Groundbreaking cancer care in Southern Maryland.

A screening mammogram detected her breast cancer.

Throughout Suzanne McCarthy’s career, she has been in the medical imaging profession. In her current role as director of the Radiography program at Prince George’s Community College, she and her team are educating and preparing their students to work in the same field she has dedicated several decades to. When she got a callback after her most recent mammogram performed at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, that said there were abnormal findings, she was surprised. She had no family history of breast cancer and hadn’t noticed any lumps or breast changes. After follow-up imaging, she asked the radiologist, Gina J. Kim-Ahn, MD, if she could see her images.

“When I saw the images, I did see an area in the left breast that was definitely suspicious,” says Suzanne. “When the biopsy came back positive for cancer, I wasn’t really surprised, but I did have a lot of questions about my options.”

An MRI and biopsies of both breasts found invasive lobular carcinoma in the left breast and atypical cells in the right breast. Suzanne knew she needed an experienced, compassionate team to treat her cancer. She asked Dr. Kim-Ahn, who performed her biopsy, who she would choose if she needed breast cancer treatment. Without hesitation, she recommended Patricia B. Wehner, MD, a board-certified breast surgeon.

“One of the most important things when you’re facing cancer is having faith in your treatment team,” says Suzanne. “After meeting with Dr. Wehner and her nurse practitioner Lesa Poinsett and learning about my treatment options, I knew I had the right team. Not only was Dr. Wehner an experienced surgeon, she was also so upbeat and positive, which helped me psychologically. And Lesa was always available to answer any questions I had. She was wonderful!”

Another plus was the fact that Suzanne could receive state-of-the-art breast cancer care close to her home. Her imaging, surgery, and follow-up care were all done at MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, a little more than a half hour from Suzanne’s home.

Suzanne underwent a double mastectomy with concurrent breast reconstruction performed by Samer Jabbour, MD, one of MedStar Southern Maryland’s fellowship-trained plastic surgeons. With this approach, patients don’t need a second surgery for breast reconstruction, which was important to Suzanne.

The surgery was successful and the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes. Suzanne and Dr. Wehner are now discussing hormone therapy to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.

“I was very fortunate,” adds Suzanne. “Everything fell into place and I was able to receive outstanding care near my home. I have a lot to be thankful for."

Conquering Cancer with Love and Technology

Kimberly “April” Parlett and Bobby Parlett both have upbeat personalities with a sense of humor that could make anyone smile, despite battling their own health scares in the past.

Valentine’s Day is a special time of the year that most couples look forward to celebrating with wine and chocolates. But this year was extra sweet for the Parletts— they celebrated 16 years since getting engaged on the actual holiday, and it’s the first time doing so since being cancer-free.

April, who was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, remembers feeling a lump the day before having her annual mammogram. After all imaging scans were done, April was told that the cancer had already advanced to stage IV.

“Everything kind of escalated from there,” said April, having later endured six rounds of chemotherapy. “The cancer had spread to my lymph nodes, bones, lungs and all the other typical areas.”

Amid this worst-case scenario, Bobby was in no rush to get a routine checkup even though April, and his relatives, insisted that he did. He felt that April’s health was more important than concentrating on his own.

In reality, Bobby feared going to the doctor because he was worried about the unknown.

“I told my husband that one of us is going to have to live long enough to raise our child, and that he needed to start taking better care of himself,” April said. “I’m the proactive one, who gets a mammogram every year, and look what happens!”

The good news is Bobby had a change of heart and said he “realized that doctors are there to help make your life better, and more complete.” So, he scheduled appointments with a local family doctor and urologist.

Unfortunately, Bobby was diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure and prostate cancer. After a couple months of pretreatment, he had to receive nearly 40 sessions of radiation before going into remission. “I was a walking death trap,” Bobby said. “At some point, your fear is that I might be sick but don’t want to know. The truth is you want to know as soon as you can.”

April, with whom Bobby shares a teenage son, jokingly credited her breasts for saving his life. “We both have a sense of humor, thank the Lord,” she said.

But it was no laughing matter when April’s breast cancer returned with a vengeance in May 2021. What she mistook for a sinus infection turned out to be multiple lesions in her brain.

