When she tragically lost her sister, Onna Jones vowed never to return to the hospital where she last saw her loved one’s face. But now nearly 20 years later, she’s a valued employee who sees her calling as helping others.

The end of this month marks eight years since Onna Jones joined IU Health. But every day she walks through the doors is like her first day at work. She brings through those doors a history that is known to few.

She was 17 when she lost her older sister Rodneka Jones at the same hospital she now serves.

“We went to grade school together, we were on the same cheerleading squad, we shared a bedroom and the same bed. We shopped together. Everything she did, I did. She was my best friend,” said Jones. “My sister was outgoing. She was the life of a party. She got along with everyone and just had a magnetic personality. She was a singer and a dancer and we used to perform in talent shows. She was a super star. I can remember walking home from School #70 and people would stop and ask her to sing. They heard she could hit the high notes like Mariah Carey. I think if she were still alive she’d be on American Idol.”

It was the night of Jan. 15, 2000 and Jones remembers rushing to IU Health Methodist Hospital with other members of her family. The news was grim. Her sister was driving near East 38^th Street when she was struck by another car forcing her vehicle to collide into a light pole that came crashing down on her car. The driver left the scene but was later identified.

“I remember all the doctors rushing around in the emergency room, and all my aunts and uncles, my mom, dad and sisters all there,” said Jones. “It was the last place I saw her.”

It wasn’t a place she wanted to return to. But time had a way of changing Jones’ heart. Eight years ago she started working in guest relations at IU Health and now works as a financial navigator.

“I had a dream and it was like an outer body experience. I was in the hospital and all the monitors were going off. I was dying. Two weeks later I got a call offering me a job in guest relations and I realized I had something to give to others – I wasn’t working as a doctor or a nurse – but I was able to help give life to patients.”

It was at that moment that she began using her personal experience to walk beside the patients she serves.

“I feel like this is my purpose – serving others. We tend to run from death because it hurts but God brought me back here to help others navigate their health,” said Jones, the mother of two girls and a boy. “I have patients tell me ‘you’re an angel,’ and I think that’s because I truly care. I have been in their shoes.” As a financial navigator, Jones is often the first point of contact a patient has with the hospital. She registers them, activates their accounts and makes sure they have insurance.  Ninety-five percent of the patients she sees come in for radiology – CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, and intervention radiology. Others come in for endoscopy, lab work, x-rays, and bone density scans.

“A really good day is going above and beyond and extending courtesy to patients. I always say, ‘thank you for choosing IU Health I hope everything goes well with your health.’ When a patient can walk away from me and feel more confidant about being here then I have done what I am called to do,” said Jones.

A graduate of Broad Ripple High School, Jones received certification in business clerical after high school and later used IU Health’s tuition reimbursement program to continue her training in billing and coding.

Her path to IU Health was paved even before her sister’s passing. Both her parents worked at Methodist Hospital. Her mother Denice Fay Jones worked in dietary and patient care access, and her father Rodney Vincent Jones worked as a phlebotomist.

“My grandmother, Mary Alice Dorsey, was 92 when she passed. She also worked at Methodist back when the employee bathrooms were segregated,” said Jones.

“I remember as a little girl when my mom was working I’d walk the hallways at Methodist. I always said I wanted to work here. There was a piano in the lobby that played automatically. I used to sit and listen to it. It was like I grew up here.”

— By T.J. Banes, Journalist, IU Health.
   Reach Banes via email tfender1@iuhealth.org.

One in four people in the world are affected by mental or neurological disorders and around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.

And the picture is not bright in Indiana. Mental Health America (MHA) ranks the state 42nd for the prevalence of mental illness and less than optimal access to care.

IU Health Bloomington Hospital has long been the safety net for caring for patients with mental health disorders. That commitment will continue with the opening of the new Regional Academic Health Center in 2021, offering 24 inpatient beds as well as 8 beds in the Emergency Department for patients needing psychological evaluation.

Improving Access to Treatment

Due to the opioid crisis there has been an influx of patients seeking substance abuse-care that has not always been easy to find or access. In response to the desperate need within our community, IU Health opened an outpatient addiction treatment program in Bloomington in November of 2018 and plans additional services with a million dollar investment from the IU Health System’s Behavioral Health Collaborative.

“The IU Health Bloomington Hospital Addictions and Treatment Program is evidenced based and offers hope for people in this region of the state struggling with addiction of one form or another,” says Michael Kane, MD, Addictions Medical Director for IU Health.

