Author: Lauren Schulz

November 7, 2018

NanoKnife Surgery in Lexington

Baptist Health Lexington: NanoKnife Surgery

NanoKnife therapy technology targets cells with electricity versus heat or cold in order to maintain the integrity of your blood vessels. Learn more about the NanoKnife surgery for cancer from Baptist Health Lexington.

NanoKnife Surgery HealthTalks Transcript

Shaun McKenzie, MD
Most cancers that come from solid organs, so cancers that don’t come from blood cells, will require surgery at some point during their treatment. That would include cancers of the GI tract, breast cancers, cancers of muscle and bone, and then, cancers of the lung. Those are some in particular.

The benefit of the NanoKnife treatment is, in particular, in those tumors that are either attached to or wrapped around blood vessels that we can’t remove. It uses electrical pulses as opposed to heat or cold to create cell death. The benefit in that is that when you have tumors that are wrapped around blood vessels, the blood vessel wall is relatively acellular, but the tumor obviously is very cellular, and so we can treat tumors that are encasing or wrapped around blood vessels right up to the blood vessel but preserve the integrity of the blood vessel.

I think it’s important for the patients of Kentucky to have multiple access points for their cancer care, and traditionally for this approach, many patients had to drive several hours just to be evaluated. Now that Baptist Health Lexington offers this approach, patients can have better access to it.

November 7, 2018

New Tests to Diagnose Heart Failure at Baptist Health La Grange

Baptist Health La Grange: New Tests to Diagnose Heart Failure

Learn about the new technologies that Baptist Health La Grange uses for the early detection of heart failure. Watch this video to learn more about heart failure screening from Baptist Health.

New Tests to Diagnose Heart Failure HealthTalks Transcript

Jesse Adams, MD
Heart failure is where the heart fails to do its job. The heart’s job is basically to pump blood out of the lungs out to the body, and if that fails to happen, that’s what heart failure is. We can diagnose heart failure in a variety of ways. We can pick up this by physical exam — there are a number of things we can find when we examine somebody. Certainly, when we’re talking to them, we can pick that up, and we have a number of different tests we can use to help define what’s going on with the heart.

One of the new technologies that we have in echo [echocardiography], and it is available in La Grange, is something called strain imaging. This is a very sophisticated technique where we’re doing echo pictures, but we’re actually tracking how the heart muscle is contracting and then relaxing. It’s a much more sophisticated way to really be able to tell what’s going on with the heart muscle itself. That can help us to do a better job, both identifying people with heart failure, and then to identify the best treatment for them.

It used to be that if somebody was diagnosed with heart failure, it could be a fairly dire diagnosis. These days, we have a lot that we can offer, both in terms of better diagnostics to tell what’s going in the first place, lots of different medicines that we can use that can help. There are also some interventional techniques that we have to help the heart. All of these put together means that most of the time, we can significantly improve someone if they’re having heart failure symptoms.

Have you ever wondered how healthy your heart is? This quick heart health risk assessment can compare your actual age to your heart’s biological age, as well as calculate your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

November 7, 2018

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Wound Healing at Floyd

Baptist Health Floyd: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Wound Healing

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream to help wounds heal faster. Learn more about Baptist Health Floyd’s Wound Care Center.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Wound Healing HealthTalks Transcript

Bob Thacker, CHT
When you’re having difficulty with a wound healing, that’s the time to come to the wound center. Our objective here at the Wound Care Center and in hyperbaric medicine is to close that wound as quickly as possible. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is where we utilize 100 percent oxygen, but therapeutically, when we place someone inside of a hyperbaric chamber and we close the door, then we pressurize that oxygen. So, we’ll magnify the oxygen in the bloodstream by tenfold or greater. By pressurizing oxygen in that environment, oxygen behaves differently. By doing so, cells begin to respond. That healing process begins to respond, and wounds heal up.

Mostly, what we see in the wound center are diabetic ulcers, necrotizing infections, gas gangrene, a skin graft that has started to fail, osteomyelitis, which is infection of the bone, or radiation injuries. There are a number of other indications for it, but primarily, those are the ones we deal with here in the wound center.

Hyperbaric therapy is very safe. Hyperbaric chambers have been around for greater than 300 years. But over the past 50 to 60 years, we have acquired state-of-the-art chambers. One of our jobs is to ensure your safety 100 percent of the time.

