Twin sisters deliver baby boys on same day at Upstate

Sarah Hager with Emmit, left, and Jessica Barnum with Ethan. Photo by Dan Cameron.

Twin sisters who live 100 miles apart delivered healthy baby boys Wednesday at Upstate University Hospital’s Community campus.

One was almost five weeks early; the other was more than a week late. If their mothers had not doublechecked with each other before choosing names, the cousins would have shared a middle name.

As it is, Emmit George Hager and Ethan William Barnum will share a birthday.

Nurse practitioner Denise Ruddick has been practicing 19 years. “I’ve had mothers and daughters deliver close to the same day, and sisters deliver close to the same day, but I’ve never had twins deliver near each other, let alone the same day.”

Here’s how it happened:

Sarah Hager lives in Rochester with her husband, Jon, but because of her job as a school counselor in Homer, she stays at her sister’s home in Pompey during the week. Hager is pregnant with her first baby. Her twin, Jessica Barnum is pregnant with her third.

Throughout her pregnancy, Hager says she had many dreams about delivering her baby early, and with her sister.

“I laughed at her when she told me that,” Barnum says. “I said that’s not going to happen – especially since we weren’t even due at the same time.”

The Hagers were due June 21; the Jessica and Anthony Barnums, May 13.

Monday morning, May 21, Hager’s water broke. She was at her sister’s home in Pompey. Her husband was interviewing for a job in Washington State. Barnum drove Hager to Upstate University Hospital at Community, and Hager’s husband started switching flight reservations to travel back to Central New York.

Hager’s labor began in the middle of the day Tuesday, just before Barnum was scheduled to arrive at the hospital to have her labor induced. Jon Hager arrived in time for Emmit’s birth at 1:52 a.m. Wednesday, attended by certified nurse midwife Susan Kneeland. Ethan was born several hours later, at 3:39 p.m., attended by Jennifer Marziale MD.

Neither Hager nor Barnum learned their baby’s gender prior to birth. Each had a few names in mind for girls or boys. It wasn’t until Hager arrived in Barnum’s room to meet her new nephew that the twin mothers realized they were both planning on their grandfather’s name, George for their sons’ middle name. Barnum chose another family name, William for Ethan.

 Jessica Barnum with Ethan, left, and Sarah Hager with Emmit. Photo by Dan Cameron.

Upstate stroke care ‘almost magical’ with breakthrough stents

“What happened in that hospital was almost magical,” Tina Fietta told The Post-Standard in a story this morning about her mother’s stroke. She was speaking of the new stent being used at Upstate which removes clots from the brains of patients having strokes. The stent, called the Solitaire FR Revascularization Device, was recently approved for use by the FDA. Upstate is the only hospital in Syracuse where it is available.

Watch Dr. Eric DeShaies MD explain how this procedure is done:

Read The Post-Standard story on syracuse.com

Author Abraham Verghese, surgeon Patricia Numann speak at Upstate’s medical school graduation

Patricia Numann MD and Abraham Verghese MD are graduation speakers.

Upstate’s commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 20 feature two speakers for the College of Medicine: pioneering surgeon Patricia Numann MD and “Cutting for Stone” author Abraham Verghese MD. (Listen to our radio interview with Verghese now through May 25, 2012.)

Numann is president of the American College of Surgeons and has been named to the International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame. She is Upstate Medical University’s Lloyd S. Rogers Professor of Surgery Emeritus, a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, and a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor. Numann was Upstate University Hospital’s first female surgery intern and the Central New York region’s first female surgeon.

Verghese, who spoke in Syracuse May 7 as part of the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series, has combined a career as a doctor, professor and author. He was founding director of the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. Today he is Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. Before “Cutting for Stone,” he wrote “The Tennis Partner” and “My Own Country.”

The College of Medicine will confer 160 degrees and one certificate in a ceremony at 9 a.m. at the John Mulroy Civic Center’s Crouse Hinds Theater. The College of Graduate Studies will award 39 degrees in a ceremony at noon in the Medical Alumni Auditorium of Weiskotten Hall. The College of Nursing will award 125 degrees and 17 certificates in a ceremony at 1 p.m. in the Crouse Hinds Theater. The College of Health Professions will award 188 degrees in a ceremony at 3:30 p.m. in the Crouse Hinds Theater.

Learn about Patricia Numann’s “career of firsts.”

Health Link on Air radio interview with Abraham Verghese.

The Post-Standard profile of Abraham Verghese.

