The following is a letter sent to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center from Dr. Carol Ecker, Director Humane Society of St. Joseph County, in thanks of supplies donated from the former SJRMC/South Bend.
When I received a phone call from Sister Laureen Painter, I was in seventh heaven, if there is such a place. She graciously told me that the Humane Society could have articles from the former Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center/South Bend that would be of possible use to us. Since we were building our new shelter for the animals, this was great news. Little did I know that it would be thousands of dollars worth of savings for us. My Aunt Mary always told me “Good things that go around come around.”
Sister Laureen took precious time out of her schedule to show some others and me around the hospital so that we could see exactly what items we could use. It was like Christmas at Wal-Mart. I found so many things that we could put in our new shelter that would diminish the cost tremendously. The stainless steel sinks, lights, cabinets, furniture, IV stands, stainless steel instrument stands, tool cabinets, paper towel holders, vanities and many more things.
So one Wednesday morning, we again toured the facility, after an okay from Sister Laureen. I brought men from Casteel Construction Company, the folks building our new building, and we marked all of the prizes that we were allowed to take. They brought a plumber and we were in business. I have 24 sinks, enough for my surgery, treatment and triage areas. I have vanities for the bathrooms, furniture for the grieving room. The grieving room is where people will be allowed to say good-bye to the animals before they are put to sleep by owner request. The other rooms that need furniture are the play areas where we have people come and visit with their potential pet to get to know them better and to make sure that it gets along with their family members.
In the cattery, which will have outside porches, we need all kinds of plastic items so that they can be cleaned readily. So chairs, tables, benches and milk carton boxes will be used in these rooms for the cats to climb up on and play. We are on a constant hunt for these items.
The Staff has never had any place to really relax and eat their lunch and now will have a staff room. It has tables and chairs from the cafeteria. A refrigerator and a microwave will be used to make their lives better. We do not have a high pay scale here but we will try to make the work conditions improve. The staff is so dedicated to the animals and their well being, that little amenities are really all that we can offer aside from the joy when animals are adopted into the community.
My surgery is being put together little by little. I now have to load the animals in a van, take them to Michigan to a friend’s hospital, spay or neuter them, wake them up and load them in the van and bring them back to our shelter. It is a laborious task and can only be done a few times per month. The surgical supplies that I received from you are most precious to us. Suture material, gowns, drapes, gauze and the many other items that you all bring on a regular basis are most valued. Thank you!
Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, we owe you so much for all you have done for us! We will keep you posted as to what we are doing with the materials that you so graciously donated to our facility. The gift from the hospital will keep on giving to a really good cause - the animals that have so little.
Showing posts with label real stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label real stories. Show all posts
Physician's Personal Experience Helps SJRMC Provide Unique Cancer Care
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| Dr. Mohamed Farhat, MD |
Not only is Dr. Farhat triple Board Certified in the areas of Hematology, Oncology, and Medicine, he is also an Assistant Professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where he completed his Fellowship and Residency.
“We are so happy to be here in this area,” said Dr. Farhat. “Not only is this a great place to live and raise a family, but being here helps provide a university-based cancer treatment program to this area. We have at our disposal whatever we want and access to some of the greatest minds in cancer treatment.”
Rush University is home to one of the first medical colleges in the Midwest and one of the nation’s top-ranked nursing colleges, as well as graduate programs in allied health, health systems management, and biomedical research.
For more than 170 years, Rush has been leading the way in developing innovative and often life-saving treatments. Today, Rush is a thriving center for basic and clinical research, with physicians and scientists involved in hundreds of research projects developing and testing the effectiveness and safety of new therapies and medical devices.
This unique combination of research and patient care is now available in Michiana thanks to the connection and care provided at SJRMC by Dr. Farhat, as well as some poignant personal motivation.
“The patients have been very happy and enthusiastic about receiving the same care as they would in Chicago,” said Dr. Farhat. “I’ve always wanted to bring what I know to an area like this – a place where I can do the most amount of good.”
It wasn’t until his second year at Chicago Medical School that Dr. Farhat realized what “the most amount of good” would be.
Arriving in the United States with his family from France in 1988, Dr. Farhat took four years off between high school and the beginning of undergraduate work at Loyola University in Chicago to help his parents and two older siblings make ends meet at home. When he arrived at Chicago Medical School after graduating from Loyola, he still wasn’t sure what route medicine would take him.
“But during my second year of med school, one of our uncles who was very close with our immediate family developed Leukemia and died two weeks after being diagnosed,” Dr. Farhat explained. “I wanted answers – wanted to know how and why something like this could happen so fast. But nobody could tell me.
“From that point on, I decided that I wanted to be that person who could give answers and help patients and their families,” he continued. “Since that day, I’ve never looked back.”
Using an inherited work ethic from parents who took on extra work to make sure their children would have a solid foundation when it was their time to have families of their own, Dr. Farhat took extra classes and rotations to better prepare him.
“It’s very hard to do but you really have to lock yourself in a room or the library from 8am – 10 pm to just study, study, study,” he said. “But like anything, you get out of it what you put into it.”
At age 35, triple Board Certification and Assistant Professor status on his resume is all the proof one needs to see that Dr. Farhat has made the most of his young life.
“Needless to say, our parents are very proud,” he said with a big smile. “My sister is a lawyer in California and my brother is in his final year of Residency in neurosurgery in Miami. We are blessed with great parents.”
Local cancer patients and their families are feeling the results.
“When you treat cancer patients, many times you are committed to life-long therapy and patients become more like your own family members,” Dr. Farhat said. “It can be tough when you see them go when you have completely cured them because you’ve been a part of each others’ lives for a long time. But you can never experience anything quite like it when you know your patient is feeling better.”