The main focus of the program is on using individualized-treatment interventions that are most successful in addressing and treating substance abuse disorders. The program pairs intensive outpatient therapy three-to-five times a week, with medically-assisted treatment to decrease withdrawal side effects. It also includes a family therapy component. The program is the second to open within IU Health and is modeled after the program at IU Health Methodist Hospital which has a 60 percent sobriety success rate after six months.

IU Health has also recognized the value of Peer Recovery Coaches who bring the experience of recovery, combined with training and supervision, to assist others in initiating and maintaining recovery. Coaches are available in person at IU Health Bloomington Hospital’s Emergency Department through a partnership with Centerstone.

Expanding Rural Options

The Peer Recovery concept is catching on – virtually – at IU Health’s smaller facilities in the South Central Region.

Peer recovery coaches are available to patients at IU Health emergency departments in Paoli and Bedford through a virtual service that enables access to behavioral health expertise found in larger urban hospitals. Patients are assessed when they come into the emergency department as someone at high risk for, or struggling with, a substance use disorder. ED personnel then connect patients with the recovery coaches who interact live.

“Addressing the growing addiction problems in Southern Indiana is a priority,” says Larry Bailey, President of IU Health Paoli Hospital. “Having around the clock access to experts when help is needed most during critical moments is an important key.”

Support continues after the patient leaves the hospital. Recovery coaches follow up with individuals within 48 hours of initial contact.

Help Where it is Desperately Needed

According to a 2017 report by the Indiana State Department of Health, between 2011 – 2015, Morgan County ranked second in the state in emergency department visits for nonfatal overdoses making it a top priority for IU Health.

Through a generous grant from the Kendrick Foundation, IU Health Morgan is piloting an innovative, cost-effective telehealth service delivery model to make intensive outpatient treatment and medication-assisted treatment available at its facility. While the live service is offered at IU Health Bloomington Hospital, Morgan County patients will be able to participate from IU Health Morgan.

Catching it Early

Primary care providers routinely screen patients for mental health concerns and refer them to a counselor. Often the appointment can take months. Through a new pilot program offered in Bloomington, patients are now linked to a therapist on the very same day.

“By using telehealth we can connect the patient and a therapist right away so they don’t fall through the cracks,” says James Laughlin, MD, Chief Practice Officer, IU Health Southern Indiana Physicians.

“I am proud of the progress we have made in the last 18 months to greatly expand services related to substance abuse in our service area,” says Brian Shockney, President, IU Health South Central Region. “In order to be a healthy community, we must be there to care for our patients no matter their issue.”

For more information on how to access behavioral health or substance abuse services, please call 812.353.5630.

A patient of Dr. Patrick J. Loehrer shares what life has been like since her diagnosis at the age of 21. 

Her last appointment with IU Health oncologist Dr. Patrick Loehrer was filled with tears. Not because she received bad news, but because after a decade, Gwen Brack was being released from Dr. Loehrer’s care. 

She was a junior in college – studying at DePauw University when Brack was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Now Brack talks about her friendship with the doctor who helped save her life, and how her own life has changed – including an engagement and move to the Windy City. 

“It was really hard to say goodbye to him as my oncologist, because he is someone that I have placed so much trust in over the years. But he referred me to a great oncologist in Chicago,” said Brack. She recently got engaged to Noah Schmidt – someone she met at a wedding of one of her sorority sisters from DePauw University. She works as an account manager for Pearson Education and is settling into the Lakeview neighborhood where she is closer to her fiancé. Together they have a dog named, “Clark” and another puppy joining them soon.   

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month – a time the Colorectal Cancer Alliance promotes education and challenges assumptions and myths about colorectal cancer. To help aid in that awareness, Brack offers five things she wished she knew when she was diagnosed at the age of 21.

