this issue - Massachusetts General Hospital

02.13.15
F
MGHHOTLINE
A PUBLICATION FOR EMPLOYEES AND STAFF OF THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
A duck boat ride
to remember
Football is a huge part of 17-year-old Keith Reissfelder’s life. When the
high school quarterback was unable to play this past season while undergoing
chemotherapy for a tumor in his femur and his knee, he was devastated.
Although Reissfelder could not join his Braintree, Massachusetts teammates
on the field last season, he was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join
another team off the field last week.
Reissfelder was selected by several Mass General Hospital for Children
(MGHfC) staff members to board a duck boat Feb. 5 for the New England
Patriots Super Bowl XLIX victory parade. The Patriots organization approached
MGHfC after the team’s win to invite a patient to take part in the festivities.
“I found out two days before the parade,” Reissfelder says. When my parents
called me I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t understand at first. I thought they were
kidding, but when I found out they were serious I didn’t know what to do.”
“He deserves it,” says Karen DaRocha, RN, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Unit. “He is a kid that never complained about anything he had to do. He never
once asked, ‘Why me?’ If anyone deserved this chance to celebrate the Patriots’
Super Bowl win, it is Keith. I am thrilled for him!”
Before the start of the parade, Reissfelder, his girlfriend and her mother
gathered in the Prudential Center parking garage to board the duck boat.
(Continued on page 3)
A survivor’s story:
Uncovering the mystery of SCAD
When Donna Grogan, 50, suffered
her first heart attack in July 2007, it
made no sense to her. She was an
avid runner with no family history
of heart disease. Grogan, a physician,
was perplexed. “I was the picture of
health – my cholesterol was normal.
I didn’t smoke, no diabetes, and I
did everything to make my health
a priority,” she says. “But I suffered
an ST-segment elevation myocardial
infarction – a heart attack caused by
a blocked coronary artery – and was
treated with two stents.”
grogan
Nearly seven years to the day on
a Monday morning in July 2014, Grogan suffered her second heart attack.
Recurrent symptoms triggered a voice in her head telling her to go to the
nearest hospital. At the MGH Emergency Department, her electrocardiogram
(Continued on page 4)
Super Day: Top to bottom, Reissfelder with Kraft; Reissfelder
with Edelman; showing off the 2003 Patriots Super Bowl ring
02.13.15
A match made at the MGH
Love sometimes sparks in unusual places
or mysterious ways. Sometimes it takes years
to evolve, and other times it is instant. Many
MGH staff members have met their match while
working together – or from afar – right here at
the hospital, and a few share their stories.
Across the operating room table
Andrew L. Warshaw, MD, MGH surgeon-in-chief emeritus, and
Brenda Warshaw, RN
Brenda and I met in the old Baker operating room in the late 1970s,
she as a hospital scrub nurse and I as a staff surgeon. A few years later, I
hired her as my ‘private scrub’ – at the time a common phenomenon that
greatly increased efficiency but which has since been discontinued at the
MGH. Brenda became a fixture in my office and hospital routine as well,
providing continuity, familiarity and comfort to anxious patients facing
surgery and recovery from serious illness. In 1986, we married in the
MGH chapel, attended by some of my patients with their IVs on rolling
poles. Over the years, she left the operating room but continued as my
office nurse, delighting in becoming a bit of a mother hen to a generation
of surgical residents and fellows in my laboratory. Brenda retired after
35 years as an MGH nurse about the time I stepped down as chief of
Surgery in 2011. We now have 13 wonderful grandchildren, nine born at
the MGH.
A meeting of minds and heart
Yvonne Chasser, MD, and Brian Barnett, MD, residents in the
MGH Department of Psychiatry
Brian and I met during orientation week at the MGH, just before the
start of our intern year in the Psychiatry program. Right away, we realized
we shared many common interests and made each other laugh. However,
being co-residents in a program of just 16 people and dating at the same
time seemed like it would come with some pressure and unique obstacles.