You could be self-referred to the Wound Care Center, or you could have your primary care physician or your specialty physician refer you here. Most insurance companies do cover wound care and hyperbaric treatment.

Hyperbaric is a life changer. It will actually give your life back to you.

November 7, 2018

Prostate Cancer Screening & Treatment Options in Corbin

Baptist Health Corbin: Prostate Cancer Screening & Treatments Options

Baptist Health uses advanced medicine to screen to proactively treat prostate cancer. Learn more about the process and prostate cancer treatment options from Baptist Health Corbin.

Prostate Cancer Screening & Treatments Options HealthTalks Transcript

Christopher Steidle, MD
Prostate cancer, currently the most common cancer in men, is mainly a genetic disease. We know a lot about the genetics now, and we know that as an example, you have a 14 percent chance, roughly, to get it during your life. But, if your dad had it, you’re at a 28 percent risk, so it doubles. Every subsequent relative, such as an uncle, increases that risk.

Indications for screening include men who have a high risk, and I generally start in their 30s to get a baseline blood test. The blood test is known as the PSA or prostate specific antigen. It’s nothing more than a prostate marker. Elevation of the PSA is not indicative of cancer, but it’s a clue for us to evaluate and investigate further.

Fortunately, when we look at treatments for prostate cancer, we have radical surgery, done robotically now. We have radiation treatments, which have dramatically progressed to be much easier and much more effective than previously. We have some of the newer treatments, including freezing the prostate cancer, and we can even use high-intensity, focused ultrasound in certain situations.

Fortunately, today, prostate cancer is one of the most controlled diseases we have. It’s very easy to control, and the key is an early diagnosis.

September 10, 2018

Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Options in Richmond

Baptist Health Richmond: Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Options

Baptist Health offers a variety of options for LARC (long-acting reversible contraception) to give our patients the ability to make decisions around family planning. Our physicians work with patients to find the best birth control option for their situation and needs.

Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Options HealthTalks Transcript

Ian Holbrook, MD
There are a lot of new birth control options available today. It’s not just pills and patches and condoms anymore. There are a lot of different forms. Baptist Health is now offering several options in the form of LARCs, which are long-acting reversible contraception.

There are several different kinds of LARCs. There’s an injectable progesterone shot given every 12 weeks. It’s an injection in the arm or the buttock. It gives a kind of reservoir progesterone in the muscle that releases over that period of time, so it would be four shots in a year. The other options would be an implant called Nexplanon® that is subdermal, meaning just under the skin and the arm, and there is what’s called an “intrauterine device” or an IUD. It’s a little T-shaped rod. It’s also an implant that goes in the uterus. There are several hormonal options with that, as well as a non-hormonal option.

The idea with LARC is that it gives women more options for highly effective forms of birth control. They have very low failure rates, less than 1 percent. They work for multiple years of time, but aren’t permanent, so they can be implanted and removed whenever.

With so many available options in the form of LARC now, they give women control over when they want to be pregnant, planning that family, with all the added benefits. Baptist Health Richmond would love to talk with you in more depth about these LARC options.

September 10, 2018

Conversations that Matter: Advance Care Planning in Louisville

Baptist Health Louisville: Conversations that Matter – Advance Care Planning in Louisville

Learn about our approach to the challenging but important conversations for adults of all ages to have. Baptist Health’s Advance Care Planning: Conversations That Matter program is designed to facilitate meaningful conversations about end-of-life care so you and your family members are prepared if faced with important decisions about your healthcare.

Conversations that Matter – Advance Care Planning HealthTalks Transcript

Kenneth C Anderson, MD
Advance care planning is an organized conversation concerning someone’s end-of-life wishes. It’s a detailed conversation about what could happen in the future and how you want your wishes followed.

Baptist Health Advance Care Planning: Conversations that Matter is a program that assists individuals in completing advance care planning. It’s a program where we will assist you in the conversation. We will then file it in our records, have it available, and assure that your wishes are followed at the appropriate time.

Advance care planning should be done by everyone. When we’re younger, in our 20s and 30s, if there’s something tragic like an accident, someone should be able to speak for the person. In middle age, when you have some chronic illnesses, it would also be good for someone to know your wishes. Lastly, as you get elderly and have a terminal condition, definitely have someone who is able to speak for you.

Advance care planning is not just a living will. If it’s just something written on a paper, you’re not going to cover all the possibilities that could occur when it’s really needed.