• “I wish I would have been aware that the symptoms I was experiencing were signs of colorectal cancer – the bloating, the bleeding when using the restroom, the change in bowels. I knew something was up, but I attributed the symptoms to my college lifestyle – too much beer and junk food. I would have seen a doctor sooner if I had realized the seriousness of symptoms. Since more and more young people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, it is incredibly important that people are aware of the warning signs, so they can take early action.”
• “People are usually kinder and more understanding than you expect – I have a permanent colostomy because of the location of my rectal tumor, and I was very worried about what my life would look like as a single 20-something woman. Dating is hard as it is, but add in a poo-bag to the equation and I thought it would mean the end of dating or ever meeting someone. How wrong I was. It turns out that most people really are more understanding than I originally anticipated. And I was lucky enough to meet my perfect match and am now recently engaged.”
• “I have learned that in healthcare, you must be your own advocate, no matter how good your doctors are – You must press your team to answer all the questions you have, to take the time to explain things until you understand them. It’s ok to ask them why when they think something is the best treatment plan for you. Your life is literally on the line, so it is important to understand your plan of attack, why you’re choosing it over another line of treatment. It’s ok to present your medical team with other information you’ve found during your research. They should be able to explain why it would or wouldn’t work for your case. Don’t be afraid to challenge them. If he is a good physician, he will appreciate that, as he would do the same for himself/herself or their loved ones.”
• “It’s ok and encouraged to get second or third opinions – Piggy backing on my last point, it’s ok to want more opinions on your life and well-being. It’s ok to not agree to the first thing someone presents to you without gathering more information. Ego should be left out of medicine, and if your doctor truly has your best interests in mind, he/she will welcome you gathering more opinions.”
• “Life does go on, but it doesn’t get easier as soon as you finish treatment – I think most new patients think that once they finish radiation and chemo, and recover from surgery, and the immediate threat is over, that they’ll be back to their normal selves. Newsflash: That self is gone. It is forever changed. You will never be that same BC (before cancer) person. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is hard to reconcile. You will mourn the loss of that self. You will grieve the loss of the simplicity of life BC. You will cry for the body parts that have changed or that you’ve lost. It will take you time to remember how to interact with your friends and family, without every conversation revolving around cancer. Once you’re done with treatment, you’ll have extra time that you aren’t spending at the infusion center, or as an in-patient recovering from surgery, and you won’t know what to do with yourself. This free time is yet a blessing and a curse – a blessing because physically, you’re home free (for now), and a curse because your mind is now the main patient. I found this free time paralyzing. I would throw myself too many pity parties, and would yearn to see my favorite nurses and doctors, as they had become my new best friends.  I didn’t know how to live a normal life again; I could hardly remember who I was BC. Life does go on, but it takes time, and it takes work. It takes extending yourself grace and the empathy you would feel for others. Be patient with yourself. Getting a puppy doesn’t hurt to help pass the time either.”

— By T.J. Banes, Journalist, IU Health.
   Reach Banes via email tfender1@iuhealth.org.

Of the tragedies a parent can endure, perhaps none is more heart wrenching than the loss of a child. Jen Hittle, a nurse at IU Health Arnett and consultant in the Clinical Risk Management department, believes in finding the good in every situation. She has made it her mission to spread the word on the importance of safe sleep practices for infants since her son Brenton passed away in 2013. “Sharing Brenton’s story is not easy, but I hope by sharing, I will help open people’s eyes and hearts,” Jen says, “I have been given the opportunity to educate and bring awareness to such an important issue and hopefully it will make a difference and decrease the chance of it happening to others’ loved ones.”

Jen and her husband Brock welcomed their fifth child, Brenton, into the world on July 19, 2012. He was a happy, healthy baby boy. Being the youngest of five, he was surrounded the by love and spoiled by his parents and older siblings. At just 6 months and 5 days old, Brenton passed away, a victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He was at the sitter’s, put down for a nap in his pack in play on his tummy with his blanket. The sitter went to check on him and he was not breathing. Even with the quick work of paramedics, they were unable to bring him back. They found nothing wrong with him and determined the final cause of death as SIDS.

With Jen’s medical background, she had a hard time wrapping her mind around not knowing what caused her son’s death. She reached out to SIDS researchers to see if they could give her a reason why. Researchers responded to her, letting her know of strong findings that SIDS is caused by a defect in the part of the brain that controls breathing, heart rate, etc., while sleeping. Babies who have this defect look and act completely normal during the day, but defects are unmasked during sleep. These findings helped Jen understand the importance of the “why” behind safe sleep practices.

It was Jen’s heartbreaking journey that led her mission to educate people on the importance of safe sleep practices. Whether it be talking at local high schools, to future parents, seasoned parents, babysitters or fellow team members—Jen and her family share Brenton’s story to bring awareness to SIDS and the significance of safe sleep.

