Pam’s Story: ‘No Need to Go Anywhere Else’

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Pam Olwine was exercising when she felt pain and pulling in her chest that just didn’t seem right. After visiting her physician, Pam got a title=mammogram;healthinfo=Mammogram. Then she received the call that rocked her world — something “doesn’t look quite right.”

She was immediately scheduled for an title=ultrasound;healthinfo=Breast Ultrasoundthat determined she needed to see a surgeon.

Pam had her surgery at Upper Valley Medical Center (UVMC), and it went well. “Dr. Lowry, of Miami County Surgeons, came out and gave my husband and son the thumbs-up.”

Following surgery, Pam was told she would need either title=chemotherapy;healthinfo=Understanding Chemotherapy  or title=radiation;healthinfo=Radiation Therapy Treatment follow-up. She visited medical oncologist Ronald Setzkorn, MD, of Dayton Physicians Network, who explained to her the MammoSite procedure.

MammoSite enables a woman to have radiation therapy for a very limited time, targeted to a very specific site. Rather than taking many weeks, as for conventional radiation, MammoSite therapy is completed in one week. Pam came to the Cancer Care Center for radiation twice a day for five consecutive days.

Following MammoSite therapy, Pam prepared for chemotherapy at the Cancer Care Center. Pam says she was relaxed during chemotherapy because of the “family-like” atmosphere at UVMC. “I’d be sitting there with maybe five or six other people. We’d chat about our family or how we were feeling.”

Cancer Care Close to Home

Pam is happy she chose her local medical center. “Everybody was so supportive. If I needed a hug, I got a hug. The teamwork is wonderful. They kept my doctor in the loop. It was absolutely wonderful, and I mean the nurses and the doctors.”

Pam felt that she was cared for as a person, not a name on a piece of paper.

“There’s absolutely no need to go anywhere else.” She adds that she has recommended UVMC to her friends who are facing cancer. She tells them that at UVMC they’ll receive comparable, if not better, care than they could get at a larger, better-known institution.