Create Spring 2017

Spring 2017 • Volume 5, Issue 2

Your health. Your life.

A major

VICTORY Back on track after neurosurgery to remove a noncancerous brain tumor Page 4

a n d ...

Stroke Smarts Page 3

LIFESAVING lung cancer screenings Page 6

GENETIC TEST LEADS TO FINDING CANCER EARLIER Page 8

A benign brain tumor put Jill Howard off course. But after successful surgery at Littleton Adventist Hospital, she’s in racing form again.

Risky delivery times three Page 11

Activity

How much is enough?

Activity is one of the eight guiding principles of CREATION Health, an Adventist wellness program supported by medical research and promoted by Littleton Adventist Hospital. To learn more, go to southdenver health.org/ creation-health.

Littleton Adventist Hospital brings specialized care to the people of South Denver in the complex areas of trauma, cancer, neurology, cardiology, orthopedics, women’s services, and more.

We are part of Centura Health, the state’s largest health care network.

The purpose of this publication is to support our mission to improve the health of the residents of our community. No information in this publication is meant as a recommendation or as a substitution for your physician’s advice. If you would like to comment or unsubscribe to this magazine, please email create@centura.org.

Create is published four times annually by Littleton Adventist Hospital — Portercare Adventist Health System.

7700 S. Broadway Littleton, CO 80122 mylittletonhospital.org

2 | Spring 2017 • Create

1.2 to 3.7 mph

You’ve probably heard that adults should get 150 minutes of moderateintensity aerobic activity each week. If you’re sedentary, that’s a great goal.

But Premod John, MD, a family physician with Highlands Ranch Medical Associates, suggests making that the minimum, plus adding two days of full-body strength training.

Dr. Premod John For optimal health, John recommends doubling the amount of exercise. “The true goal is to get to 300 minutes per week,” he says. That translates to 60 minutes per day five days a week. But before you assume you don’t have time for that, John says it’s fine to break aerobic exercise up into two 30-minute chunks.

“Get out of the office and take a brisk walk, go up and down the stairs, or just take on more of the manual labor around the house like yardwork or gardening,” he says.

If you go to a gym, John suggests making working out as convenient as possible.

“I try to go to the gym every day after work,” Dr. Premod John he says. “The key is to pack your gym bag in the Centura Health Physician Group morning, and don’t go home until you’ve gone to Highlands Ranch Medical Associates the gym.”

9135 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 190 Littleton, CO 80129 He’s also a proponent of taking advantage of the Colorado weather. “In the winter, we have To book an appointment with skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing; and in Dr. John, call 303-649-3140. the summer, there’s hiking, biking, fishing, and walking,” he says. “There’s really no better place to be active.”

Concerned about air quality? Researchers have determined that walking between 1.2 and 3.7 miles per hour on city roads is optimal for limiting inhalation of air pollution, according to a study published in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. Slower and you’ll be exposed to pollution longer. Faster and you’ll be breathing in more with each breath.

Try downloading a walking app for your phone to get your real-time speed.

5

more reasons to exercise

You’re well aware that physical activity decreases your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. But research also suggests exercise can:

Increase the size of the brain’s hippocampus and improve memory in older adults

Treat chronic constipation and reduce the risk of diverticulosis and inflammatory bowel disease

Reduce the appearance of aging by changing the composition of the skin

Prevent swelling in the arms and chest following breast cancer surgery

Improve gait and reduce risk of falling in Parkinson’s disease patients

Cover photo: ©Ellen Jaskol; This page: ©IStockphoto.com/BraunS, /stevecoleimages, Illustrations: kowalska-art; Opposite Page: ©IStockphoto.com/bluecinema, /mattjeacock

IN Good Health

FAST response to stroke Use the acronym FAST to recognize and react to warning signs:

Face droop — ask the person to smile to see if it’s uneven Arm weakness — ask the person to raise both arms to see if one is weak Speech — ask the person to speak and listen for slurring or trouble with words Time to call 911 — call at the first signs of stroke Time is brain

Temporary blockages — TIAs signal stroke risk

Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) are an important warning sign of future strokes. TIAs are caused when a clot temporarily blocks blood flow in a blood vessel in the brain.