She wants to encourage all to listen to their healthcare providers on safe sleep techniques. “I know as an experienced mom with several older children it is not easy to practice safe sleep,” Jen says, “But it is definitely worth it. They are knowledgeable and have our best interest at heart.”

Approximately 3,500 infants die annually in the United States from sleep-related deaths. Even though this statistic is alarming, many of these deaths are preventable. Learn the ABC’s of Safe Sleep.

Alone – Babies should always be on their own sleep surface. Bed sharing is a risk factor for SIDS and other sleep related deaths.

Back – Babies should be on their backs for every sleep.

Crib – The crib should be empty. This means no bumper pads, pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, toys or supplies such as diapers and diaper wipes.

Mind over matter: Deciding what’s next on the journey

You just never know what curve balls life will throw at you. But it’s how you react to life’s challenges that makes all the difference.

Such is the case for Albert Childers, 48, of Bloomington. He’s been knocked down time and time again, but always bounces back ready
to live life to the fullest another day.

He was 39 years old and delivering propane bottles like he had done for years. Each bottle usually weighed in at around 60 pounds.

Suddenly, he felt a sickness come over him, as if he had the flu. He looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror and noticed he was
white as a ghost.

“Pain started to throb in my left arm and shoulder,” he said. “I thought I had strained a muscle from lifting all the weight that day.”

Call it divine intervention, call it luck, but Albert was due to get his blood pressure medication refilled that very day, so he had a visit scheduled to see his doctor. “I told him I felt like I had the flu, and just to be safe, he ran an EKG. All I could hear were the doctor’s feet pounding down the hallway going after aspirin.”

That was Albert’s first major heart attack – the LAD (Left Anterior Descending artery), otherwise known as the widow-maker due to its high death risk.

From there, things seemed to get progressively worse for him.

Chest pain again, RCA (Right Coronary Artery) stent.

Chest pain again, Circumflex artery stent.

Then a stroke.

“I think the stroke was the worst thing of my life. I had no control,” Albert said. “I could not talk. The right side of my face drooped. I couldn’t control my saliva. Things got better as I went, but it did permanent damage,” he explained in his slow, stuttered speech, which is now a way of life for him. “I get a word here and there and have to stop and rearrange and make sure it’s correct.”

Then, a few years later another stroke.

He went to IU Health Methodist, but by the time he arrived it was too late for blood-clotbusting medication.

“I had to just ride that one out; then the wheelchair came along, and I rode in that,” he said with a laugh.

“Ultimately, though, Albert’s got an indomitable spirit, but, boy, it really got tested, again and again,” said Robert Stone, MD, Medical Director of the Palliative Care program at IU Health Bloomington Hospital and a 28-year veteran of the Emergency Department.

Sometime later Albert’s heart started quivering. It was his left ventricle this time. Doctors said he needed a pacemaker and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), otherwise the heart would eventually stop.

During his various medical battles (four heart attacks, two strokes), Albert had seen regular physicians and had been treated the best he could be within the scope of their care. As time went by though, he needed much more.

It was shortly after this revelation that he found Dr. Stone. Albert has been visiting Dr. Stone for nearly two years, but within the first few months, his life started changing for the better.

Albert just had his second stroke when he met Dr. Stone. He had survived a few heart attacks and several different heart procedures and he was in a wheelchair.

“Albert had been diagnosed with an unusual condition called central pain syndrome, related to his strokes,” Dr. Stone said. “It’s very difficult to treat. In fact, a doctor at IU Health in Indianapolis suggested that his pain was so bad that they should implant a pain pump.”

That was when Albert pushed pause on his medical treatments. “He didn’t want to do that,” Dr. Stone said. “He had had enough surgical procedures and problems that he decided he didn’t want to proceed in that way.”

First, Dr. Stone tried to address Albert’s pain, prescribing some medicine and adjusting others over the course of several months. “I can’t say it’s just medication,” Albert said. “It’s actually the physician and staff (Amber). They changed the way I thought about medical care. I felt comfortable, felt like I could say what I wanted, and I wasn’t on a calendar of you’ve got five minutes with this guy, now the next one. Dr. Stone asked questions and opened me and my wife up to new ideas. After that, I felt empowered, felt like I could do anything I wanted to do.”

“That’s what I do as a palliative care doctor,” Dr. Stone explained. “I look at the whole. Not just the whole patient but their social situation, their family dynamics, whatever is going on with them. Some of it is just old-fashioned counseling.”

