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If you remember the movie,
The Incredible Voyage
, where a teamof scientists and their spaceship are reduced to microscopicsize for a journey through a human body, you get the idea of the view through Seton Williamson’s new Super Dimension bronchoscope. This amazing technology—the first of its kindin the Austin area—gives Seton doctors a 3-dimensional, non-invasive view of the outer portions of the lungs. At a time when75 percent of cancer diagnoses are attributable to lung cancer,according to pulmonologist and Seton ICU Medical Director,Dr. Said Soubra, that can be life-saving.Watching the moving image on an LCD monitor, Dr. Soubrasteers the scope through hair-width pathways of a patient’s lung.“We overlay the image from the lung CT scan within a magneticfield around the patient,” Dr Soubra explains. “We can take a tiny biopsy from a suspicious spot that showed up on the CT scan,without the risks that come with surgery.”This new tool not only assists with diagnosis, but it marks theexact location so future treatments can be more precise. In thepast, the best approach for a small spot on an otherwise normallung CT scan was to watch and wait, as it may be a minorinfection. “Earlier diagnosis means much better survival rates,”Dr. Soubra says. “When we can get up to a two-year jump ontreating cancer in its early stages, it is significant.”Mary and Troy Rodriguez generously sponsored the SuperDimension through a gift to Seton Williamson Foundation. Ingratitude for the many patients and families that will benefit, Dr.Soubra says, “Having a community of donors willing to invest inthe latest skills and technology is vital to saving lives.”
Physician Prole:
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Why would an esteemed facultymember at Houston’s Baylor Collegeof Medicine drop everything topractice in Williamson County? “Itwas a chance to help create a newand innovative ICU at Seton MedicalCenter Williamson,” says Dr. SaidSoubra (Si-eéd Soó-brah). Working inthe heart of Houston’s renowned TexasMedical Center, Dr. Soubra took partin important medical research andinnovation. He was medical directorof the ICU at the Michael E. DeBakeyVA Medical Center, supervisingclinical research and trials, and wasa valued member of the Baylor lungtransplant team.Dr. Soubra is now Seton Williamson’smedical director of IntensiveCare Services. He has also openedWilliamson Pulmonary and SleepAssociates, located in the SetonMedical Office Building. Dr. Soubra’sthree children, ages 10, 8 and 3, havesettled into Round Rock schools,while his wife, Lima, is enjoying theamenities of Avery Ranch. How didSeton lure Dr. Soubra to WilliamsonCounty? “Open spaces, beautifulscenery, less traffic and good schools,”Dr. Soubra says. Sounds like the samereasons many of us came here.
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Like most 40-year-olds, Jukon Wong wasn’t thinking abouthis heart as he jogged near his house last September. Likewise,as John Malvarose was running nearby, he was mulling overthe small events of the day. But as he followed his usual paththrough the quiet suburban neighborhood, Malvarose sawsomething he’d never forget. “I happened to glance out of my peripheral vision,” he says, “and saw a man running onthe sidewalk, then stop and fall straight backward, hitting hishead.” It was Wong.Thinking quickly, Malvarose called 911 as he crossed thestreet. When he realized Wong wasn’t breathing, he startedCPR, which he had learned 20 years earlier. It wasn’t untilthe ambulance came five minutes later that he discoveredthat Wong had been felled by a full cardiac arrest. When thishappens outside a hospital, it often means death. Judging by Wong’s grim condition when the ambulance left,Malvarose assumed the worst.EMS continued trying to resuscitate Wong as they transportedhim to Seton Medical Center Williamson. On arrival,emergency physician Dr. Brian Aldred immediately orderedinduced hypothermia, lowering Wong’s body temperatureto 89 degrees. Seton’s Arctic Sun equipment provides bodycooling technology to limit brain swelling, which decreasesodds of brain damage or death. After 24 hours, Wong’s bodywas slowly warmed back to its normal temperature, and hehad surgery to implant a defibrillator. Ten days later, he walkedout of the hospital.Today, Wong claims that the only reminder of this life-changingexperience is the “lump on the top left corner of my chest,”from his defibrillator. In fact, he’s feeling so good that he’straining to run in a 5 K and in January, he fulfilled his dreamof becoming a U.S. citizen.He believes that through all this, he’s been given a gift.“Whenever I hesitate to do something, like jumping onto thedance floor with a woman, all my friends have to say is, ‘Heyman, life is short,’ and I do it. It means something completelydifferent now.” Today, he’s very grateful to be alive and gratefulto the heroes that helped him, from doctors Brian Aldred andSaid Soubra at Seton to EMS Technician Chad Henrichs, allthe way to Malvarose, the good Samaritan who first helpedhim.At the Seton Medical Center Williamson gala, Jukon had anemotional reunion with the doctors and EMS technician, aswell as with Malvarose. “The only other time I had seen himwas when I was doing CPR,” says Malvarose.
“To see him standing and walking and healthy wasamazing and overwhelming.” – John Malvarose
So, what’s next for Wong? “I have a responsibility to the peoplewho saved me to lead a good life from now on,” he says. Howto do that? He says he’ll start by learning CPR, the skill thatsaved his life on that warm September evening, just in case heever gets a chance to return the favor.
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are, from left to right: Chad Henrichs, Dr. Said Soubra,
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