Should you consider a bicycle commute?

With gas hovering around $4 a gallon, the concept of pedaling to work, instead of driving, may be more appealing. Bike riding can save money and help you combine your workout with your commute. (Be sure to always wear a helmet; Upstate’s Trauma Service sells them for about $10.)

Meet three Upstate people who have decades of experience as bike riders:

Teresa Hargrave MD rides a blue Cannondale 21 speed hybrid.

Psychiatrist Teresa Hargrave MD

Assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

What she rides:

A blue Cannondale 21 speed hybrid

How long she has been commuting:

“It’s been more than 20 years. I rode a bike as a kid, but I’ve become a lot more avid biker in my adult life, particularly since I married a biker.”

Where she lives:

The Westcott area of Syracuse, a little more than a mile from Upstate.

Why she rides:

“It’s good for me, and it’s good for the planet.”

Once at work:

She removes her backpack, peels off some layers and is ready to see patients.

In bad weather:

“I do not bike in icy weather. If the road is dry, or even wet but above freezing, then I’m up for biking. Sometimes, if it’s really nasty I don’t do it, even though I could. I have rain gear.”

Safety measures:

“I choose my route very carefully. I prefer to take an alternate route other than East Genesee Street. I wear clothing so that people are going to see me. I wear reflective items for the dark. And I always wear a helmet. Always.”

Advice to would-be bicycle commuters:

“Take the plunge and do it. You have to not worry about how you look, and wear whatever clothing you need to stay warm and protected and safe.”

Mike Lyon PhD sometimes rides a recumbent bike.

Michael Lyon Phd

associate professor of otolaryngology and communication sciences

What he rides:

“Sometimes a recumbent bike, and sometimes a Cannondale or a Giant.”

How long he has been commuting:

“Since 1995.”

Where he lives:

“Memphis, 18 miles from Upstate.”

Why he rides:

“For pleasure and for fitness. I like to eat, and when I bike I can eat. This does create a problem in the winter when my miles decrease.”

Once at work:

“It is too long a commute to wear work clothes.  I shower here.”

In bad weather:

“If it is raining before I leave the house I tend to avoid it, but I have ridden in some really bad rain.  Snow, I also try to avoid. That is when I ride the Giant, my ‘winter rat.’  Coming in to work, I frequently leave before the sun is up, but this is not like leaving late from work.  I can’t always leave here early enough in the winter to avoid the dark. That is not my favorite time to ride.”

Safety measures:  

“I have a number of lights and reflective clothing items.  I always try to let the cars know well in advance what I plan on doing.”

Advice to would-be bicycle commuters:

“Just do it.”

Rich O’Neill PhD rides his son’s old mountain bike.

Psychologist Richard O’Neill PhD

Associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

What he rides:

“An inexpensive mountain bike, a hand-me-down from my son when he went off to college.”

How long he has been commuting:

“Four or five years. I was running back and forth before that.”

Where he lives:

“Exactly four miles from campus. I go through Thornden Park and then across Westcott. I try to stay off the main roads so I have less traffic.”

Why he rides:

“I’m a runner. I started to bike ride to work because I wanted to get in some more training, and I didn’t want to spend more time running, and I wanted to have less pounding on my joints.”

Once at work:

“I have a closet in my office, and I keep several sets of clothes in my closet. And I have curly hair, so I just fluff it up after I take off my helmet.”

In bad weather:

“With the right kind of gear you can manage virtually any kind of weather. I ride in the rain and the cold. The Syracuse Public Works plow people do a great job keeping the streets plowed and salted. There are very few days when you can’t actually ride your bike. Two winters ago, there were only about 15 days when I couldn’t ride — and on those days I run.”

Safety measures:

“Ninety-five percent of bicycle fatalities happen to people who are not wearing a helmet. So you have to wear a helmet.” He also wears clear ultraviolet goggles to protect his eyes from the sun and any flying road debris.

“I have two headlights, one that blinks and one that’s a constant on for riding in the dark, and a flashing red light in the rear.”

Advice to would-be bicycle commuters:

“You will get very good at minimizing the amount of stuff that you have to carry. You will get very good very quickly about how to dress and how many layers. It takes a little time, but if you start in the summer, by the time winter rolls around you’ve learned how to ride in virtually any kind of weather.”

Buy a helmet from Upstate’s Trauma Service for about $10.

 

‘Hunger Games’ makes for excellent reading, Deborah Tarbell says

The Hunger Games is the first in a trilogy.

