Horrific headlines of devastating mass injuries seem to be commonplace these days. That’s why Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, along with the American College of Surgeons and Department of Homeland Security are teaming up to provide a program to make sure our communities are better prepared. It’s called, Stop the Bleed.

“Stop the Bleed is a program which was created to help teach community members to respond to emergent medical events like hemorrhage control,” explains Dynette Rombough, RN, BSN, CPEN, Trauma Program Manager at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

Motivated by the 2012 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, organizations realized precious moments between the time a catastrophic event occurred and the time professional first responders arrived were being lost. The group soon surmised, empowering the civilian bystander with skills and basic tools to stop uncontrolled bleeding in an emergency situation, could save lives.

Over the last several months, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center has been hosting this free program in an effort to empower and educate the community. The hope is – if they come across an emergency situation they would be able to act and render aid until emergency personnel could arrive.

This one-time, 90-minute class is free and open to the public. Since there are some gory situations & mature subject matter, it may not ideal for children or young teens. Sessions are still available for November 1^st & 15^th and December 6^th & 20^th. They will be held at the Hylton Education Center at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

If you’d like to host a Stop the Bleed event for your organization (larger than 10 people), please submit a request, here.

Kathy Baxter’s cancer diagnosis has been a journey.

Like many journeys, there have been twists, turns, peaks and valleys along the way.

Kathy and her husband of 43 years, Bruce, were longtime Northern Virginia residents who had moved to Puerto Rico.

It was there, she first detected the symptoms which lead to her breast cancer diagnosis.

“I noticed some retraction and I felt a lump right underneath my nipple” said Kathy. “I called my doctor and we scheduled an ultrasound. It came out fine. The doctor said it was because I have fibrocystic breasts.”

That was in December 2016. The decision was made to follow up with another scan in six months.

Kathy soon found things had drastically changed during that period. In July 2017, she received results from her Puerto Rican lab the test was “probably malignant” and she was referred to a surgeon. 

Kathy says over the next few months a combination of events lead to obstacles in her care — everything from a language barrier in her doctor’s office to Hurricane Maria and then Hurricane Irma, which devastated the island causing major power outages and nearly brought air travel to a halt.

The decision was made; Kathy would come to the states. After a turn of lucky events that Kathy credits as a “miracle,” she finally arrived in Northern Virginia in October 2017.

“When I got here in October, I was shell-shocked,” explains Kathy. “My sister lives in Stafford and she gave me the name of her oncologist.”

Kathy’s multi-disciplinary team of Sentara doctors helped her through the difficult transition. Dr. Hamed Khosravi, Medical Oncologist, Dr. Robert Cohen, Breast Surgical Oncologist and Dr. Susan Boylan, Radiation Oncologist worked together to develop a plan of attack after her diagnosis of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma which had gone to the lymph nodes. In addition to that diagnosis, her doctors discovered Kathy also had Triple Positive breast cancer.

Dr. Susan Boylan, a Radiation Oncologist for Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center and Medical Director of Potomac Radiation, explains, “This type of breast cancer tends to grow and spread faster than others. It is particularly aggressive and requires additional treatment.”

With that knowledge in hand, the team created a treatment plan. It was decided Kathy would do six cycles of chemotherapy, take several weeks off, get a lumpectomy and then proceed to radiation.

“Each tumor is unique. Each woman’s tumor has its own biology,” explains Dr. Boylan. “We try to personalize an individual’s treatment based on the biology of their tumor. Everybody’s treatment is going to be unique to them. It’s very personalized medicine. It’s not cookie cutter.”

Baxter, a former nurse, admits it was a lot to take in.

“I like to be able to process things. On top of that, I don’t like pain and I don’t like needles,” she said.

While her family has been by her side through it all, Kathy credits Oncology Nurse Navigator Deana Henry with helping her work through the process.

“Deana is such a delightful person. She would make her rounds through the infusion center and really seemed to care about me and my health,” she said. “She’s very friendly, she’s a very positive person and she was very sympathetic. She’s been a tremendous support.”

After chemotherapy, Kathy had her lumpectomy. She spent the summer recovering and is now working through radiation. As she nears the end of her treatment, she’s looking to the future and returning to Puerto Rico.

She offers this advice:

“Take each moment as it comes. Live for the moment!” she says smiling. For any woman who finds a lump, her advice is more serious: “If anyone shared they had any sort of lump, I would insist on a biopsy, because I can’t help but think had they biopsied my lump in Puerto Rico in December, they would have found my cancer. That would have changed everything, that would have put me a year ahead of it. But I’ve just been so pleased with my care here at Sentara. They were responsive when I called and just so professional, it made a hard time a little easier.”

