Sarah Sanders wasn’t shocked when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41 in September 2015. In fact, she expected it.

That’s because Sanders has a strong family history of the disease on her father’s side. Her paternal grandmother died at age 35 from breast cancer, an aunt passed away at age 50, and another aunt was diagnosed in her 60s and successfully treated. This knowledge made all the difference in Sanders’ approach to her breast health.
“Call it whatever you believe in, but this was put on my heart at a very young age,” she said. “I sort of always knew this was coming for me, and I do not mean that in a negative way. I mean it in an ‘I need to be proactive’ way. Maybe it’s my grandmother – maybe she’s my guardian angel.”

One thing that made all the difference in her breast cancer care was her choice of board-certified medical oncologist, Wade Smith, M.D., who specializes in breast cancer treatment at City of Hope Newport Beach. After her tumor was removed, Dr. Smith performed cutting-edge genomic testing that determined chemotherapy wasn’t necessary. Sanders said that when Dr. Smith told her the news, it was the only time she cried.

“He represents everything City of Hope stands for,” Sanders says of Dr. Smith, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research.

I am with the institution that’s going to have the most cutting-edge technology and advanced medical science. City of Hope is the place to be.” – Sarah Sanders

City of Hope Newport Beach is home to many of the nation’s leading clinician scientists who are transforming laboratory breakthroughs into treatments to offer the best hope for patients. Recognizing that each cancer is unique, City of Hope Newport Beach assembled a roster of outstanding researchers and physicians with highly focused knowledge. For breast cancer patients, that includes breast surgical oncologist Hang T. Dang, D.O., and nurse practitioner Linda Buck, herself a breast cancer survivor.

Sanders says she appreciates the environment of City of Hope Newport Beach as well as the staff, whom she describes as the “best in the field.” Sanders now lives in Indian Wells with her boyfriend, Curtis, and their 14-year-old dog, Bridget, but says she can’t imagine receiving care anywhere other than City of Hope.

Sanders is approaching the five-year mark in her cancer journey, and she recognizes how important it is that her tumor was discovered early. Sanders’ family history caught the attention of her OB/GYN, who referred her for genetic and other testing. Sanders learned that she had the ATM mutation that increased her cancer risk. Then an MRI revealed a small tumor in its early stages, close to her armpit, that may not have been caught with a traditional mammogram. Because of the gene mutation and her family history, Sanders chose to have a double mastectomy.

Recuperating from the procedure was challenging. For Sanders, the most “life-changing aspect” of breast cancer was letting someone else take care of her – specifically, her mom, Teri, who basically moved into Sanders’ home to help her.

“I reconnected with her in a massive way,” Sanders said. “We still laugh when we talk about her trying to give me a shower. But she would wash my hair, and we would just laugh.”

Between the mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, and a hysterectomy, Sanders had six surgeries within one year. During this time, she was referred to Jeffrey Weitzel, M.D., a City of Hope clinical geneticist who studies the ATM mutation and took her care “to a level no one else can match.”

“First, it made me aware of other cancer risks I have because of the mutation,” Sanders said. “More important is the peace of mind, knowing my care is with the ‘A’ team. I am with the institution that’s going to have the most cutting-edge technology and advanced medical science. City of Hope is the place to be.”

Sanders urges people – especially those with a family history of breast cancer – to take advantage of City of Hope’s personalized and highly specialized care.

“There is a massive difference when you are being monitored by a compassionate, technologically advanced cancer center like City of Hope and detecting cancer early,” Sanders said. “That’s my battle cry.”

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As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, what kinds of precautions is City of Hope Newport Beach taking to keep patients safe, and what can you expect when you visit?

With decades of experience in treating and protecting patients with cancer, City of Hope is among the nation’s most prepared organizations to help patients through the COVID-19 crisis – and is one of the best and safest places to receive cancer care. City of Hope Newport Beach continues to provide lifesaving treatment while taking every measure necessary to protect patients, families, and staff.

“Patient health is our number one priority and our COVID-19 protective measures are an extension of the high-quality care we provide,” says Tingting Tan, M.D., Ph.D., a medical oncologist at City of Hope Newport Beach who specializes in thoracic cancers. “We remain focused on protecting our patients and their loved ones while making sure they get the care they need.”