Real Stories: Making your health a priority, not a hassle
Too important to put off: Making your health a priority, not a hassle
By May Lee Johnson
South Bend Tribune, March 25, 2010
Last week my soul cried.
I don’t know why I had avoided being checked for breast cancer for so long.
Maybe I was afraid and didn’t want to know. But whenever my doctor asked about a mammogram, I had an excuse.
Finally, she stopped listening. If I didn’t get one, she would drop me as a patient.
Reluctantly, I made an appointment with the mobile unit from Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center that visits the parking lot of the Sister Maura Brannick CSC Health Center on Chapin Street.
The day of my appointment, I was late. I’ll come back some other day, I told the nurse.
But she told me to stay. When she finished with another patient, she would be ready for me. It would only take a minute.
She was right. The procedure was simple and quick. After it was over, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn’t realize I was beginning a couple of the toughest weeks of my life.
A day or so after the mammogram, I got a message that they needed more images. They had found something. I was told to make an appointment to get a bilateral mammogram at the hospital.
Nothing could prepare me for sitting in that room, waiting to go in for the exam. I have never been in a room where no one would speak. Women flipped through their books, but no one was reading a word.
I just wanted to get it over with. Finally, I went in. A technician explained everything she was doing. I didn’t care about that. I just wanted to know if she was finding anything.
She told me there were a few areas the radiologist wanted to magnify. She advised me to go back into the waiting room while they looked at the pictures, but don’t get dressed yet.
She was right. I had to go back for more X-rays. By now, my stress level was way out of whack.
The good thing was that they read the pictures right there. That’s when I found out I would need a biopsy - but it would be about a week before I could get one.
That gave me more time to worry. Am I going to die? Who would take care of Annie? What is dying like?
Things got so bad that one day, as I sat worrying about everyone around me, Annie looked at a friend and said, “Who is this woman and what did she do with my Mama?”
I was caught in a storm that followed me wherever I went. I couldn’t shake the thoughts of cancer. I wasn’t sure I had the inner strength to fight cancer.
Finally, Friday came and I went in for the biopsy results. A friend, Sister Sue, was there waiting for me. Her calm and reassuring manner helped me survive the agonizing week.
Right away, my nurse told me the good news: The growth in my breast was benign.
I had been holding back tears, my heart racing. But at that moment, a waterfall streamed down my face.
I was too stunned to say anything. But as I composed myself, I thought of two things.
One, my heart goes out to all those who didn’t get the same good news that I did.
Secondly, I made a promise: I need to love myself as much as I have loved others. I won’t delay my next exam.
For years I had avoided the mammogram because of what I might learn. But good news or bad, we owe ourselves the truth.
Even if you’re afraid, please check it out. It could save your life.
You can listen to May Lee Johnson live at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays on WUBS, 89.7-FM.
By May Lee Johnson
South Bend Tribune, March 25, 2010
Last week my soul cried.
I don’t know why I had avoided being checked for breast cancer for so long.
Maybe I was afraid and didn’t want to know. But whenever my doctor asked about a mammogram, I had an excuse.
Finally, she stopped listening. If I didn’t get one, she would drop me as a patient.
Reluctantly, I made an appointment with the mobile unit from Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center that visits the parking lot of the Sister Maura Brannick CSC Health Center on Chapin Street.
The day of my appointment, I was late. I’ll come back some other day, I told the nurse.
But she told me to stay. When she finished with another patient, she would be ready for me. It would only take a minute.
She was right. The procedure was simple and quick. After it was over, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn’t realize I was beginning a couple of the toughest weeks of my life.
A day or so after the mammogram, I got a message that they needed more images. They had found something. I was told to make an appointment to get a bilateral mammogram at the hospital.
Nothing could prepare me for sitting in that room, waiting to go in for the exam. I have never been in a room where no one would speak. Women flipped through their books, but no one was reading a word.
I just wanted to get it over with. Finally, I went in. A technician explained everything she was doing. I didn’t care about that. I just wanted to know if she was finding anything.
She told me there were a few areas the radiologist wanted to magnify. She advised me to go back into the waiting room while they looked at the pictures, but don’t get dressed yet.
She was right. I had to go back for more X-rays. By now, my stress level was way out of whack.
The good thing was that they read the pictures right there. That’s when I found out I would need a biopsy - but it would be about a week before I could get one.
That gave me more time to worry. Am I going to die? Who would take care of Annie? What is dying like?
Things got so bad that one day, as I sat worrying about everyone around me, Annie looked at a friend and said, “Who is this woman and what did she do with my Mama?”
I was caught in a storm that followed me wherever I went. I couldn’t shake the thoughts of cancer. I wasn’t sure I had the inner strength to fight cancer.
Finally, Friday came and I went in for the biopsy results. A friend, Sister Sue, was there waiting for me. Her calm and reassuring manner helped me survive the agonizing week.
Right away, my nurse told me the good news: The growth in my breast was benign.
I had been holding back tears, my heart racing. But at that moment, a waterfall streamed down my face.
I was too stunned to say anything. But as I composed myself, I thought of two things.
One, my heart goes out to all those who didn’t get the same good news that I did.
Secondly, I made a promise: I need to love myself as much as I have loved others. I won’t delay my next exam.
For years I had avoided the mammogram because of what I might learn. But good news or bad, we owe ourselves the truth.
Even if you’re afraid, please check it out. It could save your life.
You can listen to May Lee Johnson live at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays on WUBS, 89.7-FM.
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