To learn more about the Sentara Cancer Network and find the care team for you or your loved one, call 1-800-SENTARA or visit Sentara.com.

WOODBRIDGE — Velocity Urgent Care is pleased to announce its newest walk-in urgent center in Woodbridge, Virginia at the Intersection of Daisy Reid Avenue and Prince William Parkway, just 1 mile west of Old Bridge Road.  The center will open for business on September 3, 2018, at 4565 Daisy Reid Avenue.  Velocity is eager to serve the needs of Woodbridge and Prince William County with the first of multiple planned new centers in Northern Virginia. 
 
Velocity Urgent Care features on-site digital x-ray, EKG, a basic menu of laboratory services, and its clinicians provide a full complement of urgent care services for unexpected injury and illness.  Velocity Urgent care is focused on the delivery of fast, quality and cost-effective health care for conditions that cannot wait for a primary care appointment but are not medical emergencies.  Common conditions treated include flu symptoms, coughs, earaches, headaches, sprains, strains, fractures, minor cuts, scrapes, and rashes.  Most insurance plans are accepted, including Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare, and there is also a “no surprises” self-pay option. 

What differentiates Velocity Urgent Care from “run-of-the-mill” urgent care centers is its focus on what’s important to the patient.  “We put patients first in everything we do,” said Alan Ayers, Chief Executive Officer. “We know today’s health care consumer is extremely busy and nobody has time to be sick, so our goal is to get you back to ‘life’ as quickly as possible.”

As a partner with Sentara Healthcare, Velocity Urgent Care works with primary care physicians, providing a copy of the patient’s chart with authorization, and maintains referral relationships with local specialists and facilities for patients who require a higher level of care.  “The partnership between Velocity Urgent Care and Sentara Healthcare improves access, coordination, and affordability of care in Prince William County,” said Kathie Johnson, President of Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

Velocity’s first Woodbridge location will be open 7-days-a-week from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.  Wi-fi and refreshments are available.  Patients seeking care can simply walk in or reserve their spot online at www.velocityuc.com. 
 
About Velocity Urgent Care 
Velocity Urgent Care currently has 13 locations across Virginia including Williamsburg, Virginia Beach (3), Carrolton, Gloucester, Newport News, Norfolk (2), South Boston, and Suffolk with additional locations planned.  Each center provides high-quality, walk-in medical for illness or injury that cannot wait for a primary care appointment but not severe enough to warrant an emergency room visit.  Licensed medical providers treat the flu, strep throat, rashes, dehydration, ear infections, concussions, sprains, strains, minor fractures and more.  For more information, visit velocityuc.com.

“I’ve seen a lot of pretty bad situations. I’ve worked explosive cases all around the world: the Embassy bombing in Africa, the Unabomber case, plane crashes in New York and Mexico. I’ve seen a lot of bad things in my 25 years as an agent, I don’t want to say I’m used to it, but that’s kind of the job I am there to do,” says FBI explosives expert, Thomas Mohnal.

Seventeen years ago when the planes hit the twin towers on September 11^th, he received orders to get to New York City as soon as possible. As Mohnal sat in traffic that morning on Interstate 395, the unthinkable happened, another plane crashed, this time into the Pentagon.

“I’m parallel with the Pentagon in stopped traffic and I watched the plane crash. I was the first one to call into FBI headquarters and notify them that a plane just hit the Pentagon,” he recalls. The series of events made the Prince William County resident the first FBI agent on the scene, as well as one of the first, first responders.

“The flames and the fire burning was tremendous. I’ve done a lot of testing with explosive and gas-enhanced explosives, but I can’t even describe to you how big the fireball was when the plane hit,” he vividly remembers. “It pretty much encompassed the majority of the Pentagon.”

For next month and a half, Mohnal spent his days working recovery and investigating the Pentagon scene.

“The jet fuel that was burning, plastics, metals, and the debris were all airborne. It was bad,” he recalls.

As the years have passed, the survivors and first responders of that day have had to deal with another challenging reminder of our nation’s tragedy. According to the World Trade Center Health Program, more than 87,000 Americans have been diagnosed with severe health conditions, including cancer, in the wake of the attacks. Thomas Mohnal is one of them.