Dr. Stone started realizing that over time, Albert was visiting his office with a cane instead of a wheelchair and his right hand was gaining strength and mobility.

“Even though he always seemed upbeat, he became more positive and grateful,” Dr. Stone explained. Then over a span of another six months (during which time Albert went through medical bankruptcy), he was hired by a plastic injection molding company – not to work on the assembly line but to design the new molds with computer assisted technology, “a lot of which he taught himself,” Dr. Stone said.

From then on Albert worked hard to accomplish his goals more than ever before.

“The way that Dr. Stone treated me mentally and spiritually helped me get back to work,” Albert said. “I work 40-plus hours a week now
and I’m doing great. I’m living a much happier life and I owe it to palliative care, myself and my family. It’s all one big group that’s helped raise me up to do what I need to do.”

Albert has been officially back to work in a new job for eight months now and is leading a productive life.

“It’s almost hard for a big guy like me to hold back emotion, but it changed every aspect of my life. I’m doing what I feel like a man should be doing for his family,” he explained. “Before, I was being fed, being helped in the shower, not anymore. It’s on my own and I get up and get it done.”

“There’ll be a day when we all pass,” Albert added, “and it looks mine may be sooner, but I will have accomplished my goals. I
have no fear of dying. I fear for my people around me, fixing them and doing what I need to do for them.”

Albert readily admits that he didn’t know a thing about palliative care until his internet search led him to Dr. Stone.

“I thought it was for people who were just going to pass away, like hospice, so I was very leery at first,” he confided. “I thought,
once you cross that line, you’ll gradually go down. But instead, I crossed the line and it raised me up. And that was the total opposite of my expectations. It changed my life.”

Videos featuring patient Albert Childers can be seen online.

Featured IU Health Southern Indiana Physicians provider seeing patients for palliative care and serious illnesses:
Robert Stone, MD
812.353.3717

Nichole Barnett faced down the disease with strength and unwavering love for her family.

Nichole Barnett is used to facing life and death moments as a nurse on the cardiovascular critical care unit at IU Health Methodist Hospital.

But at 37, she didn’t expect to be confronted with her own mortality.

It started with soreness on one side of her throat. She thought it was a problem with her lymph nodes, but then she noticed a lump in her neck. She showed it to her primary-care physician, and that’s when her world turned upside-down.

Tests revealed stage 3 head and neck cancer. It was one year ago this month, not long after Barnett’s 37^th birthday.

“It was pretty terrifying,” she admitted. “I was afraid that cancer was going to kill me.”

Her first thought was for her family – husband Justin and their two teenage sons, Julian and Jedediah. It wasn’t so much the fear of dying herself, she said, but more the fear of her boys losing their mom.

They asked if she would survive. She didn’t have the answer then, but what she did have was an unwavering love for them and a determination to fight.

She put on a brave face and forged ahead with multiple surgeries, then seven weeks of chemo and radiation at Simon Cancer Center.

“I just felt I had to be strong for my kids,” said the Camby resident, who was inspired to become a nurse after being treated for a heart defect at Riley Hospital for Children when she was a toddler.

Funny thing though, the more positive she was, the more she believed she would get through it. She had plenty of help – from her family, from prayers, from friends and colleagues, including Jennifer Adams, shift coordinator in the CVCC, who organized a T-shirt fundraiser for Barnett.

“Nichole will fight hard for what is right for her patients,” Adams said. “I think this quality helped her through her journey. Many of our staff kept in contact with her while she was out, and what we saw was perseverance and faith. Although she ran into multiple obstacles, she remained strong. She kept looking forward.”

Barnett, now in remission, was finally able to return to work Jan. 7, a day she had looked forward to for eight months. But it was a bit of a culture shock, she said.

“So many things had changed and there were so many people I didn’t know, which was weird to me. It was like starting over again.”

She’s settling in now, working three 12-hour shifts a week and discovering a new sensibility to patients’ fears and concerns.

“I think I am different as a nurse,” she said. “I feel like I’ve always been a good advocate, but now I feel I have more empathy. I know what it’s like to have that fear that you’re going to lose someone.”

She also understands when patients are impatient for milestones. She used to remind her ICU patients that progress comes in baby steps. Now instead of just saying that, she really understands it.

“I remember when I just wanted to be able to drink water; I look back now and I’m starting to be able to eat chicken and things, but it took a long time to get here.”

