The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 33 COVID patients today, 32 yesterday. Other significant numbers:
- 14 with the active virus today, 17 yesterday
- 1 in ICU, 3 yesterday
- 0 on a ventilator, 1 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Yvonne Sieber, oral cancer survivor
- In 2016, Yvonne noticed a sore on her tongue, so she went to an oral surgeon who took a biopsy but found no cancer. It hadn’t gone away in 2017 and she went to a different doctor.
- She was diagnosed with cancer and went through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, but the cancer came back.
- Doctors at The University of Kansas Cancer Center rebuilt her tongue and provided photon therapy to keep the cancer from returning.
- Yvonne is pleased that the surgery and procedures kept her taste buds intact.
- As a result of this journey, she is more grateful for everything in life
Dr. Kiran Kakarala, otolaryngologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- The goal is to remove the cancer, and in Yvonne’s case, it meant removing part of tongue.
- In the past, we didn't have the ability to rebuild the tongue and patients had a lot of trouble speaking and eating after that.
- Over the last 20-30 years, this reconstruction evolved to take a piece of tissue from the arm and transplant it so it's like a transplant from your own body.
- Yvonne went through standard surgery, chemo, and radiation, but the immunotherapy was an added tool that helped battle the cancer and she has no problems speaking or eating.
Dr. Christopher Lominksa, radiation oncologist, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- The photon therapy came after Yvonne’s second surgery.
- We knew she'd had an aggressive disease and we wanted to reduce her recurrence risk as low as possible.
- She underwent a six-week course of 30 treatments.
- Photon therapy is better for a number of reasons, but the tongue is a mobile structure and photon therapy high-energy x-rays are better at handling the motion and variability there.
- HPV vaccines are important for prevention of cancers that are a little further back in the throat, as well as other cancers.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The WHO is monitoring polio outbreaks.
- Sometimes the polio virus can revert from the vaccine in very, very few instances, and cause what we call vaccine derived polio.
- But we also have a different vaccine that we can use to help treat that and immunize people to protect against that as well. So there is wild polio virus and vaccine derived polio virus
- As we have gotten through the pandemic and had a decrease in polio vaccine programs around the world, we've seen a little bit more of the wild polio virus.
- Please stay up to date with your polio vaccine.
Wednesday, April 19 is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. You've heard of a blood bank. But what about a stool bank? A fecal transplant may sound strange or even gross, but the procedure is saving lives. We’ll look at who qualifies and why.
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