Who your gift helps

“In December 2001, I took a pretty serious fall skiing in Colorado,” Greg Shields says. “The CT scan showed my lungs were fine, but it also revealed a mass in my abdomen and another under my left arm. My rib injuries were nothing compared to finding out I had lymphoma.”

Back in Minnesota, Greg reviewed his X-rays and films with his Park Nicollet doctor, who referred him to an oncologist at Park Nicollet Cancer Center.

“Dr. Leach immediately ordered more CT scans, plus surgical and bone marrow biopsies,” Greg says. “He was very thorough and empathetic when explaining my treatment options. Everyone we met at Park Nicollet was very supportive.”

When Greg’s cancer didn’t respond well to treatment, he and his wife Laurie received vital support from chaplain Jim Ferguson and family counselor Debi Lillegard, whom they’d met through a support group sponsored by the cancer center.

“Any medical facility can treat you, but we really got to know Jim and Debi,” Greg says. “They helped us understand what we could expect throughout my additional treatments, my bone marrow transplant and the long recovery that followed.”

That long recovery isn’t keeping Greg down. “I walked in the cancer center’s Marathons of Hope fund-raiser last September,” he says. “That was a great day. This year, I might walk twice as far.”

“I passed out in the car going back to work after lunch one day,” Zoe Massaquoi says. “That’s when I went to the doctor and discovered I had diabetes.”

Zoe immediately changed her lifestyle.

“I went down four dress sizes in three weeks,” she says. “And I felt great. Unfortunately, exercise and better eating habits weren’t enough. My doctor prescribed oral medication instead of injections but, even then, diabetes wasn’t done with me.”

One evening, Zoe noticed a pain in her upper left arm. By the next morning, she couldn’t lift the arm at all. As she was being rushed to Methodist Hospital, her breathing became increasingly labored.

“I thought I was having a heart attack,” she says. “It turned out my sugars were very high and my potassium level was severely low.”

After her condition was stabilized, doctors asked Zoe if she was interested in taking a course at the International Diabetes Center at Park Nicollet. She wound up taking several.

“I’ve learned how to structure my diet to improve my blood sugars and avoid problems with my potassium level,” Zoe says. “I’ve also learned to live a healthier life with diabetes. The classes have been an amazing experience. Now I know how to listen to my body — and understand what it’s telling me.”

The summer before her junior year of college, Molly finally admitted she had an eating disorder. “The severity made it too difficult to conceal,” she says. “Later that summer I was supposed to go to Italy to study art, but I was afraid if I took the trip, I would die.”

When Molly’s mother called Methodist Hospital to get her daughter into the Eating Disorders Institute for treatment, they were faced with a lengthy waiting list.

Fortunately, her mother’s persistence coincided with a last-minute opening at the institute. Three days later, Molly began outpatient treatment, working with a doctor, dietitian and therapist — and receiving individual and group therapy. 

“My recovery wasn’t quick or easy,” Molly says. “Along the way, I had several setbacks.”

But with the support of the institute and her family, Molly was successful in her recovery. Later, Molly was able to spend more than two years in Europe, working on her art. 

“There are two reasons I’m healthy today,” she says. “Number one is, I chose to get help. You have to want to get better. The other reason? The phenomenal way my program was designed. It was intense, but perfectly balanced to meet my needs.”

“Some mornings I can do the crossword puzzle, others I can’t. Sometimes I can hold my book to read, sometimes not.”

After living with Parkinson’s for nearly 15 years, Don Wiley has no doubts about its effects. “It’s a whimsical and capricious disease. It takes away your spontaneity. You feel helpless.”

Struthers Parkinson’s Center has helped Don surmount the physical limitations of his body. 
 
“When I first began having trouble with my legs, I shuffled around like an old man,” he recalls. “Struthers taught me how to walk with confidence.” To demonstrate, he lengthens his stride and firmly plants his heel with each step.

Struthers also taught Don an easier way to get out of bed — and has helped him deal with the new challenges of going to movies, a favorite hobby. 

Both Don and Margaret, his wife of 45 years, appreciate the center’s commitment to balancing physical and emotional care.

“Parkinson’s is an illness that affects your self-image,” he says. “You need a deep philosophical and spiritual mindset. The staff at Struthers understands that. It’s a sensitive, caring institution. Every day I thank God for Struthers.” 

Overgrown grass, rundown buildings and broken liquor bottles welcomed Linda Trummer to her new job. As the new outreach coordinator of the Meadowbrook apartment complex in St. Louis Park, Minn., she didn’t know where to begin.

“When I came here, it was a forgotten neighborhood,” Linda says. “I was overwhelmed by the need. Police calls and crime were at an all-time high. People didn’t want to know what was going on in the apartment next door. Residents had simply given up.”  

Linda realized she needed to build relationships with residents if she was going to effect change. How to do that, she wasn’t sure.

“I’d never been someone kids gravitate to,” she says. “But there they were. And they understood that a lot was wrong with where they lived. So I asked Park Nicollet to help me bring youth programs to Meadowbrook.”

Those programs more than a decade ago helped Linda win over Meadowbrook’s older tenants, too.

“Parents trusted me after that,” she says. “Wherever I look now, I see a thriving community built on the foundation of those early relationships — and the help we received from Park Nicollet. Twelve years later, they’re still there for us.”

“Our research focuses on patients as people, not just medical conditions,” says Park Nicollet’s David Abelson, MD, a leader in Park Nicollet Institute's research initiative.

The Institute’s new research initiative will provide those we serve with answers to important questions about creating optimal health. As part of Park Nicollet’s new outcomes management system, we will focus on researching patient outcomes to show a direct correlation between our research and a patient’s change in health status after a defined intervention.

“We hope to accelerate improvements in care and improve value for those we serve,” Abelson says.

Ultimately, Park Nicollet’s research will reveal myriad ways to help more people become better informed — and well-equipped — to participate in their care.