Deborah Tarbell, who supervises the snack bar in Upstate’s Campus Activities Building, is a fan of “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, the first book in a trilogy which has been made into a movie.

“It’s written for the young adult but, believe me, it is excellent,” she promises, explaining that she read the first book “like a madwoman” before devouring the next two.

The series is set in a post-apocalyptic United States, with the country divided into 12 Districts. A Capitol district (called Panem) has all the riches and controls everything. Once a year the districts are required to choose “tributes” via a lottery and send one male and one female between the ages of 12 and 19 to the Hunger Games held in the Capitol. The tributes fight to the death.

Because Panem forbids hunting, Katniss puts herself in great danger in order to prevent her family from starving. She is a teen girl who lost her father in a mining accident and feels responsible for providing food for her mother and little sister, Primm. When Primm is chosen for the Hunger Games, Katniss steps in to take her place.

Tarbell says, “It’s a fast, entertaining series that will take you far away from the here and now — and isn’t that why we read fiction?”

Dave Sikora stays active by fishing weekly all year round

Dave Sikora, who works in campus physical plant administration, has a passion for fishing — and photo albums to prove it. Mention fishing to him and Dave gets a twinkle in his eye. He fishes about four times a week, year round. Here’s why he loves it:

1. I find solitude. It’s just relaxing. The bottom line is being out by yourself, being out in the wild where there’s no phone and no traffic and nothing to bother you. You get a better outlook on life after going fishing.

2. Fishing was a major part of growing up. I remember going with Dad after work. We’d go out to the river or the lake. We’d pack a lunch and fish right into dark. I’d learn a lot of lessons, and not just about fishing but good father-son things about respect, integrity and being yourself.

3. I enjoy actually catching fish. I’ve fished for just about every species there is in the last 55 years, including trout, bass, perch, pike, bullheads, salmon, walleye.

You’ve got to know what type of species you’re fishing for. Each species has different traits. Trout like nice clear water. When the sun comes out, they like to hide under banks. You’ve got to know what they eat and how they survive and when they feed to increase your success.

In the middle of the day when it’s hot, you may as well stay home and read a book. You’re only going to catch a fish when he opens his mouth, and he opens his mouth to eat. You’ve got to be there when they’re hungry.

4. Everything I catch, I eat. It’s an added bonus when you catch a nice fish and take it home. I enjoy the bounty of fresh fish.

5. I have a scrapbook of all the fish we have caught and places we have gone to fish. It includes a picture of a 41-pound king salmon caught Sept. 19, 1989 on Lake Ontario. That’s one of my favorite successful fishing stories. I went with my uncle, who was sick at the time. And a week or 10 days later, he passed away. Catching that fish together was like a gift from the gods.

6. I’m teaching my grand-daughter, who is 9, how to fish. She really likes it. I take her fishing along Owasco Lake, on the shore, for bluegills and sunfish. When you have a little child with you, they want action. They want to catch fish after fish after fish.

7. There’s no such thing as a bad day fishing — even if you don’t catch a lot.

Three Pioneering Women Doctors Recognized in Public Exhibitions

Tom Hunter of the Onondaga Historical Association holds posters of Drs. Elizabeth Blackwell and Sarah Loguen that will be part of an exhibit.

Doctors Elizabeth  Blackwell (1821-1910), Mary Walker (1832-1919) and Sarah Loguen Fraser (1850-1933) –all medical pioneers with ties to Syracuse– are being honored with new public displays in Syracuse and Oswego.

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell and Dr. Sara Loguen Fraser are part of “Pioneering Women in Onondaga County,” an exhibition of historic and contemporary women at the Onondaga Historical Association, 321 Montgomery St., Syracuse. Dr. Blackwell was  the first woman doctor and Dr. Loguen  Fraser was one  of the nation’s first African American women doctors and the first woman doctor in the Dominican Republic. Both were  graduates of the medical school now part of Upstate Medical University (Blackwell in 1849, Loguen Fraser in 1876).

Dr. Mary Walker was honored with  the  ceremonial unveiling of a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of her  at the Oswego Town Hall, 2320 County Route 7,  Oswego. A resident of Oswego, Walker is the only woman to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor, which was awarded to her by President Andrew Johnson for her service as a surgeon and Union spy in the Civil War. Walker was  an 1855 graduate of the Syracuse Medical College, an eclectic medical school that was open from 1850 to 1857.