Many times, you might not have expressed your wishes to anyone. You might not want to be on life support. You might not want tube feedings or artificial nutrition. You want to be kept comfortable, and if you don’t tell your wishes to someone, they will not know what to do.

September 10, 2018

Kidney Stone Prevention & Treatment Options in Richmond

Baptist Health Richmond: Kidney Stone Prevention & Treatment Options

Baptist Health has a variety of options for preventing and treating kidney stones. Our physicians look to take preventive measures in tackling the causes of kidney stones, as well as evaluating multiple treatment options for our patients.

Kidney Stone Prevention & Treatment Options HealthTalks Transcript

Andrew Todd, MD
Kidney stones can be incredibly painful. Some of the main causes of kidney stones are genetics, things we can’t change; diet, things we can change; and hydration, one of the things that is challenging, but we can work to change.

There are many different ways to treat kidney stones. The way that has the highest amount of stone-free rates and clears out the most kidney stones is making a small incision in someone’s back and going in percutaneously to remove all the stones, bust them up, and suck them out, as we would say.

There are other ways to treat kidney stones as well. We can use tiny cameras to drive up into the kidneys and the urinary system to blast the kidney stones with lasers and remove all the pieces.

Additionally, we can use shockwave therapy to break up the kidney stones and allow the dust to pass.

All of the latest modalities to treat kidney stones are available here at Baptist Health Richmond. One of the best things that we try to do in our comprehensive kidney stone management is to try to prevent them.

I think in all individuals who are at high risk for making more stones, there are a number of things that we can do to try to decrease the number of stones they make in the future and improve their quality of life.

Looking for more information? Make an appointment with Baptist Health Medical Group Urology by calling (859)626.8645.

September 10, 2018

Stroke Prevention with the Watchman Device in Paducah

Baptist Health Paducah: Stroke Prevention with the Watchman Device

The Watchman device works to reduce the risk of stroke by treating atrial fibrillation without using blood thinners. Learn more about the Watchman procedure and how it works to prevent strokes.

Stroke Prevention with the Watchman Device HealthTalks Transcript

Martin Rains, MD
Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heart rhythm that puts patients at risk for stroke. The traditional treatment method for patients who are at risk of stroke is a blood-thinning medicine, which is very effective at preventing stroke. The downside is, it causes bleeding concerns and problems.

Ninety-one percent of strokes with atrial fibrillation come from a particular area of the heart, which otherwise contributes nothing to the function of the heart. This device, the Watchman device, is implanted into that specific area of the heart to effectively exclude it from circulation. Blood doesn’t get in; therefore, blood doesn’t clot and get out, which is how stroke arises.

The procedure itself is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that is catheter-based, done in an operating room, where patients undergo a procedure for one to two hours in which the device itself is implanted into the heart.

The real testament to the impact of this procedure comes down the road. Forty-five days after the procedure, we repeat an imaging session, looking at the device within the heart. If it is healed, and there is no blood flow into this particular area of the heart, nor out of it, then we can stop the blood-thinning medications. That really is when the impact in their lives occurs — when they can essentially obtain that same reduction in risk for stroke, having atrial fibrillation, that they would with blood thinners, but not need the blood thinners and the risks associated with those.

September 10, 2018

Team-Based Approach to Primary Care in Paducah

Baptist Health Paducah: Team-Based Approach to Primary Care

Baptist Health’s team-based healthcare ensures that patients are optimally supported in their healthcare journeys. Learn more about how patients benefit from having a primary care team.

Team-Based Approach to Primary Care HealthTalks Transcript

Robert Learch, DO
A primary care physician serves many purposes. Obviously, people think of being sick and needing to have someone to see in a time of illness, but maybe even more important than that are the wellness and preventive services we are able to provide in the primary care setting. Getting to know your doctor will always set you up better for those times down the road when you may not be as healthy as you are today.

We’re a practice of two physicians. We have two nurse practitioners working with us as well.

Keisha Snow, APRN
Nurse practitioners can provide a little bit quicker access. Physicians usually book up months in advance. We usually have a little bit more flexibility. We can do almost everything a physician can do and if we can’t, we can at least get you into the office, get you established and get your healthcare on the right track to see a physician the next time.

Suzanne Irvan, APRN
What you will see in this practice is we have an outstanding continuity of care. We see all the same patients. You may see Dr. Learch on one visit and Keisha or myself on another visit. After we see patients, we frequently talk about, “Well, this happened with this patient today,” so we’re all aware of what’s going on with all of the patients.

