Cancer Center
Above and Beyond
Fall | Winter 2012
Sam Hubka knows that the best things in life aren’t handed to you. And
when you want something really badly, you have to give 110 percent to
get it — whether it’s winning a football game, a wrestling match or
a battle with cancer.
Limitless Possibilities
Fall | Winter 2011
Stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer at temperatures below -150°C are several thousand small bags of human hematopoietic stem cells. They are the link to life and a possible cure for many patients with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.
Renewing Life
Fall | Winter 2011
About halfway into her six-month treatment regimen, Rhonda Peterson arrived on schedule at the Village Pointe Cancer Center for her weekly chemotherapy treatment. Peterson usually left feeling tired and fatigued. But today she left with a renewed sense of self-confidence, a smile on her face and sporting a beautiful head of new, silky blonde hair.
108 Degrees
Spring | Summer 2011
Surgeons at The Nebraska Medical Center have added a new weapon in their battle against cancer — heat.
Fighting for Every Breath
Fall | Winter 2010
Certain that her racing heart and the tingling down her left arm were
signs of a heart attack, Joann Mieska tried to be calm as her manager
summoned paramedics to the Council Bluffs, Iowa, casino where Mieska
works.
Revealed by the Past
Spring | Summer 2010
After discovering a genetic predisposition for ovarian cancer, Mary
Bernstein bristled at the thought of surgery. A new robotic procedure
for hysterectomy, however, had Bernstein back on her feet the very next
day.
Creating New Pathways in Treatment
Spring | Summer 2009
Since the inception of the liver transplant program in 1985, the
surgical team that is one facet of the world-renowned liver disease
program at The Nebraska Medical Center has performed 2,534 liver
transplants.
Saving Face
Spring | Summer 2009
John Allbery thought the swollen glands in his throat meant he was
coming down with a cold. His family physician suspected an infection and
prescribed antibiotics.
Spreading the Cure
Fall | Winter 2008
When Russel Iwan began experiencing pain in his upper leg he didn’t think much of it – until that was all he could think about.
Westward Expansion
Fall | Winter 2008
When you need healthcare, you want it to be convenient and you want the best. Now you can have both.
Gift of Life
Spring | Summer 2008
There’s nothing wrong with Ruth Gerdes’ hearing. But when an oncologist
in Lincoln told her the carcinoid tumors in her liver were inoperable
and that she had no hope for a cure, she refused to listen.
A New Era in Breast Cancer Treatment
Summer | Fall 2007
On this particular day, she has a full schedule of patients in her
clinic. As oncologist Beth Reed, MD, one of the region’s leading experts
on breast cancer, scans the schedule, she notes that she’ll see women
at a variety of stages in their cancer journey: four newly diagnosed
patients, four who are a year or more out from treatment and the
remaining eight patients who are breast cancer survivors of five years
or more – a milestone Dr. Reed is sharing with an increasing number of
her patients all of the time.