Self-care is something nurses are notoriously bad at, Barnett said, but she is trying hard to take care of herself so she doesn’t get run down.

That includes taking time to enjoy the little things – movies with her family, shopping and just hanging out at home with her boys.

“A lot of people told me I inspired them because of my attitude. But I needed to be positive, I honestly think that helped me as well. There’s so many bad things that come with cancer, but so many good things come with it, too.”

For her, that means a closer relationship with her family and friends.

“You realize how much you mean to people and how much you need to be there for people.”

Jessica Jones, manager of clinical operations in the CVCC at Methodist, has worked with Barnett for eight years. She describes her as fighter with a “let’s-do-this attitude as a person and as a nurse.”

“She never tires of advocating for what is right for her patients and her teammates, and she approached cancer the same way. It was beautiful to see our team rally together around her.”

–- By Maureen Gilmer, IU Health senior journalist
   Email: mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
   Photos by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist
   Email: mdickbernd@iuhealth.org

Two years ago, Andrew “Andy” Dietz gave a precious gift to help his wife. He donated his kidney through the Advanced Donor Program – knowing when it was time she would receive someone else’s kidney.

There are two pictures that stick like glue in Jill Dietz’s mind. One was taken on Dec. 6, 2017 – she is standing next to her husband’s hospital bed. The second one was taken Feb. 19, 2019 – her husband is sitting on her hospital bed. Both pictures include a special little mascot – a stuffed animal named “Snuggles.”

The cuddly brown dog has been with the couple through 30 surgeries including two pancreas transplants and two kidney transplants. It was Jill’s second kidney transplant in February that is as much of a bond for the couple as the stuffed dog.

Through The Advanced Donation Program (ADP), Andy Dietz was able to donate his kidney to the National Kidney Registry, making it available to another patient. In turn, his wife was added to the registry and another kidney became available when she needed a transplant. IU Health is one of the only healthcare systems in Indiana with an advanced donation program for living kidney donors – and one of less than 10 in the United States. At the time Jill received her kidney, three other patients across the country also received a transplant.

March is National Kidney Month, a time when the National Kidney Foundation urges people to give their kidneys a well-deserved checkup. Kidneys filter 200 liters of blood a day, help regulate blood pressure and direct red blood cell production. One in three Americans are at risk of kidney disease due to diabetes, high blood pressure or a family history of kidney failure. More than 30 million Americans are already living with kidney disease.

Jill Dietz’s health issues began at the age of seven when she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. In 2006 she received two pancreas transplants and one kidney transplant. Her body rejected both pancreas transplants. She was admitted to IU Health for 21 days and had five surgeries. Eight years later, Andy wanted to donate a kidney to his wife, but her body had developed antibodies that were attacking her husband’s blood type. Since timing was off and the kidney also wouldn’t be a good match, they chose the route of advanced donation.

The advantages of advanced donation were twofold – it’s a faster way to connect with a donor and it’s a living donor, said Andy.  After years of treatment through IU Health the couple also knew the transplant team and were confident in the transplant program.

Just days after her transplant, Jill met with transplant coordinator Jill Gorman and prepared to be discharged.

“I’ve been with Jill for about five years. She’s so nice and so friendly. I can’t say enough about the staff at IU Health,” said Dietz, who is a patient of nephrologist Dr. Tim E. Taber. “He has provided me with excellent care and guidance every step of the way.”

And what about “Snuggles” the stuffed dog?

He was the first gift Andy gave Jill. She was 13 when they first met at a church in Carmel where Andy’s father was a pastor. He was 14 at the time. Their first date was a year later when Andy took Jill to a Homecoming Dance. They will mark 33 years of marriage in June.

“I feel wonderful,” said Jill. “I am blessed to have a new kidney. I am blessed for my husband’s gift of life.”

— By T.J. Banes, Journalist, IU Health.
   Reach Banes via email tfender1@iuhealth.org.

A college baseball player from Canada says he’s no stranger to the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Diagnosed with testicular cancer he’s facing the competition with an all-star coach – IU Health oncologist Dr. Lawrence Einhorn.

It was a recent Monday morning when Dr. Lawrence Einhorn entered the infusion pod of Jason Freeman. He was bringing good news: Freeman’s numbers were good.

“Going through this process you never know if you’re going to hear good news so to hear your numbers are improving and to hear it from Dr. Einhorn feels great,” said Freeman. Dr. Einhorn is known around the world for his successful treatment of germ cell tumors using a mix of high dose chemotherapies and peripheral stem cell transplant.