Dr. Learch
Our goal is to provide a team-based approach so there are multiple sets of eyes on each patient, and we can provide excellent care for people as they go through life.

September 10, 2018

The Importance of Blood Donation in Madisonville

Baptist Health Madisonville: The Importance of Blood Donation

Baptist Health relies on the generosity of blood donors to provide the resources to save lives. It is easy to become a blood donor through making an appointment or visiting the hospital during the walk-in hours at Baptist Health Madisonville.

The Importance of Blood Donation HealthTalks Transcript

Karen Beadnell, MLT, ASCP
Baptist Health has a blood donor program here at Madisonville. It was started in 1961. We accept donors here at the hospital, and we also do a mobile blood drive. We are out about two times a week, here at the hospital from 7:30 to about 4:30. We accept donors as walk-ins, or they can also make appointments. It typically takes about 45 minutes from start to finish.

Christine Rolley, Greenville, Kentucky
I have a blood disorder, hereditary spherocytosis, and the red blood cells go into my spleen, they eat them. Once I got pregnant, it had gotten a little worse. My blood count went down significantly. The baby was losing blood. I was losing blood. So, I had to get admitted. I got three units of blood, and for about a week, I got about two more.

Beadnell
It’s important for the community. It’s a sense of togetherness, plus the people in the community donate here at the hospital. The blood is kept here, it’s used here. In this way, we have a ready, accessible supply of blood. There’s not a chance of having to postpone a surgery or a procedure.

Rolley
I’m just eternally grateful. People donated blood, and it saved my baby’s life.

Beadnell
It’s a sense of accomplishment. They had the opportunity to save up to three people’s lives by donating blood.

September 10, 2018

The Role of Primary Care Doctors in Madisonville

Baptist Health Madisonville: The Role of Primary Care Doctors

Baptist Health’s primary care doctors play an important role in the lives of their patients, helping them with everything from everyday aches and pains to chronic illnesses. Learn more about when to go to urgent care vs. primary care doctors for health issues.

The Role of Primary Care Doctors HealthTalks Transcript

R. Lamont Wood, MD
The role of the primary care provider is to help people handle their medical problems. You help them deal with their day-to-day problems; you address their medical issues and make referrals if you need to; and you help them as far as quarterly visits, taking care of their medicines and making sure they get the care that they need.

If you have chronic medical issues, you should probably be working with your primary care provider on a regular basis. Depending on what you have, it might be as frequent as every three months to at least yearly.

Urgent care is good for taking care of the acute problem that pops up. Urgent care is fine on weekends, or when your provider is not in, then that might be a good place for them. If you think about it during the week, if you can get in to see someone who knows you, even for the acute problem, they can help take care of that issue.

The thing about being a primary care physician, one of the reasons you get up in the morning is that interaction with your patients. The very first time I was at a ballgame, and a little kid pointed to me and said, “That’s my doctor,” you had to put a weight on me to keep me from bouncing off the ceiling. That’s how good that was.

September 10, 2018

Concussion Treatment Options in Louisville

Baptist Health Louisville: Concussion Treatment Options

Learn about Baptist Health Sports Medicine’s approach to concussion treatment, which emphasizes rest and a gradual return to activity, and see how rehabilitation and physical therapy can help to improve and reset an athlete’s balance.

Concussion Treatment Options HealthTalks Transcript

W. Michael Hughes, DO
Concussion, in simple terms, is an injury to the brain itself, where the brain goes through a deceleration/ acceleration as it slows down and then speeds back up as it hits the skull.

Most commonly, we see these in young athletes. The old adage, and it’s very true in our world, is “when it doubt, sit them out.” If there is ever a concern of concussion, the player should come off the field and should not play the rest of the game. There are state laws that mandate an athlete must be evaluated by a physician prior to return to play.

Certainly, the first few days are very important for giving the brain adequate time to rest. Sometimes, the balance center is thrown off in the vestibular system. At Baptist Health, we are very well equipped to handle these concussions and to treat them appropriately. We have physical therapists right next door where we can send patients for vestibular rehabilitation.

One of the things that we use is called the NeuroCom®. It helps with that vestibular rehabilitation. It makes the patient feel a little unsteady, so they’re trying to balance and there are a lot of different stimuli that are thrown at them to try to help re-equilibrate the vestibular system, which is in the inner ear. A lot of it is gradual return back to activity once we see they’re ready for that.