A miracle found within a ruptured appendicitis

It started nearly two years ago. In August 2016, the now 61-year-old came to the hospital with a ruptured appendix. In the course of his care, doctors had ordered a CT scan to assess the situation. It was there Mohnal learned he was dealing with more than just appendicitis.

“Sentara’s radiologist actually noticed at the very top of the CT scan, I mean the very top! Luckily, he was able to see it. He noticed three tumors and said it was consistent with lymphoma,” explains Mohnal.

The husband and father went from requiring surgery and consulting with a General Surgeon to meeting with Dr. Farn Chan, a Triple-Board Certified Hematology and Oncology Expert and Chairman of the Cancer Committee for Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

“Here I’m expecting a surgery for an appendix, and I was a little worried about the rupture, but now they’re telling me, ‘You also have lymphoma.’ It was a lot, but they did it in such a way that they calmed me, saying we caught it early,” remembers Mohnal.

Personalized Medicine for fighting lymphoma

Before Mohnal knew it, he was on a regimen to attack his tumors and combat his cancer. His tumors, which ranged in size from 1 ¼ to 1 ¾ inches, didn’t respond to the first combination of drugs, that’s when Dr. Chan made the decision to change his therapy to “R-CHOP,” commonly used in the treatment of lymphoma.

“I lost all my hair. It was pretty bad, but the good thing about it was all was the nurses. Dr. Kandahari and the oncology nurse, Sarah, at Cancer & Blood Specialists of NOVA, are just perfect. They make the treatment very smooth and calming. Everyone is so professional and so knowledgeable,” says Mohnal.

Even though it wasn’t always the easiest of roads, Mohnal prides himself with never having missed a day of work while on his treatments.

“I can’t say enough good things about my care,” says Mohnal pausing, thinking about the what-ifs. “The way I’m looking at it, the radiologist who caught these tumors gave me a jump on my treatment. I never had symptoms, my physical and blood work were clear, if these tumors weren’t spotted when they were, they could have grown and spread to other organs, the treatment would’ve been a lot harsher, I can tell you that.”

Today Mohnal is feeling good. He’s living with his cancer and on a maintenance regimen which involves three-hour infusions, every eight weeks. His recent scans show one of his tumors is gone and the other two have decreased in size. 

“It’s the best news I’ve gotten in two years, I’ll tell ya that!” says Mohnal smiling. “Both Dr. Chan and Dr. Kandahari were thrilled to death. That was the best they were expecting, the results we’re getting are amazing.”

While Mohnal doesn’t know what the future holds, he doesn’t second-guess the past. When asked if he would change his actions from all those years ago, if he knew what it would mean for his health, his answer is simple.

“Never crossed my mind. I never thought about it. But once again, I was an FBI agent and that’s kind of what we do. Would I do it again? Absolutely,” he said.

September is Lymphoma Awareness Month. Lymphoma is a cancer of a part of the immune system, also called the lymphatic system. Lymphoma may develop in many parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, blood or other organs. There are two main types of lymphoma: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). It’s estimated nearly 75,000 people are diagnosed with NHL every year. In NHL, white blood cells, called T cells or B cells, become abnormal. There are more than 61 types of NHL.

To learn more about lymphoma, visit the Lymphoma Research Foundation website lymphoma.org

Sentara Healthcare is the first system in Virginia to be accredited as an Integrated Network Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer, meaning connections to a network of doctors, researchers, and groundbreaking clinical expertise. To learn more or find the provider that’s right for you, call 1-800-Sentara or visit Sentara.com/cancer.

It’s National Environmental Services Week. Environmental Service technicians play a critical role in the day to day operations of Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

While you may see these members of the team focused on keeping our hospital clean and free of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), there is more to this dedicated staff, filled with people like Barbara Boateng.

For the last two years, Barbara has worked at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. She’s quick to offer a smile and a helping hand, making sure the medical offices and hospital rooms are cleaned to Sentara Healthcare’s rigorous standards.  

“Barbara is truly one of our shining stars within Sentara and the Sentara Northern Virginia Environmental Services Department. She exemplifies everything wonderful about working in healthcare,” explains Barbara’s boss, Kevin Smith, Director of Environmental Services.

While Barbara is dedicated to her job, she’s motivated by her family. She and her husband, Clement, immigrated to the U.S. from Ghana to provide a better life for their three children. Earlier this summer, years of hard work paid off when the family’s eldest son, Akwasi, graduated from college with a criminal justice degree and a minor in information technology.

“We were so happy! It’s exciting to see your son striving to fulfill his dreams and then accomplishing them. We were so proud!” says Barbara, remembering the moment she saw her son crossing the stage and receiving his diploma from Radford University.

