Meeting the Challenge of Pancreatic Cancer
From BestHealth, April 2007
Thanks to a highly complex surgery in January 2006, Kim Callahan has a functional pancreas — and no sign of the pancreatic cancer that threatened her life.
Pancreatic cancer is a daunting diagnosis, and being treated by a skilled and experienced team is critical for a successful outcome.
That’s what Kim Callahan found at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in 2005 when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had invaded her blood vessels. The Center has three fellowship-trained surgeons who are experts at performing complex pancreatic surgery.
Callahan, a nurse from Shelby, N.C., first underwent six weeks of chemotherapy. When her condition didn’t improve, surgical oncologist Perry Shen, M.D., performed a 13-hour “Whipple procedure,” removing one-third of her pancreas and the entire duodenum.
“At Wake Forest Baptist, our multidisciplinary team is investigating various approaches of combining therapy to treat this difficult disease,” said Shen. “When appropriate, we perform vascular reconstruction along with pancreatic surgery to make sure we remove all the cancer.”
“I can’t say enough about how highly I regard Dr. Shen and the whole staff,” said Callahan. “Not only did Dr. Shen remove the tumor, but he was able to salvage enough of my pancreas to prevent the debilitating effects of not having a pancreas. I am so grateful that the outcome was the best it could be.” Callahan returned to work full-time in May and is currently cancer free.
“As a nurse, I pay close attention to the care that is being delivered by the doctors and nurses,” said Callahan, director of nursing for a hospice facility. “I always knew Wake Forest Baptist had a great reputation — and now I know first-hand why.”
The Leading Edge of Surgical Oncology
The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest Baptist offers one of North Carolina’s most comprehensive surgical oncology programs. That means…
• Our surgeons have years of fellowship and specialty training to treat specific types of cancer — an advantage for patients who seek the expertise of surgeons with extensive experience in their particular type of cancer.
• Our surgeons are at the forefront of advances that improve surgical techniques and optimize patient outcomes.
• Patients here have access to treatments and clinical studies that are not available elsewhere in our region.
• For medically inoperable tumors, Wake Forest Baptist is N.C.’s only medical center offering extracranial stereotactic body radiosurgery, which delivers the equivalent of six weeks of radiation therapy in two weeks.