12/14/2008

With a little help from her friends

By Tim Unruh

Salina Journal

Ginger Senseman had put off dealing with the lump in her breast, thinking it was anything but cancer.

"I'm really young, and there's no family history. I had seen two different doctors, and they thought it was because I'd just lost 45 pounds," said Senseman, 38, a Salina pediatrician.

But when the lump didn't go away, she asked for a mammogram, just to make sure.

It was in early October, three days before a planned family vacation, and what the mammogram showed dramatically changed Senseman's life.

The diagnosis of cancer was the bad part, and she's winning that battle.

What transpired as friends and colleagues in Salina and central Kansas offered a hand provided a jolt of generosity that continually amazes her.

"I'm just overwhelmed. I don't really know why they do this for me, but my family cannot thank them enough," Senseman said.

Acts of kindness are common in many walks of life. Farmers help neighbors harvest crops in times of need. Firefighters and law enforcement officers rally around families of fallen or injured brethren.

But for three doctors who have their own busy practices to pitch in, "I think it's very unusual," Senseman said.

"It does a lot for me, that I have a tangible contribution to her getting well," said Dr. Rebecca Reddy, of Wichita. Melanie Byram, of Council Grove, and Chris Brown, of Salina (practicing in Ellinwood), round out the trio that has committed to seeing her patients into the spring.

An impossible situation

Dreadful news from radiologist Dr. Pam Davis had put Senseman in what appeared an impossible situation.

Davis administered the mammogram Oct. 8 at the Salina Regional Health Center Breast Diagnostic Center -- just down the hall from Senseman's Salina Pediatric Care office in the Salina Medical Arts Building, Santa Fe and Prescott. Davis read it immediately, then prepped Senseman for an ultrasound.

Senseman balked.

"I said I was too busy, that I was getting ready to go to Hawaii," Senseman said.

But Davis told Senseman she had no choice.

"She said, 'No, you're going to get an ultrasound today and a biopsy tomorrow morning,' " Senseman recalled.

She argued that her schedule wouldn't allow it, that she had 50 patients to see the next morning.

Davis told her to "reschedule and be here. She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer," Senseman said.

Looking back, she said that "Dr. Davis saved my life."

Following the ultrasound, Davis and her staff cleared their schedule for a biopsy the next day.

That sample pulled Oct. 9 from the mass in Senseman's breast confirmed cancer.

Senseman was stunned, shocked and scared. She canceled her vacation, but she still had big problems.

What about the patients?

Being the pillar of a practice that logs more than 10,000 patient visits a year and provides 15 jobs, Senseman couldn't imagine how she could proceed while undergoing chemotherapy.

With her immune system compromised, it would be life-threatening to see and treat sick patients.

Making it worse, Senseman's two associates in the practice were all but unavailable in the near term. Dr. Susan Ratliff was on vacation and Dr. Malani Kuiper was in the late stages of pregnancy.

Senseman didn't think of herself, or the aggressive form of cancer attacking her body; only her patients and the practice she opened two years ago with her husband, Greg Senseman, the practice's administrator.

Of course it's aggressive

Normally quiet, Greg had plenty to say to the oncologist Oct. 10 in Wichita.

"I said, 'Of course it's aggressive cancer. She's an aggressive woman and she'll fight it aggressively,' " he said. "Things are going really well, far better than what I ever expected."

Despite her husband's confidence, Senseman had worries.

"It was that all of that work could be gone, that we wouldn't be able to keep the doors open," Senseman said. "It's a family business. My kids (William, 10, and Samuel, 7) even help."

Desperate phone calls

In a state of desperation, she made some calls to close friends, doctors with busy practices of their own. To her surprise, there was no hesitation in offering help.

"She flat out said, 'Is there any way you could help.' My wife and I sat down and discussed the importance of being available to help her and we both decided it was a good idea," said Brown a general practice physician in Ellinwood who formerly practiced medicine in Salina.

Senseman called Dr. Reddy in Wichita and pleaded: "I don't know how I'm going to run a practice and have breast cancer."

Reddy was quick to offer help. The state expert in newborn screening and hematology, she directs the Sickle Cell Clinic in Wichita for the University of Kansas pediatrics department and makes the 90-mile drive to Salina three days a week to help Senseman.

A friend was worth some sacrifice, said Dr. Byram, Council Grove, who is in family practice. The help didn't stop there. Pediatricians in competing Salina practices are taking Senseman's spot in the on-call rotation at Salina Regional Health Center.

"They've just never complained. They want me better," Senseman said.

Her patients react

Another concern was how the parents of patients would react to having a doctor with cancer.

Heather West was "blown away" when she first heard. The Ellsworth woman is the mother of two sets of twins, ages 3 and 1.

"There was a very selfish reaction. It was kind of an overwhelming thing for me to digest," West said.

Next she thought of the person who means so much to so many parents and little ones. West took action, as did many of Senseman's patient families, and joined a list to provide meals and other support for the doctor's family.

"We have people bring us meals all the time," Senseman said.

West, who is employed by the American Cancer Society to provide programs and services for cancer patients, offered all of her resources.