The clot breaks up and goes away on its own. But while the vessel is blocked, stroke symptoms occur, usually lasting only five to 10 minutes, though sometimes longer.

“A third of people who experience a TIA will go on to have a stroke within a year, so it’s important to get medical evaluation and treatment for TIAs to prevent a stroke,” says Littleton Adventist Hospital Stroke Coordinator Janet Carlson, RN.

Leader in stroke care

Littleton Adventist Hospital, one of the first Colorado facilities to be designated a Primary Stroke Center, has achieved a 75 percent or higher rate of administering the clot-busting drug tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) to stroke patients within 60 minutes. For patients who need further intervention, endovascular and interventional radiologists can perform an advanced image-guided procedure, where wires are threaded through the vessels of the brain to remove a clot and restore blood flow.

The hospital is also a telestroke provider with secure image-sharing technology and high-speed videoconferencing that enables its stroke team to assess and treat patients throughout the state.

Most strokes — called ischemic strokes — are caused by clots that stop oxygen-filled blood from getting to brain tissue. Over the past 25 years, stroke deaths have decreased significantly, thanks to clot-busting medications, like tPA, and devices that help doctors restore blood flow to the brain. “Time is brain,” says Janet Carlson, RN, Littleton stroke coordinator. “With stroke, brain cells start dying immediately. The sooner the treatment, the more brain we save. The cutoff point for safe treatment with tPA is 4.5 hours — ‘the golden window.’ We can extend the treatment window for some patients by removing clots with tiny Call wires or tubes threaded into the large immediately blood vessels of the brain.” Because upon signs of time is brain, it is important to call 911 a stroke. immediately upon signs of a stroke versus having someone else drive you to the hospital. And never drive yourself! EMS professionals can start treatment in the ambulance and call a “stroke alert” so that the stroke team is at the ready as soon as the patient arrives in the ER.

911

is National Stroke Awareness Month Every year, about 800,000 U.S. adults suffer from a stroke.

But education and awareness have helped decrease the incidence of fatal strokes in the general population and improved outcomes for patients. Events such as Strike Out Stroke held at major and minor league baseball venues around the country help educate Americans on recognizing and surviving strokes. Strike Out Stroke will be held June 26 when the Colorado Rockies take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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Race of

her life Littleton Adventist Hospital neurosurgeon helps marathon runner get back on her feet

Jill Howard and her neurosurgeon, Dr. David VanSickle share a mutual love for running.

We all have a sweet spot in life — that place

where our talent and enthusiasm merge and we’re doing what we were meant to do. For Jill Howard, it’s running. Really running.

She once ran the Boston Marathon a week after Dr. David VanSickle competing in an IRONMAN triathlon. In the summer of 2011, at age 40, Howard began chasing another athletic dream — to run in the Olympic Marathon Trials. “I wasn’t training to make the Olympic team, I just wanted to run in the trials,” she says.

Her body had other plans.

“One week I ran almost 100 miles. Several days later I couldn’t run more than 10 minutes. I’ve pushed through fatigue before. But every time I tried to get back in the saddle, my body sent me to the couch,” says the now-46-year-old Highlands Ranch resident. Crushing fatigue redefined her life. The first physician she saw chalked it up to depression. A sports medicine doctor in Boulder diagnosed her with chronic fatigue syndrome.

4 | Spring 2017 • Create

Meanwhile, an undiagnosed tumor the size of a baseball was pressing into the frontal lobe of her brain.

Red flags Training went by the wayside, Howard gained 30 pounds, and the lifestyle she loved slipped away. As anyone who has experienced a major health setback understands, sometimes just getting through the day felt like a Herculean feat. She somehow kept up with her job as an account manager, but her fatigue was so bad some nights that she would ask her boyfriend to come over just to take her dog outside.

“The fatigue was absolutely debilitating,” she recalls. Then the concentration problems started. Two years later, excruciating headaches kicked in. “I had huge neurological red flags. I was zombielike,” she says. Finally, in October 2013, Howard went to an urgent care, where she was referred immediately to Littleton Adventist Hospital’s emergency room.