But my mom told me to ‘go for it!’ when Brian had asked me out on a
date. Although it has been difficult at times with our busy schedules and
the often challenging nature of our work, I can’t imagine having gone
through residency without him by my side, leaving funny Post-it notes
on my desk or making a run to Coffee Central. We have grown together
through frustrations and losses – both as individuals and as a couple –
and we are stronger than before. This August, we are both very excited to
be getting married and we couldn’t be more grateful that fate helped us
find love at the MGH.
Love blossoms on
Bigelow 13
Lisa Ireland, RN, and
Frank Ireland, RN, of the
Sumner Redstone Burn Center
on Ellison 14
My husband and I met in
1985 on the Burn Intensive
Care Unit (ICU), formerly
Bigelow 13 and now Ellison 14.
We are both nurses and have
worked there together for 30 years – it is our second family. When I met
Frank, he was a part-time operations associate, and all of us on Bigelow
13 soon convinced him to go back to school to become a nurse. He
became a burn technician while getting his nursing degree, and then after
graduation he became a nurse on the floor. We worked most of our shifts
together, walking to work together from Charlestown and ‘smooching’
on the elevator as we started each day. Then three children came, and we
began a new phase of life – two ships passing in the day. He would work
the day shift, and I would do the evenings part-time. For years on some
weekends I would trek the kids in before my 3 pm shift and trade them
off to him as he completed his, so the MGH became a second family to
them as well. Imagine how great it is to be tired after a shift or a week’s
work and your spouse can understand completely how you feel!
MGHHOTLINE
A work of heart
Julie Donahue, RN, and Dean M.
Donahue, MD, Thoracic Surgery
Dean was finishing his residency
in cardiothoracic surgery, and I
was an RN on the Cardiac Surgery
Step-down Unit on Ellison 8 when
we met. I had been working all
night in the mini-unit, where
we cared for more acute patients
transitioning from the ICU and
the floor. My patient was having
issues that needed to be discussed,
and we were eager to hear from
the residents during rounds. He
came around the corner like Dr.
McDreamy with the blue eyes to go
with the blue scrubs, and it was love
at first sight. Somehow my yellow precaution gown must have enticed him
too. Many patients and many rounds later, we had our first date at Harvard
Gardens (HG’s as we fondly call it). Dean thinks maybe it was their ‘Beacon
Burger’ that worked its magic. We sipped beer and ate burgers and found
all the things we had in common. With nearly 15 years of marriage and
four kids between us, we have found working in similar professions at the
MGH to be a wonderful way to keep the love alive. We now work together
in the same office, providing care to patients from around the country
who suffer from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. We love working together to
provide care to patients just as we did when we first met.
Building a foundation for love
Susan Belton, MSN, RN, CNL, staff nurse on Ellison 6, and
Michael Belton, carpenter in Buildings and Grounds
My husband Michael and I met in 1987 when he was working as a
carpenter and I as a unit secretary on Baker 9. We were married in 1991,
and have three boys.
He celebrated his 30th
year at the MGH last
year. And, I continue
to work per diem as
an RN on Ellison 6.
We celebrated our
first date at the ‘Flying
Machine’ rooftop
lounge nightclub at
the Holiday Inn on
Blossom Street. We
spent many Friday
evenings by the Charles
at MGH softball games, as Michael and two of his brothers played in the
league. We had more than 200 guests at our wedding, many of whom were
MGH employees – including the best man, Marty Doherty, who continues
to work in the MGH Cath Lab, and my sister, Pattie Gill, RN, PACU, who
also has worked at the MGH since 1987. ■
Healthy hearts
SEEING RED: MGH staff – many of whom work in the Corrigan Minehan Heart
Center, including the Advanced Heart Failure team and Bigelow 8 Outpatient
Cardiology and Cardiac Unit Associates – joined the American Heart Association’s
Go Red for Women movement Feb. 6 to show their support for heart health. Heart
Center staff also hosted an information table near Coffee Central, which featured
heart wheel with facts about heart health.
— Ride to remember
(Continued from page 1)
Much to his surprise and delight, the New England Patriots players
were waiting in the same area. Wide receiver Danny Amendola and
Reissfelder’s favorite player, wide receiver Julian Edelman, signed his
Super Bowl hat. Reissfelder says he also spoke to owner Robert Kraft and
congratulated him on the Super Bowl win.
