August 2014 - Mountainside

Jose Barba, M.D.
Medical Director
VIRGINIA HARKNESS SAWTELLE DEPARTMENT OF
Radiation
Oncology
Newsletter
1 Bay Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 973-429-6096 Vol. VI, No. 69
Do You Know
Where You’re
Going?
Rev. Thomas M. Cembor
Director of Pastoral Care
HackensackUMC
Mountainside
I was returning to my office after lunch. The walkway
from the Highland Cafe to the main lobby has a downward pull,
so when I saw a well-suited man stopped at the crossway I knew it
had to be with intention. As I passed I looked back to see if the
gentleman needed help. Was he catching his breath? I hadn’t
seen his cell phone at first and the hospital isn’t large enough to
benefit from GPS, though volunteers and nursing students may
argue otherwise. Over my shoulder I called to him, “Do you
know where you’re going?” No answer. I figured either I didn’t
say it loudly enough, or he didn’t realize I had spoken to him. So,
I slid the rest of the way down the walkway heading for my office.
As I paused to say hello at the front desk, the gentleman visitor
smiled over his shoulder to me, “That’s a good opening line, Father!” and, through the revolving doors he went. “Do you know
where you’re going?” and I was bemused!
The roadmap of life may be fairly straightforward; it will
naturally have bumps and curves along the way. How exciting
the ride will be depends on circumstances and choices. Our experiences provide a foundation, form who we are, and point us in the
direction our life generally takes. What we are taught, the lessons
we learn, and who takes the time to form us effect the choices we
make. We discover our talents hewed by our interests and refined
by encouragement. We are capable of so much. Yet, while pundits insist we can do and be anything we want, the reality is that
we can’t do everything. We make choices. The journey takes
shape. In different decades of our life, the way we look at life and
how we understand what comes after life, change, and so they
should. Parents protect their children from harm.
August 2014
Booboos are temporary. Teenagers think they are indestructible
and the grownups in their lives provide white noise. Touched by
friendships and love that are shared along the way, we mature.
Through many awkward and seemingly insurmountable moments
we prevail and maneuver through our decisions. These decisions,
indeed, all our decisions, are determined by our sense of self and
our sense of God. We gradually begin to accept the fact, across all
cultural and religious lines, that life as we know it is allotted only a
certain number of breaths. Reevaluating our lives may be helped
by every now and then asking ourselves, “Do you know where
you’re going?”
End of life decisions should be discussed with loved ones
from time to time. Your perspective may change from your forties
or fifties to your seventies or eighties. What decisions we make
should represent who we are, how others know us to be, so that
should we not be given the chance to speak for ourselves at the
time, then those who know us can share our insights, our hopes, our
faith infused choices with those tending to us. They can help us
maintain our self-respect when suffering may want to steal it away.
In the 1942 international best seller, “Embers,” by Sandor Marai,
the General reflects, “There are worse things than suffering and
death...it is worse to lose one’s self-respect. Self-respect is the
irreplaceable foundation of our humanity; wound it, and the hurt,
the damage, is so scalding that not even death can ease the torture.
Vanity, you say. Yes, vanity...and yet self-respect is what gives a
person his or her intrinsic value. That is why people accept the
compromises they do.”
Compromises often come about when a crossroad is
blocked. First, make sure you’re heading in the direction you
really want or need to go. Make well-informed choices. Be
flexible. Be clear. Check your GPS for driving directions, but
consult a PSG (Pastoral Spiritual Guide) for life’s journey.
So, the next time someone asks you, “Do you know where
you’re going?” they may really want to point you in the right
direction.
Rev. Thomas M. Cembor, D.Min. has been Director of Pastoral
Care at HUMC Mountainside since February 2006, ordained a
Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Newark in May 1979.
The Radiation Oncology Newsletter, current and past issues can be
viewed on the hospital website: www.mountainsidehosp.com
by clicking Cancer Care and then Radiation Oncology Newsletter.
VIRGINIA HARKNESS SAWTELLE DEPARTMENT OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY NEWSLETTER
2014 Outstanding Nurses of HackensackUMC Mountainside
Marites Garzon, Linda West, Nancy Ellen Lands, Lanie Peace, Jennifer Aragon, Amy Ascolese-Aldom, Kristoffer Ramirez, Patricia Pami, Delia Santana
Annie Mueller, RN is
currently the clinical coordinator for SICU, MICU,
and 2C. Annie has been an
employee at HackensackUMC Mountainside since
1992.
She is a 1992
graduate of the Mountainside School of Nursing.
She lives in South Jersey
with her family.
Everyday, Annie exemplifies
the Core Values of Hackensack UMC Mountainside.
She demonstrates extraordinary caring and competence
within her role. She is a
mentor and role model for
every nurse in critical care and
beyond.
She
makes
a
difference in people’s lives,
both
her
patients
and
co-workers because of her
positive outlook and can
do attitude. If faced with
difficulties and challenges,
she will do her duties with a
smile. Her enthusiasm and
energy are contagious. We
need more individuals like
Annie Mueller to follow in her
footsteps. In 2000, Annie
became the 1st recipient of the
Laraja Nurse of the Year
Award.
Recent Headlines in Cancer Publications
1. Shortage of IV solution impacting cancer care.
2. Poor kidney function may boost cancer risk.
3. Reasons identified, after 80 years, for link between Down syndrome and leukemia.
4. For women with advanced breast cancer, better
sleep linked to longer survival.
5. Axillary lymph node dissection failed to improve outcomes in T1N0 breast cancer.
6. Preoperative MRI for breast cancer did not reduce risk for local, distant recurrence.
7. Key steps found linking dietary fat and colon
cancer growth.
8. Exemestane plus ovarian function suppression
superior to tamoxifen plus ovarian suppression
in premenopausal women with early stage breast
cancer.
August 2014
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Printed in the Mountainside Hospital Medical Library. Narmin Kurzum, Library Manager and Layout Specialist.