Seven of Walker’s descendants attended the May 12 celebration, as did dozens of Civil War reenactors, two Mary Walker impersonators, and lots of government officials.  Speakers included Sharon M. Harris, author of “Dr. Mary Walker: An American Radical” and Sharon BuMann, sculptor of the bronze statue of Walker. An armed guard watched over Walker’s Congressional Medal of Honor, which was on display.

The Post Standard and YNN covered  the Walker celebration. The book, “Three 19th Century Women Doctors” has short biographies of Blackwell, Walker and Loguen Fraser.

 

Upstate surgeon Dr. Leslie Kohman talks with sculptor Sharon BuMann at the bronze sculpture of Dr. Mary Walker.

Michael Curtis MD accepts Humanitarian Award from Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund

Michael R. Curtis MD, assistant professor of plastic surgery in Upstate’s Department of Surgery, received the 2011 Humanitarian Award Saturday from the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York. His award was among those announced during the fund’s annual gala at Turning Stone Resort and Casino.

Curtis is a native of Utica and a graduate of Upstate Medical University. He is Harvard fellowship-trained in microvascular breast reconstruction, a subspeciality rarely available outside major metropolitan areas. He joined the Upstate faculty and medical staff in 2010 after serving a  Peter Jay Sharp Fellowship in Aesthetic and Reconstructive Breast Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

At Upstate, Curtis specializes in breast reconstructive surgery, but he also treats a variety of other adults and children who need reconstructive surgery because of skin cancer, burns or other traumatic injuries.

Learn more about Dr. Curtis.

 

 

 

 

 

Making miracles in the month of May

At Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, miracles are not just seen in positive patient outcomes or the ability to send a once debilitated child home with their family. One of the greatest miracles we witness is the outpouring of caring and support from members of the Central New York community, which helps create a better experience and healthier future for our patients.

The Children’s Miracle Network declares, “May is for Miracles.” This is the time of year when you can purchase paper hot air balloons for $1 at area retailers to support the consortium of more than 170 hospitals. What you may not realize is that the money raised in CNY stays right here, at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, and supports essential programs that directly affect patients and their families.

Funds raised by Children’s Miracle Network balloon sales at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Rite Aid Pharmacy, Kinney Drugs, Tops Markets, Burger King and Panera Bread have contributed significantly to the Child Life program at the children’s hospital. The Child Life program consists of 10 certified child life specialists- professionals whose focus is in the use of developmental, educational and therapeutic interventions that help children and their families cope with challenging life events and experiences related to healthcare and hospitalization. Children’s Miracle Network dollars support activities of this group, as well as other key staff positions.

Additionally, money raised by the May is for Miracles campaign allow The Foundation for Upstate to assist families with unmet needs that arise during the hospitalization of a child. The range of needs is as vast and differing as the patient population itself. Funds have been made available to help families with car repairs or a new carseat following an accident, mortgage or rent payments, travel expenses, wheelchairs, burial costs and more.

For more information, or to make a donation to Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, please visit us online.

Clare Arezina, board-certified music therapist, works with a young patient in the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital Solarium. Funds raised by the Children’s Miracle Network have been used to purchase instruments in support of music therapy.

Grand opening is May 18 for exanded Occupational Health Clinical Health Center in Binghamton

Working men and women in the Binghamton area now have a larger medical center for diagnosis and treatment of illnesses related to their jobs.

The Southern Tier office of Upstate Medical University’s Occupational Health Clinical Health Centers celebrates its move to a new, expanded location at 840 Upper Front Street in Binghamton with a grand opening Friday, May 18. A ribbon cutting is at 12:30 p.m. The public is invited.

The expansion allows for additional clinic hours to meet the region’s growing demand for services to prevent, diagnose, and treat work-related illnesses. “This expansion allows us to make our specialty practice more accessible to a greater number of patients in the nine-county region of the Southern Tier,” says medical director Michael Lax, MD, MPH, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Upstate Medical University. “Last year alone, the number of new patients evaluated at our former site quadrupled from 19 to 80, with the number of overall visits increasing by 62 percent. Our new location can accommodate this trend.”

This center, funded largely by the New York State Department of Health, serves nine counties in the Southern Tier; two other centers in Syracuse and Canton serve an additional 17 counties throughout Central and Upstate New York.

A conference room in the center will be dedicated to Nellie Connor and Sidney Dimmock, two workers killed in a clothing factory fire in Binghamton in 1913. The tragedy underscored the need for fire safety regulations in the workplace.