Join the race to cure brain tumors

Getting her life back Within hours, tests revealed the large noncancerous brain tumor, called a meningioma, on the frontal lobe of her brain. Howard was admitted to the Littleton Adventist Hospital ICU and scheduled for brain surgery.

There, neurosurgeon David VanSickle, MD, PhD, says several dangers were present. “Some of these tumors make vascular attachments that cause the brain to swell and cease to function properly. In addition, there are symptoms that come from direct pressure of the tumor,” he says.

“For survival, surgery was the only option.”

Though she was concerned about whether she would walk straight — much less run — again, Howard says she felt relief to finally have a true diagnosis that made sense.

One week later, VanSickle removed the tumor.

Two months later, Howard ran a 5K. Within three months she had dropped the 30 pounds. And before a year had even passed, she ran the 2014 Top of Utah Marathon, winning her age group with a time that qualified her for the Boston Marathon.

Coincidentally, VanSickle had taken up running around the time Howard became his patient.

At routine follow-up checks, their conversations inevitably turned to running. He tracked her symptoms, and she offered advice on handling aches and pain. “It was mutually inspiring,” VanSickle says. In fact, they each competed in Colfax Marathon events in Denver 2015: Howard in the 10-miler and VanSickle in his first-ever 13mile half marathon.

Littleton Adventist Hospital has built a reputation in the state of Colorado for excellence in brain and spine care with the expert staff and technology to treat: • Stroke • Brain and spine tumors • Movement disorders (Parkinson’s, deep brain stimulation, essential tremor, dystonia) • Epilepsy • Neuromuscular and nerve disorders • Multiple sclerosis • Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease • Concussion/traumatic brain injuries • Headaches • Spine injuries and disorders • Pain (trigeminal neuralgia, spinal pain, chronic regional pain syndrome) • Obsessive compulsive disorder The first in the U.S. to offer robotic deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s, Littleton Adventist Hospital is also a Level II Trauma Center with a neurological ICU. Learn more at mylittletonhospital.org. Click on “Specialties” and then “Brain Care.”

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Photo: ©Ellen Jaskol, Illustration: kowalska-art

Brain tumor survivor Jill Howard and Littleton Adventist Hospital neurosurgeon David VanSickle, MD, PhD, will run in the Breakthrough for Brain Tumors 5K on May 6, 9 a.m., at Denver’s Great Lawn Park.

To support a team or join the run, visit abta.org, click “Get Involved,” and drop down to the Breakthrough for Brain Tumors 5K Run & Walk link.

Smoke Screen At almost age 70, Su Dierbeck still remembers the first carton of cigarettes she

purchased as a college freshman in 1965. The price was about $5.60 — for the entire 10-pack carton. The cost? That turned out to be much greater.

At her peak, Dierbeck smoked three packs a day. Her parents were heavy smokers, and both would ultimately die before age 70 of smoking-related diseases.

She recently decided to get a low-dose CT lung cancer screening. She was terrified of what the test might find.

Peak number for 30-pack-year smokers Dierbeck’s experience is fairly typical. “Smoking in women peaked in the 1960s and ’70s. Lung cancer rates parallel this and follow by about 20 years,” says Mary Elmasri, MD, an interventional pulmonologist at Porter Adventist Hospital. Accordingly, new lung cancer cases peaked for women in 1998 and have declined since.

Still, lung cancer remains notoriously difficult to detect and treat. Low-dose CT scans can help those at high risk. This includes those who, like Dierbeck, have a 30-pack-year history (a pack a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years).

“It is so important for high-risk candidates to get screened. A 2011 study showed that low-dose CT scans drove the mortality rate down by 20 percent,” Elmasri says. The scan itself is easy — it involves simply lying on a table while a CT scanner uses low doses of radiation to make multiple pictures of the lungs. A lung CT involves onefourth the radiation exposure of a standard GI X-ray, and the test itself takes less than a minute. cigarettes Su Dierbeck has put down the g to her and picked up the weights, goin a week. s core fitness classes six day

Reprieve from risk As for Dierbeck and that nerve-racking matter of her screening results? Statistics say that quitting before the age of 40 — which she did — reduced her risk of dying from smoking-related disease by about 90 percent. “Still, I was terrified between the time I had the screening and the time I got my results,” she says.

