Cancer Patients

Howard County General Hospital unveiled yesterday its version of a trend in health care -- providing rooms that resemble those in hotels, if not those in patients' homes.The hospital used a homelike motif -- hardwood floors, wall-paper and paintings -- in renovating a 29-bed nursing unit. The $2.5 million, 13,000-square-foot 4 South Nursing Unit will accommodate its first patients -- primarily those with cancer -- on Tuesday."We want to offer a more comfortable atmosphere so patients will be less traumatized by hospitalization," said Judy Siegelman, administrative coordinator for the unit.

WASHINGTON -- Most cancer patients participating in studies of new treatments don't care whether their doctors or hospitals have financial ties to companies whose drugs are being tested, according to a government-sponsored study published today. About 80 percent of patients surveyed by researchers for the National Institutes of Health said they were "not worried at all" by the ties and said they would still take part in the drug trials if their doctor or hospital owned stock or received royalties from the corporate sponsor.

The Rev. Kenneth Phelps rounds a corner on the sixth floor of the north wing at Harbor Hospital Center and spies a family holding a vigil outside a patient's room. He stops, asks the nurses what is going on. The patient is in a coma, dying.Mr. Phelps comforts the family. He says a prayer for them and whispers another into the dying man's ear. Then he quietly steps out of the room, leaving them to their grief. He tells the family he will be nearby if they need him. The patient died later that day.This is Harbor's oncology ward, where cancer patients reside.

The Red Devils, a nonprofit volunteer organization, will sponsor its fifth Red Devils Heat and Sole Stroll at 10 a.m. Sunday, rain or shine, at Centennial Lake in Ellicott City. Registration is to begin at 9 a.m. The 2.4-mile walk around the lake will help raise money for support services for Maryland breast cancer patients and their families. The organization pays for transportation to medical appointments and helps pay for co-payments for prescription drugs, house-cleaning, meals and groceries.

As a caregiver, Richard DeCaro knows that a little kindness goes a long way. And now he has a local nonprofit organization to thank for making his life a little easier. The Dorsey's Search resident began taking care of his wife, Ellen, in 2008 after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer at age 50. She had been teaching consumer science at Dunloggin Middle School in Ellicott City, the happy result of a late-in-life career switch, when she awoke from a nap one day and didn't know who she was, he says.

Regina D. "Rikki" Perkoski, a former Baltimore County middle school teacher and administrator who mentored fellow ovarian cancer survivors, died of complications of the disease Wednesday at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was 60 and lived in Cub Hill. Mrs. Perkoski was born Regina Berger in Baltimore's Forest Park neighborhood, the youngest of three daughters, said her husband, David J. Perkoski. The family moved to eastern Baltimore County in the 1950s, where her father operated a restaurant and bar. She graduated from Sparrows Point High School and married David Rummel in 1965.

Stanley C. Brown, a retired Randallstown attorney who overcame the loss of his voice to laryngeal cancer, died of complications after surgery Monday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 80 and a Windsor Mill resident. Mr. Brown, who was born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton, was a 1939 graduate of City College. His college studies at the University of Baltimore were interrupted when he enlisted in the Army Air Forces in December 1941. He served in the African, Italian and Central European campaigns as a navigator and in intelligence.

ROCKVILLE -- CellPro Inc. yesterday won the backing of a panel of government advisers to expand the use of its cell filtering device to help cancer patients safely rebuild immune systems destroyed by chemotherapy.The panel's recommendation, if accepted by the Food and Drug Administration, means the Ceprate device, used to filter and concentrate bone marrow cells taken from cancer patients, also would be approved for a less painful and cheaper technique that takes cells from the bloodstream instead.

WASHINGTON -- In a dispute over medical insurance for cancer patients, the Supreme Court agreed yesterday to spell out the constitutional rights of individuals who are dissatisfied with the money to be paid in settling lawsuits involving thousands of people.At issue is the constitutionality of ending a "class-action" lawsuit without giving plaintiffs in the class the right to opt out and be free to pursue damage claims in separate lawsuits.Alabama's courts have upheld a deal to settle fraud claims against Liberty National Life Insurance Co., which was accused of misleading cancer patients into trading in their full-coverage policies for new policies that significantly scaled back their medical coverage.

Cheryl King's two daughters reacted differently two years ago when they learned their mother had lymphoma. Ali, then 8, lashed out in anger. Maddie, 6, clung to her mother at every opportunity. King, an Annapolis woman who has been in remission for the past year, did not know where to turn. "I didn't know how to make it better for them," she said. Now an Annapolis plastic surgeon is trying to create an oasis of support and advice for cancer patients like King and their families. Dr. Kelly Sullivan, medical director of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery of Annapolis, is launching a fundraising campaign next month to build a clubhouse of sorts where patients' families can relax while their relative is getting chemotherapy or radiation at Anne Arundel Medical Center's Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute.