Enzaime Health Stories

On a typical day at  Johns Hopkins Medical Imaging at Green Spring Station , patients coming in for imaging tests such as  MRIs ,  ultrasounds  and  mammograms have a comforting advocate available in the waiting room. Kate Pisano is a patient liaison — there to meet the needs of the patients by providing resources and support. With Kate’s smile and cheerful attitude, it’s not obvious that recently she too was a patient sitting in the waiting room confronting her own major health challenges. Two years ago Kate was fighting breast cancer and facing it alone as a single working mother of two teenaged sons. Months after a painful divorce, Kate noticed a lump in her breast while getting undressed. “I was afraid of what the lump might mean, so I waited several weeks before finally making an appointment with my doctor,” she said. That appointment led to a mammogram followed by a  biopsy . In April of 2012, Kate’s greatest fear w...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbnFmqxbi5Q Jim Watkins closely monitored his health after learning that he had a heart murmur and a leaky heart valve. After exploring his options at several hospitals, he chose to come to Johns Hopkins for a robotic mitral valve repair with  Kaushik Mandal, M.D. , a cardiac surgeon. He tells his story about the procedure, recovery and experience with The Johns Hopkins Hospital. About the Johns Hopkins Robotic Cardiac Surgery Program Minimally invasive robotic surgery may be used to treat many cardiac conditions with increased precision and safety. Our advanced robotic system allows us to perform complex operations through incisions that are much smaller than those used with traditional surgical approaches. Mandal and his team are dedicated to offering robotic cardiac to patients that are approved candidates for these procedures. Original Published Link A heart murmur and a leaky heart valve #CardiacConditionsWithIncreasedPrecision, #KaushikMandalM....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=QDwctWY-DOQ Joseph “Cook” Edens III doesn’t let pancreatic cancer get in the way of living a full life. Edens was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent a Whipple procedure at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Unfortunately, a bout of pancreatitis returned, and in 2015, surgeon Christopher Wolfgang and his team performed a total pancreatectomy on Edens, removing his entire pancreas and spleen. The Arlington, Virginia, resident is now cancer-free and back to a busy lifestyle of work, sports and family time. About Johns Hopkins Pancreatic Cancer Care Having pancreatic cancer — or a suspicious tumor on your pancreas — is a frightening diagnosis. Johns Hopkins experts, some of the most experienced pancreatic specialists in the country, are working to dispel fear and create hope in patients with pancreatic disease. Pancreatic cancer, tumors and cysts are being treated with dramatic success at Johns Hopkins. ...

The way  commercial airline pilot Terry Broderick describes it, his life was at cruising altitude when he learned he had stage III  colorectal cancer . Terry, 52, was on the verge of buying an airplane so he and his wife could fly to visit their five grown children. But before getting a chance to sign the paperwork, he had a routine colonoscopy. Then came the diagnosis that grounded his plans. After receiving his diagnosis of colorectal cancer, Terry remembered that he had been impressed with the treatment his daughter received at The Johns Hopkins Hospital for a lower gastrointestinal ailment a few years earlier. That was when he had first met colorectal surgeon   Jonathan Efron, M.D. As a professional pilot, Terry was trained to deal with changing circumstances and to react in a way that achieves the best outcome. Terry decided that his best chance to beat colorectal cancer meant making the three-hour round-trip drive from his home in Virginia to be treated at Johns Hop...

Everything was going right for Laurie Jean Cannady in June 2015. An English professor at Lock Haven University in central Pennsylvania, Laurie Jean was planning a party to celebrate the publication of her new memoir,  Crave: Sojourn of a Hungry Soul . Then, something odd happened: She noticed an unusual lump on her left cheek, below the cheekbone. Although it wasn’t painful, her primary care physician referred her to a local specialist for more tests. Brain Aneurysm Diagnosed A  CT scan  at an outpatient clinic confirmed that the lump wasn’t serious. However, the scan revealed another issue that was very concerning: Laurie Jean had an unruptured  brain aneurysm , a weak and ballooning area in the wall of a brain artery that required immediate care. If left untreated, a life-threatening rupture of the brain aneurysm may occur. Laurie Jean says she had trouble getting needed follow-up appointments and tests scheduled, which lulled her into a false sense of ...

Life was busy for 17-year-old Brianna Atkins. In January 2015, the Apple Valley, California, high school senior was ready to start her final season of soccer, focused on maintaining her spot in the top 10 of her class and working part time. But it all came to a sudden halt when she learned the headaches that she’d been having during the past month were caused by a  brain aneurysm. Instead of taking the field at the season’s first soccer game, Brianna was in the emergency room at the local hospital with her parents, Angel and Santos Adams. The headache pain was so bad that Brianna couldn’t play. “I was on my way to her game when she called me crying,” recalls Angel. “She’s not one to complain about anything. We knew something wasn’t normal.” A  CT scan  showed a mass on Brianna’s brain. After further testing by her primary care physician and a referral to a local neurologist, they learned the mass was a giant brai...