sandra went to Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven where she met with Anees Chagpar, MD, director of the Breast Center at Smilow for an exam and more testing. Sandra recalls her first thoughts. This can’t be... I have two children… I run a daycare center… I have lots of people depending on me… I can’t have Sandra works with a personal trainer, Derek. cancer. The morning after that life-changing phone call, Sandra, along with six supportive family members, headed into Smilow to talk about next steps. “First, Dr. Chagpar hugged me. She comforted me. Then, she explained what my test results revealed. She took her time, drew pictures and diagrams, answered questions and explained possible scenarios. Dr. Chagpar was so patient and attentive that she made me feel as if I was her one and only patient.” Next steps would include four months of chemotherapy, then surgery to remove the tumor followed by radiation treatments. Although Sandra had been warned that chemotherapy would be tough, she Since her recovery, Sandra enjoys working was not prepared for how traumatic the effects would be for her. Her hair out daily. came out, her fingernails turned black, her facial features changed and she was constantly exhausted. “It was a really tough time,” Sandra recalled. “I had to stop working. I lost all of my self-esteem and was depressed.” She explained how her parents and sister stepped in to help care for her and her teenage children and is sure to mention that her support group also included her “prayer warriors” of extended family members and clergy. Enhancing the Lives of Those We Serve 3 SANDRA PEARSON Sandra met oncologist Erin Hofstatter, MD and began chemo treatments at Smilow. “She was equally as patient and caring,” she commented. “I quickly began to see why appointments with the physicians often went overtime. They really took the time to talk with me and maybe even more importantly, let me talk. And ask questions. Never in my life had I had doctors ask ‘What can I do for you?’ For me.” “I can’t express how much that support meant to me. And I have no doubt that their positive attitudes and constant encouragement helped in my recovery,” she said. After chemo treatments ended, Dr. Chagpar performed Sandra’s surgery in Even after all she has been through, Sandra September 2013. By the end of the month, her hair started growing back. feels as if she is now in the best shape of her That was a changing point where things started to look up. life. It was during this tough stage that Sandra also met with Denise Armstrong, YNHH social worker. “To say she was my rock is an understatement,” said Sandra. “She saw me at my worst and helped me to ‘snap out of it.’ You’re winning this thing Sandra – you’re a winner,” she told me. Surgery was followed by radiation for two months with Suzanne Evans, MD, radiation oncologist, who Sandra also described as “phenomenal.” Now, about a year after her diagnosis, Sandra is going strong. She continues to visit YNHH for follow-up treatments. She has a new job as a paraprofessional for a first-grade class in the local school system, works out at the gym every day and spends quality time with her 17- and 15-year-old teens and says she is feeling better than ever. “Smilow is more than a hospital. The professionals who cared for me are like my extended family – they took part in healing my body and getting me back on my feet,” said Sandra said. “Having cancer actually gave me new life,” Sandra explained “Things that I thought were going to be impossible are now possible. I’ve got a new life, a new job, new hair and a brand new outlook for the future. God is mighty, because he along with the doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital gave me a second chance at life. I’m so excited!” Enhancing the Lives of Those We Serve 4 Cutting-edge heart procedures keep him on the move A year ago, Richard Kenney found it difficult to walk up a flight of stairs. By the time he got to the top, he was weak and out of breath. Richard, 79, had spent his career traveling all over the world as owner of a company that manufactured industrial x-ray equipment. Having his movements restricted by a worsening heart condition was both frustrating and sobering. “It was getting really bad,” he said. “I couldn’t exercise, I couldn’t walk. I was worried about traveling anywhere by myself.” Richard turned to Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Heart and Vascular Center Healthy once more, Richard looks forward to (HVC). Each year HVC treats the most heart and vascular patients of traveling again. any facility in Connecticut and performs virtually all cardiac and vascular procedures available worldwide. Richard was no stranger to the center, having undergone a previous procedure there. In 2011, he began suffering from peripheral arterial disease, a common vascular disorder that impacts the flow of blood through an artery. Richard was treated by Carlos I. Mena, MD, medical director of vascular medicine at YNHH, who performed an endovascular below-the-knee intervention in the artery. While the specific procedure – in which complex blockages are opened to allow blood flow to be reestablished in the limb – was a relatively new one at the time of Richard’s diagnosis, it is now done on a routine basis at HVC. The traditional treatment for patients with peripheral arterial disease is a surgical bypass, which requires a lengthier recovery period. Because Richard wasn’t a good candidate for the Richard sets off on another adventure. bypass procedure, he faced the very real possibility of a below-the-knee amputation if his symptoms weren’t addressed. “Dr. Mena did a great job with the stents in my leg, and ever since then it hasn’t been a problem,” said Richard. “Within two weeks after the procedure, I could do what I wanted without any pain.” Enhancing the Lives of Those We Serve 5 Richard Kenney By 2013 however, Richard was experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath and limited mobility due to a problem with the aortic valve in his heart. He returned to YNHH and test results showed that his aortic valve needed to be replaced – a procedure that normally involves high-risk open-heart surgery and a lengthy recovery. Instead, Richard’s cardiologist, Michael W. Cleman, MD, director of the YNHH Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, referred him to the Structural Heart Disease Program for a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). TAVR is a procedure that involves using a catheter from the leg or other approach to deliver a new aortic valve that replaces the heart’s diseased aortic valve without requiring open-heart surgery. Yale-New Haven Hospital Richard enjoys spending time with his great- was the first hospital in Connecticut to offer TAVR as a treatment option for grandchildren, Hudson and Charlotte. patients with severe aortic stenosis. Richard, who had undergone previous open-heart surgery in 2004 to treat pericardial thickening, was a good candidate for the TAVR procedure, which was performed by John K. Forrest, MD, director of the Structural Heart Disease Program. “When I had open-heart surgery in 2004, I was in a lot of pain, in the hospital for two weeks and couldn’t drive for a month,” said Richard. “But after the TAVR, it was unbelievable – I was in the hospital only a few nights and was back to normal within several days.” A year later, Richard is now back to doing activities he hadn’t been able to do in quite some time. He plays golf, works out at his grandson’s gym – and travels. Recently Richard and his partner, Sally, went to New Zealand and Fiji on a dream vacation. Other trips Richard has made since his surgeries haven’t ranged quite as far afield, but they have been just as memorable. This past December, Richard and Sally took his two great-grandchildren, ages 4 and 2, on the train into New York City to see the Christmas show. “Moments like that – they are priceless,” he said. “I’m grateful to the doctors and staff at Yale-New Haven Hospital for giving them back to me.” Enhancing the Lives of Those We Serve 6 A rough start leads to a smoother road ahead… On December 30, 2012, just over a year after the Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) screenings were adopted in Connecticut, LaShelle gave birth to her third child, a son named Zailyn. It was a normal birth and as is routine in Connecticut, Zailyn’s nurse applied a few drops of his blood to a piece of filter paper before he was discharged from the hospital.