“It was crazy. I can’t even describe it,” Reissfelder says. “I was in the
yellow duck boat in front of (tight end) Rob Gronkowski. I was watching
him dance. It was really cool.”
When the parade ended, Reissfelder mistakenly found himself on the
players’ bus, which was headed back to Foxboro. He bumped into offensive
back Vince Wilfork and gave him a nervous “hello” before hopping in a taxi
back to Braintree.
“I want to thank everyone at the MGH for thinking of me and giving
me the opportunity to do this,” Reissfelder said. “It’s amazing what
the hospital does for people. Things like this make you forget about
everything that you’re going through. It gets your mind off things. I can’t
thank everyone enough.” ■
MGHHOTLINE
02.13.15
— A survivor’s story
MGH Hotline will
not publish Feb. 20
because of the
Presidents Day holiday.
The regular publication
schedule will
resume Feb. 27.
Submit news tips
and story ideas
to MGH Hotline
editor
Colleen Marshall
Delaney
617-726-0275
(Continued from page 1)
Black and gold
go red and pink
FEELING THE LOVE: Valentine’s Day came a bit early for Olivia, 2, and other
patients at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC). On Feb. 5, Boston Bruins
players – from left, Patrice Bergeron, Tory Krug and Daniel Paille – scored major
points with young fans as they carted a little red wagon room-to-room, filled
with Bruins gift bags, Valentines and long-stemmed roses.
Assistant editor
Emily Williams
617-724-2753
email
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Celebrating
victory
TOP NOTCH CARE: Matthew Provencher, MD, chief of the MGH Sports Medicine
Service and medical director and head team physician for the New England
Patriots, left, and Peter Asnis, MD, of Orthopædic Surgery and team physician
for the Patriots, right, pose with quarterback Tom Brady after the Patriots
Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 1. “The medical team
for the New England Patriots had the privilege of being in Arizona providing
medical care,” Provencher says. “Throughout the season, a multidisciplinary
team from the MGH provides a high level of care and clinical expertise in
the realm of sports medicine for the Patriots. A huge thanks goes out to the
MGH community and providers who gave outstanding care for the Patriots all
season. ”Also in attendance at the Super Bowl were MGHers who assisted in
caring for the team: Paul Cusick, MD, internal medicine director for the Patriots,
David Brown, MD, team trauma director, as well as Chris Vorys, MD, and
Micheal O’Donnell, RN.
was normal, but blood work showed
damage to the heart muscle, prompting
the medical team to perform a cardiac
catheterization. “My catheterization also
showed evidence that I had a previous
heart attack that I wasn’t even aware of,”
Grogan adds.
While Grogan’s heart attack
symptoms were typical and included
indigestion and shoulder discomfort,
what was happening in her body was not.
The artery blockage behind all of her
heart attacks wasn’t caused by a buildup
of plaque, as is the case with most heart
attacks. Grogan’s blockage came from
a piece of artery that had torn away,
which is officially known as spontaneous
coronary artery dissection, or SCAD.
“In most cases, the underlying cause of
SCAD is unknown,” says Malissa Wood, MD,
co-director of the Corrigan Women’s
Heart Health Program. “The diagnosis of
SCAD may be difficult to make in some
patients, because many of them do not
have typical risk factors for heart attack.
Awareness of the symptoms of heart
attack is crucial to allow for a timely
presentation and diagnosis.”
Following her diagnosis, Grogan was
introduced to a team of MGH experts in
cardiology, vascular medicine and genetics,
who prescribed a conservative treatment
plan for her, which included exercise and
medical management. She also enrolled
in the hospital’s SCAD research registry.
“Since we began this collaboration in
2013, we have had more than 35 patients
enroll in our registry and that number is
growing,” says Wood. “We are the only
hospital in Boston studying this very
under-diagnosed disease. We hope to one
day determine potential causes of the
disease, as well as how to best manage
this condition and improve the quality of
life for patients with SCAD.”
After nearly seven months under
Wood’s watchful eye, Grogan is healthy
and back to full activity. She says she
considers herself lucky and is grateful
for every day she has with her husband
and three children.