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HealthTalks

Raymond Wynn MD Paducah

Paducah Treating Cancer with Targeted Therapy

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SBRT, otherwise known as stereotactic body radiation therapy, it is a specialized way that we use radiation to focus the radiation with a very high dose to a small area. SBRT allows us to treat or even retreat tumors that have previously been treated with radiation, highly targeted, very successful, with very, very little side effects.

I was diagnosed on May seventh that there was a spot on my lung that was suspicious, pulmonary doctor's office referred me to doctor Wynne, called me, set up an appointment, met with him. A few days later, they called and said, can you start? Started the SBRT, and, May twenty fourth, cancer's gone. Kind of surreal.

With SBRT, patients have as few as three treatments, and that makes a big difference, not only the outcomes, but when it comes to patient care and patient satisfaction, they really like doing that.

It was such a good experience. If you have to go through this, it's, it was just a good experience all the way around. I mean, you know, diagnosed on May seventh, cured on May twenty fourth. How how can that be bad?
Corbin Primary Care

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♪ [music]

♪ It's important to establish care with your family doctor and have wellness checks because we want to keep our body healthy at all times. People always say, you know, "I don't really need that. I'm feeling good. I'm okay."

But it's really important. Early diagnosis is good prognosis. If you know earlier on what you've got and what's going on, then we're able to hone in and get to the problem and have a better outcome. In our clinic, we provide services for hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, asthma, COPD.

Those things follow up on a regular basis, you know, because we want to make sure that the medicines you're taking are also good for you. Now, those wellness checks will also be able to hone into any, you know, preventative stuff for you. Breast exam, pelvic exams, and even rectal exams for the males. We have a full working lab and x-rays here at the facility.

So we want to make sure that we provide that care for you and make sure that you know you're good and healthy. It's important that, you know, we take care of our body. You know, health, mind, and body I think is what we need to start honing in and taking care of ourselves. At Baptist Health Medical Group here in Somerset, we see patients from five to geriatric, and that spectrum of care for us here, you know, is available for all of our patients out there.

Being here in your own hometown, serving your own hometown, I think nothing can compare. It's a family. We're just proud that we're able to contribute to the community in Somerset, and that's important. ♪ [music]

Why Primary Care Is Important in Corbin, KY

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♪ [music]

♪ It's important to establish care with your family doctor and have wellness checks because we want to keep our body healthy at all times. People always say, you know, "I don't really need that. I'm feeling good. I'm okay."

But it's really important. Early diagnosis is good prognosis. If you know earlier on what you've got and what's going on, then we're able to hone in and get to the problem and have a better outcome. In our clinic, we provide services for hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, asthma, COPD.

Those things follow up on a regular basis, you know, because we want to make sure that the medicines you're taking are also good for you. Now, those wellness checks will also be able to hone into any, you know, preventative stuff for you. Breast exam, pelvic exams, and even rectal exams for the males. We have a full working lab and x-rays here at the facility.

So we want to make sure that we provide that care for you and make sure that you know you're good and healthy. It's important that, you know, we take care of our body. You know, health, mind, and body I think is what we need to start honing in and taking care of ourselves. At Baptist Health Medical Group here in Somerset, we see patients from five to geriatric, and that spectrum of care for us here, you know, is available for all of our patients out there.

Being here in your own hometown, serving your own hometown, I think nothing can compare. It's a family. We're just proud that we're able to contribute to the community in Somerset, and that's important. ♪ [music]

Image of Richard Pokorny, MD - General Surgery Close to Home

General Surgery Services and Procedures in La Grange, KY

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♪ General surgery is a very broad-based specialty. We take care of a lot of surgical conditions, principally abdomen but chest such as breast and head and neck as well. We do a lot of a lot of things and that makes all the difference in the world because doing a lot of a lot of things makes you good at a lot of things and that knowledge base allows you to broaden your horizons when you're taking care of somebody and not lose the forest for the trees. So we are specialists.

We just specialize in a very wide variety of surgeries. I'm part of a very large group at Baptist Louisville. We started coming out to La Grange in January. And one of my other partners, Dr.

Lindsay Arnold, comes out here and that's where the specialization comes into play. Like Dr. Arnold has an extensive breast surgery practice. I do all sorts of advanced laparoscopic minimally invasive abdominal surgery and as general surgeons, we provide things to a smaller community, where you don't have to go to Louisville, yet you still get the quality of care that you would associate with a larger medical center.

So we are expanding the horizons of all the advanced general surgery care that can be provided here at La Grange. There's very little limit to what we can provide out here.
Lauren Cargill DO 56 Richmond

Outpatient Mental Health Therapy Options in Richmond, KY

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The primary goal of outpatient psychiatry is to provide a complete and thorough diagnosis. That's really important, particularly in this day and age, because with Google and social media and TikTok, there's a lot of stigma and incorrect information out there. So the primary goal is to really get a clear diagnosis. That way we can apply evidence based treatment like medication or therapy or other interventions to really help patients achieve their goals and feel better.

