Fighting
breast cancer is not just a physical battle; it is a mental and
emotional battle as well. Part of the tragedy of breast cancer is
that the disease often afflicts otherwise healthy, active women.
A middle-aged woman can be active and feel perfectly fine and then
one day receive the shattering news that she has breast cancer.
So it ends up being all the more jarring and frightening when a
woman with breast cancer heads to a hospital and finds herself sharing
a room with a frail, terminally ill patient. That only adds more
stress to what is already a stressful time for the breast cancer
patient. At the Omega Hospital in Metairie, patients not only receive
top notch health care, they receive it in a private, intimate setting
that allows them the comfort and space they need to rest and recuperate.
The Omega Hospital is located at 2525 Severn Ave. in Metairie and
features a number of high quality amenities for its patients. “It’s
a luxury facility,” said Dr. Alan Stolier, a surgical oncologist
at the Omega hospital. “It suits a woman who is going to undergo
a tremendous trauma very well.” Each patient gets her own room.
There is a separate Murphy bed in the room for a spouse or family
member to stay in the room with the patient overnight. There are
also special robes, high speed Internet access, a mini-bar, a microwave,
and a coffee maker in the room, making the room feel more like a
hotel suite than a hospital room. Instead of typically drab hospital
cuisine, food from various New Orleans restaurants can be brought
to the patient as well. If family members would like separate accommodations,
Omega is happy to recommend hotels in the area. In addition to this,
there is a small nurse-to-patient ratio (smaller than most hospitals),
adding to the personal, pampering atmosphere.
The private hotel-like atmosphere of the rooms is also highly beneficial
for out-of-town patients. The Omega Hospital attracts people from
all over the Southeast region. At other hospitals, a patient might
have to wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning to make the drive into
the city to get to the hospital for a 7 a.m. surgery. At Omega,
patients are allowed to arrive the day before and spend the night
in the hospital, allowing them to be rested going into the surgery,
as opposed to being tired, frazzled, and stressed from a long commute.
“These types of procedures are best done in small, private
hospitals,” Dr. Bob Allen, a plastic surgeon specializing in
microsurgical reconstruction for the Omega Hospital, said.
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Dr. Alan Stolier |
Dr. Robert J. Allen |
The doctors at the Omega Hospital have a personal stake in fighting
breast cancer. Dr. Allen’s mother survived a battle with breast
cancer when she was diagnosed with the disease in 1985. Dr. Stolier
has a grandmother and aunts who suffered from the disease. “It
strikes down women at a very productive period in their lives,”
said Dr. Stolier. “It’s an amazingly destructive disease
for a woman’s family.”
At the Omega Hospital, the doctors aren’t simply caring –
they are at the very top of their profession. In 1992, Dr. Allen
pioneered the DIEP (Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator) flap procedure
in New Orleans, and it quickly became the gold standard for breast
reconstruction around the world. In the past, women who wanted to
have breast reconstruction after a mastectomy would have to have
skin and fat and some muscle removed from their abdomen. However,
with his background in microsurgery, Dr. Allen was able to develop
a technique where only skin and fat were taken from the abdomen.
“It results in a natural breast, less pain for the patient,
quicker recovery, and the preservation of function of the abdominal
wall,” Dr. Allen said.
For the past 10 years, Dr. Allen has worked solely on breast reconstructions.
At Omega, part of the reason the doctors are so good is because
they do nothing but focus on their specialty. Dr. Stolier does breast
conserving surgeries, as not all breast cancer patients require
a mastectomy. And the doctors enjoy focusing on their specific areas
of expertise. “The more you know about a subject, the more
interesting it becomes,” Dr. Stolier said.
Because of new scientific breakthroughs regarding genetic ties
to breast cancer, risk reduction surgeries area available. According
to Dr. Stolier, these surgeries can now be performed by removing
tissue without damaging the nipple. Through his own studies, Dr.
Stolier determined that the risk of leaving in the nipple in women
genetically predisposed to breast cancer was extremely low.
Aside from doing expert surgical work in the breast cancer field,
the Omega Hospital also donates money, as well as its knowledge
to FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), an organization
that aims to improve the lives of women and families affected by
hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Dr. Allen says the organization
is vitally important in part because it helps get the word out nationwide
with options for breast reconstruction for breast cancer patients.
Dr. Allen is also passionate about sharing information with surgeons
around the world in order to help provide the best care for breast
cancer patients in every country. He has helped start the organization
GABRs (Group for the Advancement of Breast Reconstruction). The
idea came when Dr. Allen and other doctors were sharing ideas at
a meeting in Taipei in 2000. They decided this would be a good idea
even after they left the conference. “Through the Internet
we could share ideas, problem cases, innovative cases, questions,
and support each other,” Dr. Allen said.
In the end, the Omega Hospital is about curing their patients of
a terrible but treatable disease and doing so in as comfortable
of an environment as possible. “To fight the disease, the medical
environment should be very nurturing and supportive and the Omega
Hospital provides that environment,” said Dr. Bob Allen.
Health & Fitness Magazine
June 2009
VOL 15 Issue 6
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