Like many of Dr. Einhorn’s patients, Freeman traveled nine hours—from his home in Mississauga, Ontario to Indianapolis. The game plan began with Freeman in ER at IU Health Methodist Hospital after he spiked a fever on the cross-country road trip. Once he was stabilized Freeman had his first face-to-face with Dr. Einhorn.

But the renowned oncologist, who has treated countless men between the ages of 16 and 45, was already part of Freeman’s team long before the two met at IU Health.

It was on another Monday in July 2018 when Freeman first wondered if something might be wrong. This is a guy who played baseball at the college level and typically works out five days a week. He had joined his friends for a softball game and played 18 holes of golf – along with his usual workout – when he started feeling a little lightheaded and a little tired. The next day he spiked a fever and decided to go to the doctor.

“He’s one of the healthiest guys I know,” said his mother Dianne Freeman. Dianne and Rob Freeman, along with Jason’s girlfriend traveled to Indianapolis for the duration of Freeman’s treatment. Jason Freeman has two older brothers – Kevin and Adam. Together the brothers enjoy camping, exploring the outdoors, and fishing for bass, walleye and pike – in Northern Canada’s provincial parks. And they enjoy attending sporting events and cheering for their favorite teams – baseball, basketball, and hockey – the Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Freeman also plays hockey on a recreational league.

Weeks before he spiked a fever, he was having an ache in his rib cage. He just thought it was a pulled muscle – something brought on by his active lifestyle.  He made regular visits to a chiropractor and sometimes it eased the discomfort.

“I really didn’t think too much of it and even asked my chiropractor if I should go in for an x-ray,” said Freeman, 25. When the fever spiked, and he told his doctor about the pain, an x-ray was one of the first tests to determine the cause of the pain. The images showed a 16-centimeter mass on top of his right lung. A week later he received the definitive diagnosis of germ cell cancer. Four cycles of chemotherapy followed. By late October the tumor had shrunk and he celebrated by ringing the bell – signaling the completion of treatment.

By the first week in December he was back in the hospital for thoracic surgery to remove the tumor on his lung. After three weeks of remission, the cancer returned. It was another oncologist – the Freemans knew from their church – Danielle Doyle, who had completed a fellowship at IU Health and knew of Dr. Einhorn and his work with germ cell tumors. A connection was made and the Freemans began making plans to come to Indiana. Even before they made the trip, Freeman’s oncologist at home had been consulting with Dr. Einhorn. After another round of chemotherapy in Toronto, Freeman’s plan at IU Health is a second dose of chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant.

One of the first people they met when they arrived in Indianapolis was Maria Siddons, a clinical coordinator with IU Health’s Destination Services. “The whole team has been great helping us find housing and understanding the whole process and what we’re in for,” said Rob Freeman. “We knew at the beginning about Dr. Einhorn’s pioneering treatment and then when we got here he had really studied Jason’s file.”

And Rob Freeman knew too that Jason was not a quitter – no matter how big the challenge.

“The first thing he said when we learned of the diagnosis was ‘don’t worry dad. I’ve got this,” said Rob Freeman. He remembers the same persistence when his son was young. Sitting on the deck of the family’s home he’d watch a young Jason hit a baseball with a plastic bat. He was only about four and would spend hours practicing the sport he loved.  By the time he was five he was playing in a league. He continued playing all through his youth and into high school, mostly in the corner infield spot. He went on to play at junior colleges in Texas and Oklahoma. After earning his bachelor’s degree in business, he returned to Toronto where he was working at the Toronto Dominion Bank when he received his cancer diagnosis.

“I have never had a surgery in my life – no wisdom teeth, no tonsils, no anesthesia – so now it’s been six months and I feel like I’m taking it day by day,” said Freeman.

“It came out of nowhere and shows it can happen to anyone. My advice to other young men is don’t take life for granted. Enjoy life to the fullest and be resilient and trust the process.

“My competitiveness has helped me get after it and not back down. I’ve learned perseverance from baseball – there are some games you strike out and some games you hit a home run but you just keep at it.” 

— By T.J. Banes, Journalist, IU Health.
   Reach Banes via email tfender1@iuhealth.org.

