plus 3, Hypnosis may help control pain among metastatic breast cancer patients - Daily News and Analysis

---

• Hypnosis may help control pain among metastatic breast cancer patients - Daily News and Analysis
• Red Cross leader has breast cancer - Denver Post
• Embattled Windsor surgeon 'saved my life' - Windsor Star
• Windsor, Ont., hospital reveals more 'cases of concern' with one ... - Big Hollywood

Hypnosis may help control pain among metastatic breast cancer patients - Daily News and Analysis Posted: 26 Feb 2010 09:59 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Washington, DC: Hypnosis can be an effective means of treating pain in women with breast cancer, according to a research. According to Lisa D Butler, associate professor in UB's School of Social Work, a faculty member in the Buffalo Center for Social Research and first author of the study, the randomized trial measured pain and suffering, frequency of pain and degree of constant pain among 124 women with metastatic breast cancer. To reach the conclusion, researchers recorded levels of pain at four-month intervals for a year. Women who were assigned to the treatment group received group psychotherapy, as well as instruction and practice in hypnosis to moderate their pain symptoms. They reported "significantly less increase in the intensity of pain and suffering over time," compared with a control group, who did not receive the group psychotherapy intervention. However, those using hypnosis reported no significant reduction in the frequency or constancy of pain episodes. "The results of this study suggest that the experience of pain and suffering for patients with metastatic breast cancer can be successfully reduced with an intervention that includes hypnosis in a group therapy setting," according to Butler. "These results augment the growing literature supporting the use of hypnosis as an adjunctive treatment for medical patients experiencing pain." The study was published last year in an issue of the American Psychological Association journal Health Psychology. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Red Cross leader has breast cancer - Denver Post Posted: 26 Feb 2010 11:53 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. WASHINGTON — Gail McGovern, the president and chief executive of the American Red Cross, has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer but expects to make a full recovery, she said Friday. McGovern, 58, told The Associated Press in a statement that she learned of her cancer the day after Haiti's deadly earthquake. She underwent surgery Feb. 11 in Boston, and doctors say her prognosis is excellent. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Embattled Windsor surgeon 'saved my life' - Windsor Star Posted: 27 Feb 2010 08:14 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. WINDSOR, Ont. -- Until last week, Dr. Barbara Heartwell was considered one of the best surgeons in Windsor. Her supporters say she still is. But Heartwell's 28-year career is now in turmoil following revelations she performed two unnecessary mastectomies on women who never had breast cancer. Janice Laporte and Laurie Johnston had the radical surgery at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, only to find out their breasts should never have been removed. Their surgeries took place eight years apart, but Laporte and Johnston's stories recently became public and culminated this week in Heartwell's withdrawal from the operating room, as well as investigations by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Ministry of Health. Heartwell has admitted to misreading a pathology report last fall which indicated Johnston, a Leamington mother, had a benign lump in her breast. In Laporte's 2001 case, a second opinion on her biopsy was sent from Toronto the day before her scheduled surgery, showing no cancer. It's not clear if Heartwell ever saw the report, but she went ahead with the surgery and even told Laporte's husband Paul to get his wife's "affairs in order." "She told him it was one of the worst cases she'd ever seen," Laporte, who now lives in Sarnia, told The Star. But exactly a week later, Heartwell brought the Laportes to her office and told them there was no cancer. And then she broke out in tears. How does this happen to an experienced surgeon who handles about 100 cases a year and is respected by her peers and hailed by dozens of patients whose lives she has saved? That's what Hotel-Dieu officials and the province are trying to find out, announcing both an internal investigation and an external review of Heartwell's surgeries, as well as pathology errors which affected some of her cases. When Hotel-Dieu confirmed last Wednesday that Heartwell had misread Johnston's pathology report, former chief of staff Dr. Art Kidd described her as "an excellent surgeon" with a solid reputation. As the hospital fields calls from Heartwell's former patients, concerned that they too may have had unnecessary or botched procedures, others are standing behind the surgeon. "I'd go to her tomorrow if I needed surgery. She saved my life," said Diane Moore, who had a mastectomy done by Heartwell. "She was absolutely phenomenal. When I was diagnosed, the nurses who work in the OR said: 'If you want the best surgeon in Windsor, go to Dr. Heartwell.' And that was all I needed." Moore said her cousin also went to Heartwell for surgery and was very happy with the outcome. "It's not (Heartwell's) talent or her skill -- it's the paperwork, the procedures that were followed, that's at fault. It's not her," Moore said. "It would be such a loss (if she stopped practising)." A Hotel-Dieu nurse who has worked alongside Heartwell said she was shocked to hear about the unnecessary mastectomies. "As far as I'm concerned, there's no question as to her competency," said the nurse, who did not want her name published. "Not everyone likes her personality, but I think most people would agree she's one of the most skilled surgeons in the city." Some of Heartwell's former patients told The Star the surgeon's bedside manner was poor and they felt rushed to make decisions about their surgeries and treatment options. "I just had this awful feeling because I'd had this lump in my breast for years and all of a sudden I'm being told it's cancer and (Heartwell) is saying we have to operate right away," Janice Laporte said in an interview earlier this week. "She said we didn't have to wait for another opinion, she's seen this so many times and it's definitely cancer." Heartwell's London lawyer Andrea Plumb said Friday she's still not in a position to comment on the investigation into her client's practices. According to Heartwell's brief biography published in a March 2009 Women's Economic Forum newsletter, she was born in Sarnia and studied medicine at the University of Toronto after obtaining a bachelor of science zoology degree. She completed her surgical residency at McGill University in Montreal and Wayne State University in Michigan. Throughout her career, Heartwell has received grants for research on growth hormones and breast cancer prevention and published some of her findings. She is one of only three female general surgeons in Windsor-Essex, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Heartwell's profile on the College's website says she was certified as a doctor in Ontario in 1974 and received her general surgery certificate in 1981. Heartwell is also known for designing unique jewelry with fellow physician and friend Dr. Isabel Chow, a Windsor plastic surgeon. Part of the proceeds of each jewelry sale goes to the Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital Foundation. Staff at Chow's office said this week she won't talk about Heartwell or comment on the investigation into her surgeries. On their Designer Docs website, Heartwell writes: "As a child I dragged home every sick and injured animal I found, in a vain effort to save them.... The obvious genetic need to help, fix and cure continued into adulthood when I became a general surgeon." Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Windsor, Ont., hospital reveals more 'cases of concern' with one ... - Big Hollywood Posted: 24 Feb 2010 07:31 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. THE CANADIAN PRESS A Windsor, Ont., hospital says two cases involving unnecessary breast cancer surgeries are not the only "cases of concern" with that doctor. Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital started a review of Dr. Barbara Heartwell's cases after the first of those cases came to light. Dr. Kevin Tracey, the hospital's interim chief of staff, says Heartwell indicated that in their review of her past cases they would find "additional cases of concern" relating to incorrect pathology reports. The hospital also revealed today it had been doing a review since November of pathology and have uncovered seven serious cases of concern, five of which involve Heartwell's patients. Tracey says the company providing them pathology services also serves two other area hospitals. Tracey also says that in January the hospital suspended the privileges of one pathologist, who was also reported to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

You are subscribed to email updates from Add Images to any RSS Feed To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610