Since cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to infection, protecting them means that safety measures need to start before they arrive at the front door. With limited exceptions, visitors need to wait for patients outside the building during this crucial period. Visitors are welcome to walk with patients, or bring wheelchairs, to the door, where staff greets them and begins the check-in process.

City of Hope recognizes the importance of involving family in your visits and treatments during this time. There are several ways visitors can participate in appointments. Patients can conference them in on a video call or a phone call while they’re in the doctor’s office, or the doctor can come outside the building before or after the appointment to speak with the patient and visitor together.

If you’re a patient, here are some other ways you’ll be protected when you come in for an appointment:

As you enter the lobby, the first thing that will happen is a temperature check. It’s quick and easy. A staff member will hold an infrared thermometer to your forehead to make sure your temperature is under 100 degrees Fahrenheit. You’ll receive a colored wristband that lets everyone that you’ve been cleared for temperature.

You won’t be surprised to learn that you will also be given a mask. Masks are one of the best ways to shield each other from respiratory droplets, so every patient receives a medical grade mask to wear for the duration of their appointment; you can be certain that our staff also will be wearing masks at all times. If you brought your own mask, you may continue to wear it underneath the mask we provide.

Next stop: the reception desk, for the normal check-in process. You’ll find the waiting area inviting and safe, with signs posted asking that social distancing be maintained, and seating that has been appropriately spaced.

If you have a physician appointment, you’ll wait on the first floor for a medical assistant to take you back for your visit. If you have come for an infusion, an additional temperature check will be performed when you arrive at the second-floor infusion clinic. Everyone in the clinic wears a face mask and either a face shield or goggles, and gloves are worn by every clinician providing infusion care. In addition, every infusion bay is physically distanced.

To further ensure safety, City of Hope frequently and meticulously sanitizes all areas of the facility, including but not limited to waiting rooms, hard surfaces, and high-traffic and high-touch areas. Hand sanitizing stations are located throughout the building.

Patients can take comfort in City of Hope’s continued commitment to provide them with exceptional cancer care.

Cancer hasn’t stopped for COVID-19, and neither has City of Hope. To make an appointment with a physician at City of Hope Newport Beach, please call (949) 763-2204. For more information, please visit cityofhope.org/OC.

How the Young Can Help

“Mary,” a City of Hope patient and a 70-something grandmother from Beverly Hills, worries that COVID-19 and the calls to practice social distancing may actually make things worse for many seniors who already lack the close personal connections they desperately need.

“I just wish that people would not think that older people are invisible or incompetent,” she said. “I think that many of us seniors are very isolated and lonesome.”

“Eleanor,” another patient in her 80s, lives a few miles away. She feels the same, with an added concern: quickly getting up to speed on the latest technology.

“I am trying to stay positive and be kind. Not to say that it always works for me,” she said. “I had a real meltdown last week, prompted by my frustrations with the computer, the new reliance on Zoom and other sites that I find difficult to deal with.”

As we all adapt to the new normal of sheltering in place and keeping our distance, experts say older Americans need extra care and vigilance, not only for medical reasons but for emotional ones too. People over 60 have diminished immune systems, putting them at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and suffering more if they do.

Many seniors may also have underlying health conditions — such as cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular disease — that can make a bout with this virus more dangerous.

But it’s the risk to seniors’ mental and emotional well-being that most concerns William Dale, M.D., Ph.D., director of City of Hope’s Center for Cancer and Aging Research and chair of the Department of Supportive Care Medicine. It’s also why he dislikes the term “social distancing.”

“Those two words should never be together,” he said. “The key is physical distancing. You mustn’t stop being social. We need to maintain emotional connections even if we can’t be physically close, because isolation can be a terrible thing, leading to depression and cutting folks off from the help they need.”

Dale wants to see all people — young and old — increase their connections to one another, taking advantage of available technology, matching it to each person’s capabilities. Not every older adult can figure out a Zoom video conference, for example, but there’s no reason not to pick up the phone and talk to them, or send an email. To reach the un-savvy, anti-tech types, Dale recommends a secret weapon.

