By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The need for comprehensive care was visible everywhere one looked at the groundbreaking for the new St. Elizabeth Healthcare Cancer Center in Edgewood last week.
Kristi Nelson, co-chair of the funding campaign for the St. Elizabeth Cancer Center, shared her personal struggle with the disease at last week’s groundbreaking (photos by Mark Hansel).
Several speakers, including Dr. Doug Flora, who was named Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services for St. Elizabeth, shared personal stories of how cancer has impacted their lives.
None, however, was perhaps more compelling than the story shared by Kristi Nelson, senior vice president at Pomeroy.
Nelson, co-chair of the funding campaign for the Cancer Center, was diagnosed with mucosal melanoma, a rare form of cancer of which there are only about 400 cases diagnosed in the United States each year.
“I still remember that October 30 when the phone rang and on the other end it was the doctor telling me I had a malignant tumor encroaching on my brain, wedged in the orbit of my eye and ever so close to the lining of my brain,” Nelson said. “Removing my eye was like a no-brainer…but even if we do that, I was certain I was going to die. I’m probably one of the most positive people you will ever meet, but in those 24 to 48 hours, everything went dark.”
Nelson was so overwhelmed by the diagnosis, she couldn’t even sit in a chair. She had to sit on the floor to have the security that she had a strong base of support under her.
She was devastated at the thought of leaving her husband and daughter to go on without her if she passed away.
“I saw about eight different specialists here in Northern Kentucky and unfortunately, I didn’t find an integrated care team that could take care of my issue,” Nelson said.
Bishop Roger Foys of the Diocese of Covington offered the blessing at the groundbreaking.
Seeking a second opinion, Nelson went to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She was amazed at the resources dedicated to cancer care, including one entire floor of the building dedicated to melanoma. The Institute handles about 50 of the 400 cases of mucosal melanoma diagnosed each year.
A team of specialists worked together to determine a treatment strategy.
“They all got around a table and planned my care,” Nelson said.
Nelson admits it was a tremendous hardship being away from her family during the holidays, having an eye removed and being subjected to an extensive treatment regimen, but knows now it was the right choice.
She was strengthened by the recognition that there were three things in her life that she could control – her faith, her attitude and her medical care, and a sense of contentment came over her.
“It’s a peace and contentment that I want for every person in this crowd that has yet to be diagnosed with cancer,” Nelson said. “You, like me thought it would never happen…and when it does, the cancer center will be right here in our community to provide the integrated care that I’ve just described. You’ll be able to avail yourself of the latest and newest drugs on the market, clinical trials, with expertise that outweighs anyone else in the region.”
Dr. Doug Flora became emotional when talking about how cancer has impacted his life and the lives of his patients. Flora was named Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services for St. Elizabeth at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Dr. Flora said it is those personal stories that have driven him to develop a comprehensive cancer center in Northern Kentucky. He envisions the groundbreaking as the first of many big wins for St. Elizabeth and said he couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the future.
“I’m pushing us to be something greater than I think any of us had previously dreamed to be and sometimes that’s hard,” Flora said. “When (cancer treatment at St. E) first started, they were carrying chemo around in the trunks of their car and now we are talking about a $140 million center. This is going to be a home for tens of thousands of patients, long after we are gone, long after we retire or move away, or are no longer able to practice medicine and it’s a great honor to be part of this process.”
The statistics provide the best evidence of just how badly comprehensive cancer care is needed in the region.
“As we go to build this, we are the worst place in the country to receive cancer care,” Flora said. “We have incredible talent, we have incredible dedication, but our patient population is sicker than most, so we lose more lung cancer patients than any other state, we lose more colon cancer patients than any other state. We are in the top five for about three or four other cancers, and we are improving but this center is a vehicle by which we can make real change, we can bend that curve.”
St. Elizabeth has already begun to shift its focus from chasing stage four cancers to prevention and screening.
“As I see us saving more patients than we have ever saved it gets me even more energized,” Flora said. “My personal philosophy, for those of you that work with me know, that one dead battery can’t jumpstart another. So use each other’s energy where you can help.”
Flora credit’s St. Elizabeth’s senior leadership and board of directors for making the commitment to the project, but says the financial burden is significant.
“Some of you in this room are able to help us financially and that would be incredible right now as we are starting to press our budget,” Flora said. “If you are able, help, it’s meaningful, the work that we do here matters. We’re trying to do this as diligently as we can, but there is just not enough money to take care of the people that we need to take care of.”
St. Elizabeth President and CEO Garren Colvin said the Cancer Center was another step in the commitment to make Northern Kentucky the healthiest community in the country.
St. Elizabeth President and CEO Garren Colvin said the healthcare organization is taking on the region’s most challenging issues.
“It was a few short years ago that our leadership team, just right around the corner had a similar groundbreaking…we were celebrating and looking forward to the building of our Heart and Vascular Institute,” Colvin said. “That heart and vascular institute had a lofty goal, we wanted to save 25 percent of people dying from heart attacks before the year 2025. I’m very proud to say, as we sit here today, we’re close to saving 20 percent.”
American Heart Association data confirms that there has been a 20 percent reduction in the same period of time, in heart-related deaths in the region.
“We have a similar project, a very lofty project that will change the lives of Northern Kentuckians,” Colvin said. “If St. Elizabeth wants to lead Northern Kentucky in becoming the healthiest community in America, that would not be possible if we weren’t attacking on of the most dreadful diseases that this community has, which is cancer. This area is prevalent for many reasons, but we will implement a program to help eliminate this dreaded disease in our community and put us well on our way to making us one of the healthiest communities possible.”
Colvin recognizes that it is an ambitious goal, but he says the Cancer Center will bring St. Elizabeth another step closer to achieving it.
“About 10 percent of our cancer patients are in a clinical trial,” Colvin said.” Our goal is to double that in a short amount of time – we want to get to 20 percent of our patients in a clinical trial – because we know that that’s the new protocol, the new standard, for treating cancer in our community. With this lofty goal, we’ll be able to attack this dreadful disease and we’ll make a difference here in our community.”
Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore, Chair of the St. Elizabeth Board of Trustees, said all of the community partners share Colvin’s vision.
“The mission of St. Elizabeth Healthcare is to provide comprehensive and compassionate care that will improve the overall health of the people we serve and our region,” Moore said. “This cancer center will exemplify this mission. The work that will take place in this center, will be life-changing for countless people in our community.”
Moore said St. Elizabeth has been an integral part of his life and the lives of his family members.
“Unfortunately, so has cancer, so this work today is special to me, and I would suppose, also special to you,” Moore said. “Whether it has touched your life, a member of your family, or a dear friend, it has touched us. The work that we do today is work that is overdue, but we’re ready for the challenge that is before us.”
Flora became emotional as he shared how cancer has touched him.
“Cancer doesn’t have a face until it’s you or someone you love, it became me in October,” Flora said. “It’s meaningful what we do, help us do this and we will make it worth your time, we will make it worth your money, we will make it worth it for these patients.”
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