Through the Stop the Bleed program, the American College of Surgeons strives to empower individuals to make a difference during a life-threatening emergency by teaching them the basic techniques of bleeding control. Teresa Williams, RN, BSN, IU Health Arnett Trauma Outreach Coordinator is now offering Stop the Bleed classes for children with the help of the Lafayette Police Department. The program focuses on teaching children how to recognize hemorrhage, identify causes of injury, stay safe while activating 911 and includes practice for applying direct pressure.

Recently, Boy Scout Troop 336 and IU Health team members brought their children to a Stop the Bleed class. While parents may worry how learning about this trauma will affect their children, it is important that children know what to do if they are faced with an emergency where an adult may not be nearby or may be the one injured. A parent attending the class with their child stated, “I thought it was great information. I think this type of class would be great for all.”

Serious, uncontrolled bleeding from trauma can result in death in less than 10 minutes. This is especially true when emergency response is delayed for an active shooter or other violent event. Ultimately, the Stop the Bleed program is similar to teaching children about “stop, drop and roll” for fire safety or teaching them about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). “We hope that we never have to use these techniques, but in the case that there is a trauma, they have the right tools and knowledge to help save lives,” Williams says.

It is not only in cases of mass shootings that these life-saving techniques can be used. “Whether the incident occurs at home, at school or on the street,” Williams says, “If someone is bleeding, we can empower these children to take action and help stop the bleed.” Anyone who happens to be at the scene of an accident or act of violence can become an immediate first responder and save lives—if they know what to do.

Children are aware of their surroundings. They are capable of wonderful things, especially if they have the right education. Stop the Bleed, can give children the confidence needed to help treat an accident in an emergency. 

Alex Trebek, told his Jeopardy! audience that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer saying: “I plan to beat the survival statistics of this disease.” IU Health oncologist Dr. Michael G. House, who has treated countless patients, talks about the risks.

He’s been a popular game show host for 35 years. Millions of families have grown up sharing their entertainment room with Alex Trebek as part of a nightly TV-watching ritual. So when Trebek announced to his audience that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, they tuned in; they listened.

And once again, they were reminded what has been said many times over: “Cancer doesn’t discriminate.”

Trebek’s diagnosis is one shared by many well-known names:  Michael Landon, Patrick Swayze, Steve Jobs, Joe Jackson and Luciano Pavarotti, and the “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin – all lost their battles with pancreatic cancer.

“Now normally the prognosis is not very encouraging but I’m going to fight this and keep working and with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also I plan to beat the whole survival statistics for this disease,” said Trebek, 78.

Pancreatic cancer starts when malignant cells form in tissues of the pancreas – a gland located behind the stomach, in front of the spine. The pancreas is responsible for producing digestive juices and hormones that regulate blood sugar.  A Stage 4 diagnoses typically means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. The American Cancer Society relies on the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) database maintained by the National Cancer Institute to report statistics about pancreatic cancer patients and survival rates. They report that for patients with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer the five-year survival rate is 3%.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a reliable routine screening test to detect early stage pancreatic cancer,” said IU Health Dr. Michael G. House. He can’t speak specifically about Alex Trebek’s diagnosis. Dr. House has treated countless patients at IU Health and is well known for performing the Pancreaticoduodenectomy (commonly called the Whipple procedure), surgery to remove the head of the pancreas, gallbladder, and bile duct, as well as portions of the small intestine.

“Individuals who are recognized to be at higher risk for developing pancreatic cancer during their lifetime, including those with two primary relatives with pancreatic cancer or those with established hereditary cancer syndromes, should undergo pancreatic cancer screening beginning 10 years before the youngest age of a family member diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,” said Dr. House.

Research suggests that the risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age. Most people who develop pancreatic cancer are older than 45. According to the American Cancer Society about 90 percent of those diagnosed are older than 55 and 70 percent are older than 65. Of the more than 55,000 adults in the US who develop pancreatic cancer, more than 29,000 are men and more than 26,000 are women.

“Depending on where the cancer arises within the pancreas, symptoms may vary,” said Dr. House.  “The most common symptoms are abdominal or back pain, unexplained weight loss, nausea, and jaundice. New onset diabetes mellitus without obvious risk factors for this disease may be another sign of pancreatic cancer. Treatment for pancreatic will depend on the stage of cancer and may include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.”

— By T.J. Banes, Journalist, IU Health.
   Reach Banes via email tfender1@iuhealth.org.
   Photo: Peabody Awards [CC BY 2.0]