When they arrived? She exhaled like she had never exhaled.

There was no cancer. “It gave me total peace of mind. I plan now to have the screening done every year as recommended,” she says.

6 | SPRING 2017 • Create

Time to Quit

The best way to lower your risk for lung cancer? Quit smoking.

“Smoking damages the normal lining of cells,” says Mary Elmasri, MD. “In smokers, you have all these damaged cells — precursors to cancer — proliferating and growing.”

The good news? There are more tools to help smokers quit than ever. Elmasri recommends talking to a pulmonologist or calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW for counseling and access to free or discounted samples of FDA-approved cessation medications.

Breathe Easier Low-dose CT lung cancer screenings are available at Littleton Adventist Hospital, Porter Adventist Hospital, Parker Adventist Hospital, and Castle Rock Adventist Hospital. Call Littleton Adventist Hospital’s lung cancer screening line at 303-738-7747 to see if you are a candidate. Medicare and most insurance plans cover the cost if you meet the criteria, but be sure to check with your plan.

Littleton Adventist Hospital is part of the Centura Health Cancer Network, delivering integrated, advanced cancer care across Colorado and western Kansas.

PHOTOs: This page: ©Casther stock.adobe.com, /Kenishirotie, /BrianWeed stock, WOMAN ©Ellen Jaskol; opposite page: ©IStockphoto.com/ljubaphoto, /monkeybusinessimages, /luengo, /4kodiak

Low-dose CT scans find lung cancer in earlier stages

Seeing Red

Decade-by-decade strategies for fighting the nation’s No. 1 lady killer — heart disease

Whether you see red, the heart experts at Littleton Adventist Hospital hope you will remember this: Heart disease is the leading killer of Dr. Cinthia Bateman women in America.

Trouble is, while one in three women will die of heart disease, only one in five says heart disease is the greatest threat to her health.

That’s starting to change, says Littleton Adventist Hospital cardiologist Cinthia Bateman, MD. “The biggest thing that’s happened in my years of practice is women’s greater awareness that heart disease happens to them.”

Even better news: Heart disease is largely preventable. The keys to reducing risk at all ages are a healthy diet and regular exercise. Beyond that, Bateman offers these prevention tips:

40s Cut the salt | “One out of every three women ages 45 to 54 has hypertension,” Bateman says.

When blood pressure rises, salt, excess weight, and stress — along with age — are the leading culprits. If you had pre-eclampsia or diabetes during pregnancy, watch blood pressure carefully now, Bateman says. Dietary changes can help head off high blood pressure, and maybe avoid having to take medications.

To learn more about heart health risks and see a calendar of heart health classes, visit South Denver Cardiology online at southdenver.com or call 303-744-1065.

20s 30s Manage stress | In this decade many women are juggling work, children, and aging parents.

Whether it’s yoga, prayer, or a girls’ night out, find a way to relax regularly. And, make sure your annual checkups include blood pressure and cholesterol screenings.

Establish good habits | Now is the time to develop a lifestyle that will protect your heart for a lifetime. Among the most important: Don’t smoke. Just two cigarettes a day doubles your risk of a heart attack at any age.

60s Keep moving | Many seniors hang up their running shoes or park the exercise bike. Studies show only one in four adults ages 65 to 74 exercises regularly. But lack of physical activity at any age increases risk for heart attack, high blood pressure, and stroke.

70 s 50s Embrace statins | As women pass through menopause, they lose estrogen’s protection and cholesterol levels rise. Many women might need to start taking cholesterol-lowering medications, called statins.

Littleton Adventist Hospital is part of the Centura Heart Network, the region’s leading provider of cardiovascular care.

Watch your rhythm | A slowing heart rate is common as you grow older and may cause you to need a pacemaker. Another common problem is atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the upper part of the heart doesn’t beat regularly.