A lot of us go through things that are really difficult and are struggle and it's okay to ask for help and to have that extra support. So if you're feeling, you know, hopeless or that there is no options, there are lots of options and you're not alone. There are a lot of people who are struggling with things similar to you and here at Baptist Health we offer lots of different treatment options, therapy services. There's plenty of different ways to figure out how to best help you and help you reach your goals.

Having an outpatient psychiatry clinic in Richmond, Kentucky is so important because the community has a unique opportunity to really come together and provide support for patients who are really struggling with mental illness. A lot of times I see loneliness and not feeling part of the community and by encouraging people to be a support system for those who have diagnosed mental illness is just a really good way to get the whole community together.
Jacob Elrod MD 56 Paducah

Treating Atrial Fibrillation in Paducah, KY

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Atrial fibrillation is a common rhythm disturbance that originates in the top chambers of the heart. It is hallmarked by a sort of electrical storm that sends the heart into, sort of electrical override. The top chambers of the heart don't beat effectively.

They begin to quiver and patients just feel like they have low energy and they cannot do the things that they once could do.

I would have an extremely high heart rate. We stay for a day or two and just feel really fatigued and tired every day, very low energy. I was referred to Doctor. Elrod at Baptist Health Paducah. He gave me several options. One was a medicine I could take and we kind of went through about how I'd have to do it every single day the rest of my life. Or he said I'd be a great candidate for the ablation, and that's the route that we went with.

An ablation for atrial fibrillation is a procedure which is often performed as an outpatient here at Baptist. Three IVs are placed in the leg at the top of the femoral vein in the groin area. Through that we send catheters into the heart and we create a three d map. We find areas of irritability where atrial fibrillation originates and we use electrical modalities to terminate that.

So now after the procedure, I have a lot more energy. I feel a lot better every day. I've got a five month old little boy and a nine year old little boy. To know that my health is back to where it needs to be and I'm there for my family means a lot to me.
Kristen Williams MD 56 Paducah

Early Breast Cancer Detection in Paducah, KY

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My biggest regret in my cancer journey is not going in sooner.

I think I wouldn't have had to do chemo and radiation if I had gone in for my mammogram sooner.

So my message is, don't wait, make that appointment today because it could save your life.

A woman should not take any change in her breast lightly. If she feels that something is wrong, needs to make sure she advocates to get proper imaging.

Any new breast abnormality should be worked up with imaging.

Back in January of twenty twenty three, I noticed that the lump in my right breast had become bigger and harder. And it took about until October for me to actually make my appointment with my primary care. And from there, we did mammogram, ultrasound, and then I was referred to Baptist Health to come see Doctor. Williams. So Stacy was diagnosed at stage 3A.

It means that it had gone into her lymph nodes.

So that's why we actually had to do chemotherapy before surgery to try and get some of the cancer out of her lymph nodes before we did surgery. And then she had anti endocrine therapy, which is hormone blockers, and immunotherapy, and radiation after surgery. So she really got the full spectrum of breast cancer treatment, which made her journey longer, but it also made it the appropriate treatment for her.

My experience here at Baptist Health has been nothing but amazing. Every single person here knows me, knows my case. It's very much a team effort.
Ryan Eads MD 56 Louisville

Shoulder Replacement Surgery in Louisville, KY

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Oftentimes we see patients who are potentially looking for a shoulder surgery when they start having more pain that hasn't gotten better on its own and is inhibiting their daily life. A lot of times we start with x rays, try to find out the diagnosis. And then a lot of times we start with conservative treatment as far as physical therapy, sometimes medication, sometimes injections as well. And then depending on what their diagnosis is or what they're suffering from, at that point after all those things fail, that's when we look at surgical options for it.

Shoulder replacement consists of taking the joint itself, or the cartilage and some of the bone, and replacing it with metal and plastic. You actually cut out the humeral head, place a metal stem in the middle of the humerus, and put a plastic liner or a metal ball in there, depending on what type of shoulder replacement. You can go to the socket side and put either plastic liner or a metal ball on there to replace the actual joint. One of the advances we have in shoulder replacements nowadays is actually preoperative planning.

So we get a special CT scan ahead of surgery, upload it to a computer program, and are able to look at the patient's normal anatomy and pick the best size implants and the correct angulation to try to give them the best outcome and best range of motion afterwards. So some of the benefits of having shoulder replacement at Baptist Health is that we do a lot of these. The whole team, not just the surgeon, but all the staff in the OR room, do a lot of these every day. Everyone on the team knows how to do it the best as possible.

“The caregiving I’ve received at Baptist Health Paducah is beyond any I’ve ever received in my life.”

Bob Dwyer is facing a rare form of cancer from the sanctuary of his home.

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