THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040570
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
Eleanor Tatum was devastated when she found out in early August that she had cancer. She thought her life was over at 59. But because of how, and where, she was told the news, she was able to face a radical hysterectomy positively and calmly.
Lt. Cmdr. Rudy Segna, director of gynecologic oncology at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, sat down at a round table in a comfortable room to give Tatum every detail of his diagnosis and her treatment.
That room is part of the GYN Oncology Resource Center, which opened in mid-September. The center, made up of the consultation room and an information nook, is part of two naval clinics at Portsmouth General Hospital.
A lack of space at the naval hospital forced the move.
About 3,500 active duty and military-dependent women are seen in the GYN oncology clinic yearly, which has been at Portsmouth General for the past three years. In addition, more than 2,500 women have been seen in the 6-month-old Breast Diagnostic Clinic.
``All our patients are high risk, with a high possibility of malignancy requiring surgery and care,'' Segna said. ``Because they've had extensive screening before they get here, the vast majority of cases are curable.''
Segna said the clinic has treated girls as young as 2 with rare ovarian cancers as well as women in their 80s.
In the past, women often were examined in a room, then called back to the same room - or perhaps to the doctor's office - to hear findings, sometimes traumatic.
``It just seemed so cold, to give the news in an examining room,'' said Segna. ``It makes more sense to relay information in a serene, family place. Often there is highly complex counseling involved, and it makes the patient and her family more in tune to what we're saying.''
The physician stressed that the oncology resource center is not just a ``bad news room.'' It can also be a place to tell patients that their conditions are non-malignant, or that they have a strong possibility of being cured. And it is an education room, he said, using a multi-discipline approach that involves support groups and counselors.
``We are a referral center for all of the military,'' said Cmdr. Steven Remmenga, chairman of the naval medical complex's obstetrics and gynecology department. ``In the past year, we've received and treated patients from South America, Japan and Europe.''
Tatum, widow of a retired Air Force man, didn't travel far, just from Hampton. But she has come a long way.
She has had surgery and is now undergoing radiation treatments. She looks healthy and happy.
``I have been treated with the utmost dignity,'' she said. ``I couldn't have had better treatment if I was the president of the United States.''
Her son, Air Force Master Sergeant Brian Tatum, echoed her feelings.
``Dr. Segna, from a medical and military standpoint, is beyond reproach. He kept us all calm,'' said Brian Tatum. ``When my mother got the news, she went through a deep emotional crisis. But she was always comforted.
``Money cannot buy the kind of recovery and confidence she has had.''
Eleanor Tatum was devastated when she found out in early August that she had cancer. She thought her life was over at 59. But because of how, and where, she was told the news, she was able to face a radical hysterectomy positively and calmly.
Lt. Cmdr. Rudy Segna, director of gynecologic oncology at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, sat down at a round table in a comfortable room to give Tatum every detail of his diagnosis and her treatment.
That room is part of the GYN Oncology Resource Center, which opened in mid-September. The center, made up of the consultation room and an information nook, is part of two naval clinics at Portsmouth General Hospital.
A lack of space at the naval hospital forced the move.
About 3,500 active duty and military-dependent women are seen in the GYN oncology clinic yearly, which has been at Portsmouth General for the past three years. In addition, more than 2,500 women have been seen in the 6-month-old Breast Diagnostic Clinic.
``All our patients are high risk, with a high possibility of malignancy requiring surgery and care,'' Segna said.
``Because they've had extensive screening before they get here, the vast majority of cases are curable.''
Segna said the clinic has treated girls as young as 2 with rare ovarian cancers as well as women in their 80s.
In the past, women often were examined in a room, then called back to the same room - or perhaps to the doctor's office - to hear findings, sometimes traumatic.
``It just seemed so cold, to give the news in an examining room,'' said Segna. ``It makes more sense to relay information in a serene, family place. Often there is highly complex counseling involved, and it makes the patient and her family more in tune to what we're saying.''
The physician stressed that the oncology resource center is not just a ``bad news room.'' It can also be a place to tell patients that their conditions are non-malignant, or that they have a strong possibility of being cured. And it is an education room, he said, using a multi-discipline approach that involves support groups and counselors.
``We are a referral center for all of the military,'' said Cmdr. Steven Remmenga, chairman of the naval medical complex's obstetrics and gynecology department. ``In the past year, we've received and treated patients from South America, Japan and Europe.''
Tatum, widow of a retired Air Force man, didn't travel far, just from Hampton. But she has come a long way.
She has had surgery and is now undergoing radiation treatments. She looks healthy and happy.
``I have been treated with the utmost dignity,'' she said. ``I couldn't have had better treatment if I was the president of the United States.''
Her son, Air Force Master Sergeant Brian Tatum, echoed her feelings.
``Dr. Segna, from a medical and military standpoint, is beyond reproach. He kept us all calm,'' said Brian Tatum. ``When my mother got the news, she went through a deep emotional crisis. But she was always comforted.
``Money cannot buy the kind of recovery and confidence she has had.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
Lt. Cmdr. Rudy Segna, left, director of gynecologic oncology at
Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, confers with Eleanor Tatum and her
son, Air Force Master Sgt. Brian Tatum.
by CNB