"She's been a rock for us. She's there for the parents as well as the child, very supportive all around," West said. "She's a very important part of my life."

So how have the fill-ins done?

"First of all, they're not her. You have that comfort level with Dr. Senseman," West said. "But we've seen Dr. Brown and Dr. Reddy and we've had fabulous care with the changes."

Patients and their families are very concerned about Senseman's welfare.

"Not a day goes by that a patient doesn't ask, 'How's Dr. Senseman?' " Reddy said.

The tumor has shrunk

The practice remains busy, Senseman said. Her illness has not scared any patients away.

"It's helped a lot with patients that Dr. Senseman has been open and honest about what's going on. Patients feel reassured," said Nancy Keim, office manager.

"It really hasn't changed at all. We just have a few extra doctors who are helping out," Greg Senseman said. "We haven't had any major disruptions, which has been really nice."

Senseman informed patients and families by letter of her diagnosis in October and again Nov. 19, with "very encouraging" news.

Senseman's tumor has shrunk to the point that "you can't feel it," she said. "We caught it early and I've responded really well to chemotherapy."

The chemo that flows into her body to attack the cancer has had the usual side effects, such as nausea, hair loss and fatigue. She wears a wig to work.

Senseman daily sees well patients until noon.

"Then I rest. In the evening I do practice management stuff," she said.

This is far from over

The ordeal is far from over. Senseman faces four more rounds of chemotherapy (each round takes three hours, and it involves injecting medicine through an intravenous tube), a mastectomy, five weeks of radiation therapy and reconstructive surgery.

The prognosis is high for a full recovery.

"It's the healing power of love," Byram said.

Through it all, the "fill-in" doctors are sticking with her. Brown refuses to cash his paychecks from Salina Pediatric Care.

"Everybody goes through hard times. We're lucky that we're all at a point in our lives when we can help," Byram said.

She dedicated her service to the memory of her best friend from medical school, Dr. Stephanie Judice, Austin, Texas, who died of pancreatic cancer two years ago.

Pirate hats and tiaras

In return, the doctors were introduced to a busy, vibrant workplace where nurses and staff enjoy a close relationship with patients and parents.

"This is a fun office. They give out pirate hats to boys who go potty, and the girls get tiaras," Byram said.

On her first day to help, Byram reported thinking she would be shadowing and getting used to the new surroundings.

"I walked in and they said, 'OK, there are sick kids. Go see them,' " Byram recalled.

By the time Senseman arrived after hospital rounds, Byram had seen 10 patients, 18 before the doors closed that day. Because she was not schooled on Salina Pediatric Care's computerized charting, Byram stayed after the clinic closed to enter all of her paperwork into the electronic system.

She was tired, but uplifted.

"When we left here, I was happy all the way driving home," Byram said.

Brown was able to ease into his assistance.

"I was impressed with the way Dr. Senseman and her staff related to patients, and felt pressure to maintain that high level of service that they provide every day," he said. "This clinic is a special part of this community."

Reddy sees the Sensemans' clinic as an "oasis," and has enjoyed seeing it at work.

"I would come here anyway," she said. "You can bake her a pie or send her a card, but it's nice to be able to do something physical.

"It makes you feel good to be needed."

Dr. Ratliff, the only full-time doctor in the practice, has "carried the torch," Reddy said, and while Dr. Kuiper has been on maternity leave, she has helped when she could. Late in her pregnancy, she was admitted to Salina Regional for a day.

"Twenty-four hours later, she was at work, helping out," Senseman said.

Ratliff gives the credit to the three doctors and a "wonderful staff," for keeping the practice running smoothly.

"I couldn't carry that practice myself. It's way too busy. Yes, it's busier for me, but we're doing just fine," Ratliff said. "It's easy to say the life of a doctor is 9 to 5, but it's way more than that. Dr. Senseman does way more than the average doctor."

Been trying at times

The switch has been trying at times, said Colette Sorell, Senseman's personal assistant and patient care coordinator, especially during a time of year when lots of youngsters become sick.

"It's just crazy trying to keep patients happy while juggling schedules around," she said.

For the staff, it's been "a little different learning all the doctors' ways of doing things," said Jennifer Lehmann, a registered nurse in the practice.

But you couldn't ask for a better group of doctors, said medical assistant Dawn Russo. "They're doing great. It's easy working with them."

A teaching opportunity

Senseman is using her plight as an educational tool to encourage self breast examination and getting yearly mammograms.

In her first letter to patient families, she included a brochure from the Breast Diagnostic Center.

"A lot of patients have told me it inspired them to go and get a mammogram," Senseman said. "One of the nurses at the hospital decided to go and learned she had early breast cancer."

Radiologist Davis takes no credit for Senseman's recovery.

"Ginger saved her own life by coming for a mammogram," Davis said. "We appreciate any woman who steps out of her comfort zone and comes in for screening."

While fighting for her life, Senseman has had plenty of battlefronts, but the one at work is in many healing hands.

"I can't repay these doctors. There's no reason to even try," Senseman said. "I guess the only thing I can hope is to pay it forward. I pray every day that the doctors and everyone who has helped me will be blessed as much as they've blessed me."

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.

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