Luckily, Bryan Ego-Osuala, MD, an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist; also known as an ENT) based in Waldorf who currently serves as the director of MedStar Shah Medical Group’s Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery Division, knew something wasn’t right and took matters into his own hands.

Dr. Ego-Osuala asked questions about April’s medical history and was able to rule out her alleged sinusitis with a CAT scan, which ended up saving her life.

“The brain tumor would have killed her, absolutely, had we not caught it ahead of time. I ordered the CAT scan more so to prove to April that she didn’t have sinusitis,” Dr. Ego-Osuala said. “That’s why it’s so important for any clinician to ask the proper questions because a lot of times, you will get the right answer. I believe that 80 to 85 percent of a diagnosis can be made by simply talking to the patient. Imaging studies are just a bonus for confirmation.”

April was then referred to the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, where her husband’s prostate cancer had been treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) under the watchful eye of Andrew Satinsky, MD, clinical director of Radiation Oncology. April, on the other hand, would be treated with a modern radiosurgical system called ZAP-X® to remove smaller tumors from her brain following a separate neurosurgery performed at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

The goal in April’s case, according to Dr. Satinsky, was not to cure her breast cancer because it was already in stage IV. It was about “getting control over something serious,” he said.

“Radiation can be aimed in a very precise way to one specific part of the brain,” Dr. Satinsky said. “It’s kind of like a surgical strike on the tumors themselves.”

Since having her procedure eight months ago, Dr. Satinksy confirmed that the most recent set of diagnostic imaging tests done on April have shown “everything was stable.”

“A positive attitude goes a long way,” said April, who is still receiving infusion therapy. “With modern medicine, they can fix quite a bit of things now. The ZAP-X® machine is an example of that.”

For Dr. Satinsky, the Parletts’ positive outlook on life is enough to inspire the faint of heart.

“What I’ve found over the many years of doing this is there are a number of different ways one can leave an encounter, feeling hopeful about their treatment plan,” Dr. Satinsky said. “We were excited to be able to offer a treatment where we could remove each individual remaining tumor, as well as the area where the larger tumor had been removed from, without doing damage to surrounding tissue.”

Thanks to MedStar Health’s multidisciplinary approach to care, both April and Bobby are now in remission and have rekindled their love with newfound freedom.

April and Bobby are especially grateful for the outcry of support which has restored their faith in mankind. Family and friends have even stepped-up last summer to help run the Parletts’ swimming pool retail store, organize a fundraiser as well as make daily meal deliveries while they were recovering.

“We want to go on family trips. We want to build memories and all of those things. But without getting a diagnosis and figuring out what you need to do, the likelihood of that happening is diminished dramatically,” Bobby said. “Go out and get a routine checkup annually to make sure all of your checks and balances are in reasonable shape. Now more than ever, we’ve learned to listen to our body which saved our lives.”

A: It’s important to see a primary care provider (general internist or OB/GYN) for a confirmed cancer diagnosis before making an appointment with one of our oncology specialists. Our team will then work with your referring provider to confirm the diagnosis and begin developing a tailored treatment plan for the type of cancer you have. If you do not have a primary care provider, please use our Find a Doctor tool to find a provider close to you.

A: At your first visit, your medical oncologist will explain the type of cancer you have, if the cancer has spread, the outlook for your diagnosis, and will walk you through your treatment options. You may also meet with one of our radiation oncologists and/or cancer surgeons, should radiation therapy or surgery be a part of your treatment plan. Additional tests may be ordered as necessary and our staff with work with your insurance plan to ensure coverage. Every cancer is different. Your multidisciplinary team of specialists will develop the most personalized treatment plan for you.

A: The nurse navigator is a specially trained oncology nurse who is an important part of the multidisciplinary care team. The nurse navigator helps schedule tests and appointments with other oncology specialists and provides education and resources to answer your questions and address your physical, social, and emotional needs.

A: The health and safety of our most vulnerable or immune-compromised patients is our top priority. MedStar Health continues to require that all patients, visitors, and staff wear face masks in the hospital and physician offices. Every member of our team practices proper hand hygiene protocols and wears personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients. Exam rooms are disinfected between each patient and our staff continuously cleans and disinfects surfaces. Hand sanitizing stations are also available throughout the hospital. For more information on what MedStar Health is doing to protect patients from COVID or for information on updated visitor policies, visit here