Download New breast cancer treatments highlighted at lecture presented by

New breast cancer treatments highlighted at lecture presented by AVH Foundation
Deborah Breen, President & CEO
Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation
On May 24th, Aspen Valley Hospital
Foundation (AVHF) presented
“Multidisciplinary Treatment of Breast
Cancer” as part of the new “Surgical
Grand Rounds” lecture series. This
lecture was produced with Aspen Valley
Hospital (AVH) surgeons Drs. Les Fraser
and Joseph Livengood, with special
support from the Hotel Jerome and an
anonymous donor.
The lecture was well-attended by both
community members and area clinicians,
and was presented by Dr. Fraser as well as
Dr. Armando Armas, medical oncologist;
Drs. Bruce Green and David Marcus,
radiation oncologists; and Drs. Jennifer
Butterfield and Jason Martin, plastic
surgeons. With one in eight American
women developing invasive breast cancer
in her lifetime, our community should
understand the scope of diagnostic and
treatment options available.
Early detection is still the best
prevention and AVH has state-ofthe-art 3D mammography technology
to ensure images have the greatest
clarity. According to Dr. Lora Barke,
a radiologist and fellowship trained
breast imaging specialist who is on the
AVH and Invision Sally Jobe Imaging
Center medical staffs, “The whole point
of screening mammography is to find
cancer before it can be felt as a lump,
before it has a chance to spread to lymph
nodes and other tissues.”
Dr. Barke, along with other radiology
breast specialists based out of Denver
who are at AVH on a weekly basis, read
all mammograms completed at AVH.
In fact, scans from around the state are
read by these experts and when they are
at AVH, patients who are having their
mammograms at Sally Jobe and other
medical centers from around the state are
having their scans read here in Aspen.
In addition to mammography, AVH also
houses an arsenal of other diagnostic
imaging technology should further
testing be needed, including breast
ultrasound and breast MRI capabilities.
Further, once the next phase of hospital
construction is completed, there will
be a dedicated women’s imaging center,
enabling AVH to augment its already
robust breast program with stereotactic
breast biopsy capabilities.
As patients begin their journey, a
dedicated nurse navigator helps guide
them. Receiving this personalized
support makes a big difference as patients
cope with their diagnosis. The AVH
nurse navigator can help to decode
medical jargon, coordinate appointments,
and provide emotional support. For
patients who have been diagnosed
with breast cancer, knowing the next
steps and having complete information
on treatment options is extremely
important. Oncologist Dr. Douglas
Rovira works closely with patients
who have been diagnosed, and helps
coordinate care with other specialists
from breast surgeons, to radiologists, to
radiation oncologists, to pathologists and
plastic surgeons. If surgery is needed,
it can be performed at AVH by Dr. Les
Fraser, a general surgeon who specializes
in minimally-invasive laparoscopic
surgery and in breast surgical procedures,
such as lumpectomies and mastectomies.
AVH is leveraging state-of-the-art
technology, local medical expertise
and even telemedicine capabilities to
ensure the best possible diagnostic tools,
treatment options and support systems
are available for patients facing breast
cancer. Nancee Dodge, AVH Nurse
Practitioner in Oncology sums it up well
by saying, “People don’t want to uproot
their lives to obtain the same care that
they can receive at home.”
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