It’s a hope every parent has for their child.

“The dream I have for my children is for all of them to become successful in the future in everything they pursue,” explains Barbara.

Her son graduating from college is the culmination of that. It’s something he realizes.

“After all the hard work, I could finally say I made it across the stage. I was very grateful to have them by my side to support me throughout my college years. It was definitely a joyful moment, I felt like a proud son,” Akwasi explains.

This achievement is something Akwasi doesn’t take for granted, he realizes the immense sacrifices his parents have made for him, his brother and sister.

“They have dedicated their lives to helping us achieve, by supporting us in everything we do and making sure we get everything we need.”

Smith sees Barbara’s hard work and determination every day.

“Barbara working at Sentara to put her son through college and watching him graduate is truly a wonderful achievement and should be an inspiration to many, that anything is possible in this country.”

Smith says Barbara represents the commitment that exists within his department and the hospital.

“Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, just like the community it serves, is home to a very diverse workforce. The diversity of our staff allows the hospital team to reach our patients in some ways that many hospitals may struggle. Barbara is a perfect example of how you can come to this country, work hard, and achieve things for yourself and your family that may not be possible in your country of origin.”

This Environmental Services Week (September 9 – 15), Smith is celebrating his team and heralding their accomplishments.

Multiple service techs have earned the national healthcare accreditation, “CHEST,” or Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Technician.  Several others will participate in another CHEST training later this year. The certification indicates the user is skilled in the most effective and innovative technologies in infection prevention. 

“Our Environmental Service technicians are the first line of defense and have played a vital role in Sentara Healthcare initiatives. I’m just so proud of my team!” says Smith.

To learn more about joining Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center’s award-winning team, visit sentaracareers.com.

As students around Prince William County head back to class, we chat with Sentara Nurse Practitioner Stephanie Schutter RN, MSN, CFNP on some tips you & your family might want to consider for the new school year.

SB: How long have you been with Sentara?

SS: I’ve been with Sentara for 7 years.

SB: What does a typical day entail?

SS: My typical day consists of many different types of visits: sick visits, well-child visits, physicals and office visits for management of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, asthma, allergies, thyroid disease, etc.

SB: What’s your favorite part of your job?

SS: My favorite part is taking care of families. I tried specialty medicine, but this is my true love, family practice. Knowing whole families of the infants, to teens, to parents and grandparents. There is nothing more rewarding, watching my kids grow and my adults move through different phases of their lives. I get to be there going through it with them, they are all like family to me.

SB: As parents get their children ready for back to school, what would you like them to know?

SS: As kids prepare for back to school stay positive for them, there is so much negativity and fear out there your kids need your positive support, the stressors they deal with are more than we had growing up. It is a different time, know your kids’ friends, know their families, always know where they are, be vigilant- trust your gut, you know your children better than anyone. Keep them involved, keep them busy, but allow time for fun too. Too many clubs, too many sports sometimes can be a challenge, find the balance so that they are getting just as much time to spend with their friends and have fun. Monitor their phones, their computer usage, and the apps they are using, stay informed!

SB: What are some of the biggest things you see that get forgotten as kids head back to class?

SS: Make sure prior to school that immunizations are up to date, make sure if your child plays sports they have an up to date sports physical and concussion training as the schools now require this prior to tryouts. Try to get back to sleep routine, the first weeks back are hard enough, sleep is so important for our kids. Reestablish routines to get them into their good organization and study habits, have a place in the house that is theirs to get work done. Parents have childcare back up plans in case of emergency or illness, working parents always need a backup. After school routines- keep them reading always, keep attitudes positive- if you stay positive, their year will be the best one, and they will go in with a positive attitude!

SB: In recent years, we’ve heard a lot about ADHD, bullying and other issues in the classroom. What advice do you give parents who are concerned about something that is affecting their child?

SS: For my parents concerned about things affecting your children, it’s best to discuss it with them, help them to come up with solutions on their own and with you to deal with stressful situations at school, especially if there is no imminent danger. Learning how to deal with bullies or conflicts will be something they need to learn in the future. If this isn’t possible, and you are worried for safety or concerned about the severity of an issue, as parents you have to step in, communicate with the teacher see if there is anything they can do in the classroom to assist the situation and if this still isn’t working, go higher and make sure your kids are safe, that’s most important. As for concerns with ADHD and learning disabilities- bring it up with your provider. If testing is needed, they’ll get you to the right places or to the correct specialists.