Sixty percent of people age 75 and older who have A-fib are women. It can cause fatigue and increase stroke risk but often has no symptoms, so an annual checkup is essential. create | mylittletonhospital.org | 7

When cancer strikes twice An astute diagnosis, skillful surgeons, and advances in genetic testing helped Nancy Marshall survive uterine and colorectal cancer in a single year

L

ightning is never supposed to strike in the same place twice. But cancer? It doesn’t follow this rule, as Nancy Marshall can attest.

In a single year, the 53-year-old Yuma, Colo., resident was diagnosed with two different types of cancer, and underwent surgery for both. Today, she’s feeling great, thanks to the expertise and vigilance of her care providers at Littleton Adventist Hospital and advances in genetic testing.

It’s cancer In preparing for a routine mammogram in November 2015, Marshall told her primary care doctor about some spotting she’d been experiencing. While her Dr. Glenn E. Bigsby doctor didn’t think it was likely serious, she wanted her to get it checked.

A biopsy revealed Marshall had endometrial cancer, and within three weeks she underwent a complete hysterectomy followed by a recommendation for genetic testing.

“Honestly, I didn’t know what I was getting into at that point,” Marshall says. “I thought it was just informational, and I asked the doctor if I could wait. He said, ‘Don’t wait too long.’”

The recommendation was based on a combination of risk factors, including her age, says her surgeon, Glenn E. Bigsby IV, DO, a gynecologic oncologist at Littleton

8 | Spring 2017 • Create

Around

140,000

new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed annually in the U.S., and approximately

3 to 5 percent

are caused by Lynch syndrome.

Adventist Hospital. “For anyone diagnosed with endometrial cancer at a younger age — typically around 60 years old — we do what’s called microsatellite instability testing on the tumor. That can give us suggestions if it’s a genetic abnormality, and hers was positive,” Bigsby says. And because some tumors look like genetic mutations but may actually not be, genetic testing was recommended to confirm whether her family history was the culprit.

It’s cancer — again Marshall had genetic testing in April 2016 and learned in July that she had Lynch syndrome, an inherited disorder that increases the risk of several types of Dr. Douglas Benson cancer — including uterine, which she’d already been treated for, but more commonly for colorectal cancer.

Marshall’s first colonoscopy three years earlier hadn’t detected any polyps, but fortunately her surgeon, Douglas Benson, MD, a colon and rectal surgeon at Littleton Adventist Hospital, advocated for another test based on the new diagnosis. The second colonoscopy found cancer in its early stages, and Marshall had surgery to remove it in August. Because both cancers were caught early, she didn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.

A lifesaving test Without genetic testing, Marshall likely wouldn’t have discovered her colorectal cancer until a much later (and more deadly) stage, as colonoscopy screening is only recommended every 10 years when no abnormalities are present. And because she has Lynch syndrome, the tumors were different in two very significant ways, Benson says. The first is an accelerated polyp-to-cancer sequence, which

It’s all in your genes

Genetic testing helped alert Nancy Marshall’s doctors to look — and find — colorectal cancer at a very early and treatable stage.

Without genetic testing, Marshall likely wouldn’t have discovered her colorectal cancer until a much later (and more deadly) stage. can be just three to five years from a healthy colon to finding a polyp and then cancer. (The normal sequence can take 10 to 20 years.)

Second, people with Lynch syndrome also tend to have more “flat polyps” that are much harder to detect, especially when they’re small. “So it’s possible she had one in her first colonoscopy and it went undetected,” Benson says. “Flat polyps are rarer, but they do tend to follow the Lynch syndrome genetic pathway.”

Making a family connection Lynch syndrome itself is uncommon — and difficult to diagnose. “It really takes a keen look at family history and other factors,” Bigsby says.

“And, in some cases, it may not help the patient to

know. But it can help to alert and treat their family members early, or even prevent them from having cancer at all.”

This issue was particularly problematic for Marshall, as she was adopted and never knew her birth parents. Her only biological family member is her 25-year-old son. Because of her diagnosis, he’s been tested and does not have Lynch syndrome.

After the challenging year she’s had, Marshall is ready to look to the future while still helping her son connect with their past. “I’m working to create a family tree for him, to give him a family history and some background.” She’s also planning to travel with friends who’ve been supportive throughout her ordeal. “People talk about waiting until you retire, but I want to travel and enjoy life now.”