“Use the grandkids!” he said. “Ask them to check in” with grandma and grandpa, and watch what happens. “The grandparents will be motivated to learn the new technology to stay connected with the kids.”

And whenever possible, find ways to maintain face-to-face interaction. Perhaps hugs and kisses can’t happen right now, but seeing friends and loved ones from 6 feet away and with other proper precautions can still mean a lot.

“Mary” and her family have figured this out.

“When one grandchild came home [from an overseas trip], she stood on the sidewalk and we were on the porch so we could share love and throw kisses,” she said.

And “Eleanor” makes a point of reaching out.

“We must dig into ourselves and find more love to give away, especially at this time,” she said, “So I decided to give gifts to someone twice a week, like a delivery of pizza or fruit, and to send at least two emails or phone calls every day to friends.”

Importance of Connection

Dale knows from personal experience — as a young resident at a VA hospital and in his current City of Hope job — the importance of personal contact. He remembers how disappointed some of his outpatient older veterans would be when he’d tell them, “You’re doing OK, no need to come in this week.”

“I was stunned,” he recalled, by the way they’d argue, ‘But I do need to see you! I need to talk to you!’

“It took me a while to recognize just how important it was to them to make a regular connection.”

He encounters similar challenges as City of Hope attempts to balance the infection risks of close contact with the emotional needs of each individual patient. Who should come in? Who can be better served with a telemedicine session? Who should get a home visit by a nurse? The staff uses a special assessment to help make those decisions, analyzing each patient’s unique needs and vulnerabilities, including the strength of their social networks and support systems.

Dale feels a heightened sense of responsibility now, in the face of this crisis, more determined than ever to do the right, meaningful thing for each patient. He hopes the day never comes when care is narrowly “triaged,” with seniors’ chronological age and physical condition placing them at the back of the line. “Disadvantages must never become a reason or excuse to further disadvantage people,” he said.

Do These Three Things

He’s urging every older person to do three things, right now:

“First,” he counseled, “if you do go out, remember that physical distance. Second, find ways to remain emotionally connected to friends and family. Don’t be afraid to reach out. Don’t worry about ‘bothering’ them. They want to hear from you. And third, identify what brings you peace in these anxious times — walking, meditation, whatever works for you.”

He has another list for young people with elders in their lives.

“Give a call, check in, make a visit, not in an infantilizing way, but in a ‘Hey, how you doin?’ way. Reminisce with them. Sharing happy memories goes a very long way. And if you haven’t already, run through their medical scenarios. Do they have all the medications they need? Enough food? Their doctors’ phone numbers? Make sure.”

One last thing. Dale wants all of us to carefully think about our actions, because they will matter for a long time.

“Let’s have a sense of the moment,” he advised. “This is a historic event.

“How will we feel, six months from now, based on what we do today?”

City of Hope, a world-renowned cancer research and treatment center, recently opened a location in Newport Beach. City of Hope plans to invest $1 billion to develop and operate a state-of-the-art comprehensive cancer care and network of care in Orange County. To make an appointment with a physician at Newport Beach, call (949) 763-2204.

Bringing a Different Kind of CBD Company to Consumers

An exciting new CBD company has emerged, capturing market share in the crowded CBD space. Isolate Pure CBD is making a name for itself, not only because of the way they make and market their CBD, but primarily because of the people who make up the company.

From marketing executives, entertainment company heads, professional athletes and college students to diamond dealers, a superfood expert and a physician for the NFL, Isolate Pure CBD is backed by a wealth of well educated and experienced professionals to bring a different kind of CBD company to consumers.

Isolate Pure CBD as a company has one common dominator and that is they all use CBD and for the most part, for different, wide-ranging reasons including insomnia, workouts, pain, arthritis and anxiety.

Taking in all of the important issues of health, the opioid crisis, climate crisis and sustainability issues of today, Isolate Pure CBD has focused on where to grow, how to grow, how to harvest and how to deliver CBD.

Isolate Pure CBD is cultivated in the lush Kentucky heartland by dedicated farmers where hemp has been grown successfully since the 1700’s. They sustainably farm premium hemp-derived CBD products in an FDA registered and inspected GMP-Compliant faciity, All of their products are tested by third parties for safety and quality. With that said, they are now working to make consumers as safe and knowledgeable about CBD as they can.

