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Features of MyHealth
One
View lab results
Manage the health of a loved one
Sign up for a class or event (
coming soon
)
Pre-register for a procedure
Find a doctor
Make an appointment (
coming 2017
)
Pay your bill
Find health information
View your health visits
Introducing Methodist Healthcare’s new, enhanced patient portal
Your health in your hands
Managing your health care
is easier than ever. Now
you can access your health
information anytime on our
secure, online health portal.
Create an account today.
Visit our website
www.SAHealth.com/MyHealth Oneor call 855-422-6625.
GIVING THANKS
FOR FAMILY
Share the food—and your family
history—this Thanksgiving
BREAST CANCER SURGERY:
DECIDE WHAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU
about breast recon-
structive surgery
after a mastectomy
or lumpectomy. Several
options are available,
including procedures that recreate the nipple and areola. The
Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator (DIEP) Flap technique is
an advanced reconstructive procedure by which surgeons use
the patient’s own abdominal skin and fat to reconstruct the
breast after a mastectomy. With DIEP Flap, patients experi-
ence faster recovery and a lower risk of complications than
many other reconstructive techniques.
MORE THAN 100,000
American women undergo
mastectomy and breast reconstruction every year after
a breast cancer diagnosis. Despite widespread aware-
ness of breast cancer, much less is known about the
surgeries women have, particularly mastectomy and
reconstruction. Breast reconstruction takes months
and sometimes years. Health complications can occur
any step along the way.
Methodist Healthcare treats more patients with
breast cancer than any other hospital system in the
greater San Antonio area. Methodist Healthcare
Cancer Network is helping women learn more about
breast cancer reconstruction and how to decide what
is right for them. A woman’s age, residence, insurance,
hospital and breast surgeon all can affect her choice.
“A lot has changed in breast cancer reconstruction
in the last decade,” said
Oscar Ochoa, MD,
with PRMA
Plastic Surgery, one of the leading breast reconstruc-
tion practices in the world. Ochoa specializes in
advanced breast cancer reconstruction and performs
many of his procedures at Methodist Hospital. “Most
women no longer have to wait to have breast cancer
surgery first and then reconstruction—often it is done
the same day.”
“With tissue reconstruction, we can use the patient’s
own tissue to form natural-looking breasts that grow
and age with the patient like any other body part,”
he said. PRMA specializes in state-of-the art breast
reconstruction procedures, including the DIEP Flap,
SIEA Flap, GAP Flap, TUG Flap, fat grating, Alloderm
one-step, nipple-sparing mastectomy, and vascularized
lymph node transfer.
When Kim Land was diagnosed with breast cancer,
she decided that her best choice was mastectomy and
breast reconstruction using her own abdominal tissue.
She underwent bilateral skin-sparing mastectomies
and immediate reconstruction with SIEA Flaps, one of
the newer, more complicated, tissue-based reconstruc-
tion techniques, using the superficial inferior epigastric
blood vessels in her lower abdomen and the lower
abdominal tissue, like the tissue removed in a tummy
tuck.
Minas Chrysopoulo, MD,
with PRMA, performed
the procedure at Methodist Hospital. “Reconstruction
with my own tissue just seemed like the right thing for
me,” said Land. Implant reconstruction did not appeal
to her because her sister’s implants had shifted.
Methodist Healthcare Cancer Network has dedicated
oncology nurse navigators to help women overcome
barriers and coordinate care with the entire breast can-
cer treatment team. A cancer navigator is a health care
professional who supports oncology patients and their
families through the many challenges of cancer. The
support of a cancer navigator, as part of the health care
team, provides a better experience and improved out-
comes. We encourage patients to talk with their nurse
navigator about breast reconstruction surgery and the
options available.
For more information on breast cancer care
and reconstruction at Methodist Healthcare, visit
www.sahealth.org.
THANKSGIVING IS
a wonderful time to connect with
family, eat great food and give thanks.
It’s also a good time to listen closely to your rela-
tives’ stories about their health—Uncle Joe’s blood
sugar woes are more important than you may think.
Families often share genes, environment and life-
styles that can influence health. If someone in your
family has a disease such as diabetes, stroke or cancer,
you may be at risk for it too.
Knowing what types of health problems run in your
family is essential for two reasons:
1
You can work with your doctor to determine
what screening tests you may need and how
often you should get them.
For instance, if your dad
and sister both had colorectal cancer, your doctor may
recommend that you get screened for the disease at a
younger age or more frequently than other people.
Screening tests can often find diseases early, when
treatment is typically most effective.
2
You can take steps to help keep you healthy.
Some diseases, such as diabetes or heart disease,
can often be prevented or delayed by doing things like
eating a healthy diet, exercising and maintaining a
healthy weight.
CREATE A RECORD
Ideally, you should know the
health histories of close blood relatives on both sides of
your family. This includes your parents, grandparents,
siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.
You’ll want to find out what conditions each relative
has had and when they were first diagnosed; and if
relatives have died, the causes of death and their ages.
It’s OK if some details are missing. Just gather as much
information as you can.
Getting—and keeping—everyone’s health history
will be easier if you use an online tool from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. It’s
called My Family Health Portrait, and you’ll find it
at
www.familyhistory.hhs.gov
.
Once you’ve created a family health history, print
out copies for your doctor—and your relatives. It’s
something your family will be grateful for all year long.
Talk to
your nurse
navigator
Thanksgiving is National
Family History Day. Use your time together to
gather information about your family’s health.
M e t h o d i s t H e a l t h c a r e
K E E P I N G
W E L L
F A L L 2 0 1 6
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