HJNO Mar/Apr 2019

58 MAR / APR 2019  I  Healthcare Journal of NEW ORLEANS   Hospital Rounds NewOrleans Saints Visit Cancer Patients, Children at Ochsner Members of the New Orleans Saints and The Copeland Family of Restaurants visited patients at the Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Cen- ter and Ochsner Hospital for Children to spread some holiday joy. Players Keith Kirkwood, A.J. Klein, Wil Lutz, Thomas Morstead, David Ony- emata, and Tre’Quan Smith, along with Elizabeth and Al Copeland, Jr., spread well-wishes, laugh- ter, restaurant gift cards, and Saints gear among patients receiving chemotherapy. From the Cancer Center, the group progressed to Ochsner Hospital for Children, where they dis- tributed wrapped gifts, filled stockings, and Saints gifts, and visited with kids and their families, even singing Happy Birthday to an almost four-year- old patient. “Our patients really love it when the Saints visit,” said Karen Wynn, BSN, RN, Infusion Center man- ager at the Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Cen- ter. “Dealing with cancer during the holidays can be really challenging—more so than other times of the year—so the players really help lift the spir- its of patients and families. We all appreciate the good will and the good cheer they bring.” Saints players began their Ochsner Hospital for Children visit in the hospital playroom, where chil- dren who are well enough can take a break from treatment or their rooms, then visited individual rooms of children too ill to be out of bed. “The holidays can be a very challenging time when your children are sick, and having a visit from the Saints brings so much joy to our patients and their families,” says Thomas Harris, Jr., vice pres- ident of pediatrics at Ochsner Hospital for Chil- dren. “The visit really helps lift these families out of the stress and worry of having a child in the hos- pital, and the players do a great job of engaging the families and encouraging the kids. We’re really grateful for the time they spend with us.” The Copeland Family of Restaurants helped add to the joy this holiday season by hand deliv- ering filled stockings and Copeland’s gift cards to patients. Copeland’s also hosted a holiday feast for the staff members. Saints players have visited Ochsner patients dur- ing the holiday season for the last several years. Calendar Sales Fund Free Car Seats for Louisiana Families in Need A statewide program that has provided nearly 3,000 free child safety seats for Louisiana families in need is back for the fourth straight year The program is a partnership of state safety officials, University Medical Center New Orleans, and SONIC Drive-In locations in Louisiana. The car seats are funded by sales of SONIC Drive-in’s Tot Calendar, which is on sale through February at all participating Louisiana SONIC Drive-In locations. Each calendar is $5 and all proceeds benefit the child safety seat program. The calendars include more than $45 in coupons that are good for pur- chases at Louisiana drive-ins only, along with tips for using car seats correctly. Since 2016, SONIC Drive-In crew members in Louisiana have raised a total of $163,000 in cal- endar sales, which has paid for 2,750 car seats. “These literally save the lives of kids who wouldn’t otherwise have a car seat,” said Ted Kergan, owner of Kergan Bros. Sonic Group, the state’s largest SONIC franchisee. “This is an ini- tiative that our customers love, and our crews are proud to support. It’s a perfect fit for SON- IC’s drive-in culture, and best of all, the program works.” SONIC Drive-Ins also support National Seat Check Saturday, an annual statewide event in which the Louisiana Passenger Safety Task Force and University Medical Center New Orleans offer free child safety seat education. Nationally certi- fied child safety seat technicians educate the com- munity on the proper use and installation of their child’s safety seat.   “Car crashes kill three children every day across the country. A child safety seat is the best way to prevent these injuries, but the seat must be used properly,” said Bridget Gardner, a registered nurse and coordinator of the Community Injury Preven- tion Program at UMC New Orleans. “These pro- grams do both; they provide seats to needy fami- lies and ensure the seats are used correctly.” LakeviewRegional Surgeon Performs First Complex Surgery of its Kind in the U.S. Dr. John Breaux, a cardiothoracic vascular sur- geon at Lakeview Regional Medical Center, a campus of Tulane Medical Center, recently per- formed four complex open heart surgical proce- dures during the same operation, becoming the first surgeon in the United States to execute this type of surgery involving a series of procedures that each depended on the other. The incredibly complex operation likely saved the life of Larry Edmondson, a 64-year- old Pearl River resident who was suffering from severe end-stage heart disease and was at risk of sudden death from aneurysm. Edmondson was unable to walk across a room without immediate fatigue and serious chest pain, he said. He was diagnosed with advanced end-stage heart failure and a mul- titude of issues that could not be managed with conventional heart therapies or symptom management strategies. In the past five years, many new technolo- gies have greatly helped in the care of patients with a single heart problem. Due to Edmond- son’s extensive medical problems, however, the option of performing the procedures in stages did not exist. The only option was for Breaux to per- form four surgical procedures within a single oper- ation, which had never been done with these specific interventions. “When I perform complex open heart surgery, I go into the operating room with a well-thought- out plan and a backup plan, both of which are standard routines,” said Breaux, who practices with Lakeview Regional Physician Group. “In this case, I had to develop a very complicated plan which had never been attempted before, but with our team of experts at Lakeview Regional, I knew we could make it happen.” Advanced technologies allow for a very tiny John Breaux, MD