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Photos: Opposite page: ©IStockphoto.com//Henvry; This page: ©Ellen Jaskol

Because Nancy Marshall was adopted, she wasn’t able to have any family other than her son tested for Lynch syndrome. But genetic testing and counseling are typically offered broadly, says Erin Hoffman, a genetic counselor at Littleton Adventist Hospital.

“We try to go as far out as possible, to reach any distant relatives the person might be in touch with,” she says. Testing generally starts with the closest relatives first, to find out if they carry the risk before widening the testing circle. Hoffman sends a letter along with the patient’s test results to family members so they can contact her, whether they live in the area or far away.

While most people who get cancer do not have a hereditary cancer syndrome, there are red flags to watch for, Hoffman says, including a young age at diagnosis and multiple family members with cancer.

“Fortunately, we were able to make this diagnosis, and it was literally life-changing for her,” Hoffman says.

Expecting Back Pain?

Pregnancy-prepping hormones can cause unstable SI joints

W

ith a belly out to here, lower back pain is to be expected when you’re expecting. But the pain you’re experiencing may have little to do with the extra weight and more to do with the impact of pregnancy hormones on an oft-ignored joint, the sacroiliac joint. And the issues you’re having now may stick around long after delivery — or even show up years later even if you never had back pain during pregnancy.

Dr. Ben Guiot

What manifests as lower back pain during pregnancy most often originates in the sacroiliac (SI) joints, where the spine meets the hips. SI joint pain is four times more common than lumbar pain in pregnancy, according to the American Council

on Exercise.

“Pregnant women produce a series of hormones that are intended to relax the ligaments in the pelvis in preparation for childbirth,” says Ben Guiot, MD, a neurosurgeon who specializes in spine issues with South Denver Neurosurgery. “The loosening of those ligaments means the SI joints become unstable and once the SI joints are unstable, the force of body weight being placed on those joints can produce pain.”

In addition to lower back pain, you may experience pain in your buttocks that radiates down the legs. Pain typically worsens when standing for long periods, standing with more weight on one leg than the other, and climbing stairs.

Unlike knee and hip joints, the SI (sacroiliac) joint — where the spinal column meets the pelvis — is not meant to move much. This weight-bearing joint is designed to absorb the impact to the spine from daily activities like walking and jumping. During pregnancy, hormones that relax the ligaments can make the SI joint unstable. The increased motion often results in inflammation and posterior pelvic pain that can radiate down the legs.

10 | Spring 2017 • Create

Back to Normal

While SI joint pain often subsides after pregnancy, you can get relief by keeping the muscles in the back, abdomen, and gluteus as strong as possible.

Nonsurgical treatment for SI joint pain includes: • Ice, heat, and rest • Medication, such as anti-inflammatories, steroids, and muscle relaxers • Chiropractic manipulation • Acupuncture • Massage • Nerve ablation “Not all of these options are appropriate during pregnancy, of course,” Guiot says. “But we can work with the obstetrician to find a solution that will help make a woman’s pregnancy more comfortable.”

For women whose SI pain doesn’t go away after delivery or starts up months or even years later, noninvasive treatments are still the goto treatment. But, if after six months the pain doesn’t get better, then minimally invasive SI joint fusion surgery may be an option. People who choose SI joint fusion report significant pain relief and improved quality of life, with greater than 80 percent patient satisfaction.

SI joint dysfunction also can be caused by: • A fall or other trauma • Leg length discrepancies • Gait abnormalities • Scoliosis • Spinal fusion to the sacrum

To make an appointment with Dr. Guiot, call 720-638-7500.

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SI Concerns

Triplets Amelia, Lincoln, and Eloise brought three times the joy to their parents when they were born healthy at Littleton Adventist Hospital in December.

Defying the Odds

Careful monitoring and mom’s determination give high-risk triplets a healthy start

In the beginning, Samantha Weis thought she was having one baby. Then, at eight weeks, she and her husband, Erik,

were thrilled to learn she was having twins.