SB: What do you want to stress to parents going into this new school year?

SS: The most important message to my parents is: TALK to your children, and take time to LISTEN. We only get them for physicals once a year if they are healthy and we try to cover everything and educate, but they need to hear it from you, too. Talk to them about drugs, depression, anxiety, smoking, alcohol, a plan for safety if they are in a situation they are not comfortable in, etc. They need to hear the truth from their providers, their parents, and their teachers. If we aren’t talking about it with them, someone else is, and you want to make sure the information they’re receiving is accurate. My kids love to pretend they are ignoring me, but I know even if they only hear one thing each time they will get a little of all of it in the end!

If you’re looking for a primary care provider, call 1-800-Sentara or visit Sentara.com.

Patients and visitors to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, as well as all Sentara Healthcare hospitals and outpatient facilities, are now able to receive timely text messages during critical safety events. A new opt-in emergency notification service dubbed SentarAlert allows anyone in Sentara facilities to receive the same texts Sentara employees receive through our emergency notification system (ENS).

SentarAlert allows patients and visitors to text a keyword unique to each Sentara facility or region to 333111 and immediately begin receiving critical safety messages. SentarAlert will begin the service with two critical safety notifications: Active Shooter and Evacuation. At 120 characters, notifications are brief and cryptic, like tweets, and designed to be augmented by overhead pages in hospitals and sites with public address systems.

“Sentara takes safety very seriously. We want to ensure our patients and guests are informed of emergency situations as they arise,” explains Tim Bowers, MS, CHSO, Director of Security for Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. “Sentara is offering a new emergency notification system to anyone who signs up. This system is very similar to those used on college campuses and by governments across the nation to alert authorized people of emergency situations. To receive the Sentara Northern Virginia emergency notifications on your phone, please text the keyword SENTARANV to 333111.”

Opt-in subscriptions last for seven-day cycles when subscribers are notified by text that they are unsubscribed. But they can subscribe again right away for the next cycle. SentarAlert is designed as a safety enhancement for patients and visitors while they are in Sentara hospitals, nursing centers, therapy centers and other ambulatory sites of care. The texts are designed to help employees, patients and visitors make informed decisions during critical safety events.

Mindful eating is the act of being conscious of the flavor, texture, and smell of our foods as well as our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations as we eat. This requires one to eat slowly and genuinely relish each bite.  It is not a diet, but mindful eating can help us achieve a healthy weight.

Eating mindlessly is an unconscious habit of eating without paying attention to what, how, why or how much we eat.  Have you ever sat in front of the TV or computer and eaten a meal, but didn’t savor a single bite?

This is an example of mindless eating and it can be triggered by external factors such as stress, food advertisements, or when the time of day tells us to eat. Mindless eating often includes “comfort foods” chosen to soothe our emotions, rather than to nourish our bodies.  Eating mindlessly or while distracted, we tend to ignore our bodies’ “full signals” and consume excess calories, which can lead to weight gain.

To begin eating mindfully, start by asking some of the following questions:

• Am I hungry?
• Why am I eating this?
• Does my body need this? Does this food promote health or not?
• Pay attention to how full you are before, during and after eating.
• Notice the colors, smells, textures, and flavors of your food.
• Investigate where your food came from: Was it grown on a local farm or processed in a factory? Who prepared it? 
• Notice how the food makes you feel while eating it
• Be aware of cravings and what triggers them: Are you bored? Lonely? Tired? Angry?  You may discover that you eat to mask uncomfortable feelings or emotions.

Keep a food journal of what you eat and your mood, hunger, and fullness levels before and after eating to increase your awareness of your eating habits.  Once aware, you can make small changes one at a time, to help develop a mindful relationship with food.

Consider:

• Eating seated (rather than standing at the fridge or counter)
• Eating undistracted (rather than in front of an electronic device)
• Eating with your non-dominant hand 

(Fun fact: one of my clients broke her wrist and lost eight pounds in the month that she used her non-dominant hand to eat.)

One benefit of mindful eating you may notice is an increased enjoyment of food as you slow down and savor meals.  You may learn to enjoy healthy food and how it makes you feel. 

You may slowly begin to realize that unhealthy food does not taste as good as you previously thought and it does not make you feel good. You may also learn to eat when you are truly hungry and stop when you are full, but not stuffed. All of the above benefits of mindful eating may naturally lead to some weight loss.

Finally, as you start to enjoy the experience of being present as you eat, you may become more present in life and enjoy life more.