Simultaneously, Isolate Pure CBD is working on a medical study that will help accurately prescribe CBD for a myriad of health issues ranging from anxiety, inflammation, headaches, epilepsy to insomnia, arthritis, gut health, chronic and acute pain. They are working to publish the first medical paper on how best to use CBD for all of these health issues.

Dr. Gazzaniga, who serves on Isolate Pure CBD’s Board of Advisors states that “we are in the early stages of looking at CBD for acute pain treatment in order to reduce or eliminate the need for opiates.”

Isolate Pure CBD currently has four products they have released for public use: 50 mg. CBD capsules that are full spectrum; full spectrum oil droppers that come in both 500mg and 1000mg; a topical cream in a pump form that is 500mg; and lastly, an incredible acne treatment cream that combines Manuka honey and CBD.

You can find and order all of these products online at www.isolatepurecbd.com or you can call 800-284-1293 to order by phone.

Isolate Pure CBD is currently working on additional proprietary products as an alternative to using opioids and for college and professional athletes. They are working to have these products available in 2020.

St Joseph Hoag Health is here to help

You know the routine:

Step 1: Get your prescription from your physician.

Step 2: Get it filled by your pharmacist.

But do you know about Step 3?

Step 3: Have your medications reviewed once a year or more.

Everyone who takes medication has good reason to periodically ask their pharmacist or health care provider to review the medications they are taking. This is particularly important for older adults.

Your body changes as you age. Your drugs may interact differently, especially if you’ve added or subtracted one recently. And your diet or alcohol intake may have changed.

As the U.S. Food & Drug Administration says: “It is important to be aware that more use of medicines and normal body changes caused by aging can increase the chance of unwanted or maybe even harmful drug interactions.”

Tips for avoiding prescription problems

The National Council on Patient Information and Education offers a checklist to help you maximize the benefits of your medications while avoiding errors:

• When your doctor writes a prescription, make sure you can read it, because if you can’t, it’s possible your pharmacist won’t be able to either. Perhaps your doctor can enter your prescription electronically.
• Make sure you can understand the instructions your doctor and your pharmacist give you so you can avoid mistakes.
• When you pick up or are given your medication, confirm that it’s the medication your physician prescribed.
• If you’re getting liquid medicine, ask your pharmacist for the best device, such as a marked cup or oral plastic syringe, to get the proper dose.
• Make sure your doctor and pharmacist know about any allergies or adverse reactions you’ve had to medicines.
• Read about the potential side effects of your medication on the information sheets that come with your medicine. You may need to recognize them if you experience one later.
• Make sure all your providers know all the medicines you’re taking, including over-the-counter pain relievers, dietary supplements and vitamins.

The Council also notes that some errors, such as taking someone else’s medication or mismeasuring a dose, most often occur at home. In some cases, a person may take more than one medication with the same active ingredient.

For example, if you’re taking a prescription pain medicine with acetaminophen, and then take an over-the-counter medication that also contains acetaminophen, you could exceed the recommended dose and damage your liver.

If you need to dispose of expired or unwanted medications, turn them in safely on the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, October 26, 2019 or find a year-round authorized collection site near you.

Talk to the Experts

But before you make any moves, it’s a good idea to talk to the experts. Signing up for the right Medicare plan can be confusing and, although we may wish they didn’t, plans change from year to year.

To help you, St. Joseph Hoag Health, Orange County’s most trusted health care network, provides extensive resources and information about your Medicare options. You don’t even have to be a current patient to take advantage of our no cost offerings. This year, you can:

• Seminar - Attend one of our conveniently located meetings throughout open enrollment where representatives from our partner health plans will discuss 2020 benefits. Feel free to bring a friend or family member with you.
• Phone - Arrange a phone call or meeting with a trusted, independent licensed agent about your Medicare options. After October 15, you can even enroll in coverage right over the phone.
• Online - Compare our contracted health plans’ 2020 benefits online by visiting our website at sjhh.org/medicare.

All these options are at no cost to you and will help guide you in making the best Medicare choices for your 2020 coverage. To get started and RSVP for a meeting, call (855) 670-1938 or visit sjhh.org/medicare.