At 16 weeks, she had another ultrasound. “I looked and thought, ‘Hmm. I was wrong about the twins,’” says her Littleton Adventist Hospital obstetrician, Scot Graham, MD. That ultrasound revealed a third baby, previously hidden behind the other two.

Then, Graham made another discovery — two of the babies shared a single amniotic sac and placenta. The condition, known as monoamniotic-monochorionic, or mono-mono twins, is extremely rare — and risky.

A potential for problems Maternal-fetal medicine specialist Shane Reeves, MD, with the Perinatal Care Center at Littleton Adventist Hospital, explained to Weis that she was carrying triplets, with two of the babies as an identical twin pair. The twins shared an amniotic sac, and since they were confined within one small space, they might “spin around each other, potentially causing strangulation because the umbilical cords get entangled and too tight.”

He also let her know that the odds of all three babies surviving were slim. But Weis had already defied the odds. The probability of naturally occurring triplets is about one in 3,000. The chances of mono-mono twins is about one in 10,000. The odds of the two

together probably hasn’t ever been calculated.

“They told me if they determined something was wrong with one, they would all have to be delivered,” Weis says. But she was determined to carry the three babies as long as possible.

“The body feeds off the mind. So I just thought, ‘I have to go along as if it were a normal pregnancy.’”

Waiting and hoping On Oct. 5, Weis was admitted to Littleton Adventist Hospital, where a room was set aside for delivery, with three baby warmers. “They were expecting me to give birth the minute I came into the hospital,” she says.

She didn’t deliver that day. In fact, she remained in the hospital for nearly two

months, with a delivery room and a binder of contingency plans at the ready. Nurses checked the babies’ heart rates for an hour, three times a day, looking for changes in the fetal heart rate that could signal trouble, Graham says.

While each day the babies grew stronger, the risk also became greater. “As they get bigger, they start to tug on the cord,” Weis says, potentially cutting off a twin’s blood supply.

In the end, Weis and her babies defied the odds one more time: They made it to 32 weeks. On Dec. 2, identical twins Eloise and Lincoln, and Amelia, the once-hidden triplet, were born, each weighing more than 3 pounds.

And, after spending the holidays in the Littleton Adventist Hospital neonatal intensive care unit, all three baby girls went home in January.

Learn More | To learn more about prenatal care, birthing classes, or take a tour of The BirthPlace at Littleton Adventist Hospital, go online to mylittletonhospital.org/birthplace. create | mylittletonhospital.org | 11

Portercare Adventist Health System

In my day, deep brain stimulation meant a game of checkers!

To learn more, visit mylittletonhospital.org/dbs.

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Non-Profit Org US POSTAGE

PAID

Denver, CO Permit NO. 4773

7700 S. Broadway Littleton, CO 80122

Littleton Adventist Hospital is part of Centura Health, the region’s leading health care network. Centura Health does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, religion, creed, ancestry, sexual orientation, and marital status in admission, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activities, or in employment. For further information about this policy, contact Centura Health’s Office of the General Counsel at 303-804-8166. Copyright © Centura Health, 2017.

2017

calendar

9Health Fair

We are proud to once again offer FREE and low-cost health screenings, education, and resources through our partnership with the 9Health Fair.

Together, we can help keep you and your family healthy.

Date | Sun, Apr 23 Time | 8 a.m.-Noon Location | Littleton Adventist Hospital, 7700 South Broadway, Littleton

Mammos, Mom, and Me

It’s time to take care of yourselves!

Bring yourself and your mom or daughter, and join us for mammograms, chair massages, and refreshments.

Date | Wednesdays, Apr 26, May 10, and Jun 14 Time | 3-7 p.m.

Location | The Breast Care Center at Littleton Adventist Hospital, 7700 South Broadway, Littleton Registration required 303-738-2767

Littleton Hospital Foundation Golf Tournament

Support the Littleton Hospital Foundation Golf Classic in its efforts this year to expand treatment options and surgical advancements for our epilepsy program.

Date | Mon, Jul 10 Location | The Country Club at Castle Pines, 6400 Country Club Drive, Castle Rock Registration and info about sponsorships 303-715-7600 or littletonhospitalfoundation.org

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SPRING

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