Cancer Surgery

Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland underwent surgery for prostate cancer 12 days ago, his office announced yesterday."The prognosis for complete recovery is excellent," said Dr. Patrick C. Walsh, who removed Mr. Sarbanes' prostate gland at Johns Hopkins Hospital on Aug. 14.The 62-year-old Democrat was re-elected to a fourth, six-year term in November.Dr. Walsh said the cancer was caught at an early stage -- before Mr. Sarbanes had developed a palpable tumor and before cancer had spread to other parts of his body.

This is for all those people who are seriously ill and thinking they may never do what they love again. I was like that in 2010, recovering from back-to-back breast cancer and heart surgeries and the aftermath. I thought tennis, which is my athletic passion, was probably not going to be part of my future - if there was one. During my illnesses, tennis was a number of things to me: distraction, as my recovery efforts happened to be perfectly timed for watching the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open; incentive, because I couldn't wait to get back onto the court; and dream - would I ever make it back?

When Trish Lannon decided to pose for a 2009 calendar, she figured it would be a good idea to tell her boss. After all, as an administrator with the Howard County public school system, Lannon has a reputation to uphold. And now, as Miss March, the Elkridge resident is projecting a different kind of image. Wearing workout clothes that reveal her toned midriff, Lannon stands in her photograph with hips thrust to the side and left thumb tugging the waistband of her pants. The five men and six other women featured in the calendar gaze confidently into the camera as they display enviable torsos in the stylish portraits.

Early Friday in a small, brightly lit operating room in Johns Hopkins Hospital, a half-dozen doctors and nurses huddled over the gut of a cancer patient, quietly passing metal instruments and surgical sutures. After more than four hours of cutting and sewing, the lead surgeon, Dr. John L. Cameron, lifted his slightly bloodied hands, thanked his colleagues and headed for the door. The 75-year-old immediately declared the complex, life-saving surgery "one of the simpler ones. " He should know.

If you reach a certain age and have the pasty skin of the Irish and have spent much time in the sun, you may one day find yourself in a dermatologist's office with the dermatologist peering at two small blotches on your face and furrowing her brow and murmuring: "Hmm." This, you discover, is generally not a good thing. And when the next words out of the dermatologist's mouth are, "We should do a biopsy," that pretty much removes all doubt as to whether you're about to get some terrific news about your complexion.

Some women in their 40s who undergo surgery to treat breast cancer may actually increase their risk of a near-term relapse, according to a controversial Harvard Medical School study that suggests cancer surgery itself may "awaken" dormant tumor cells in other parts of the body. The Harvard researchers found that, for about 20 percent of women in their 40s whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, cancer surgery seems to cause tiny tumors in other parts of their body to grow.

Boog Powell walked into the Orioles' clubhouse yesterday slimmer, healthier and decidedly optimistic about his recovery from colon cancer surgery Aug. 25.The former All-Star first baseman and current Camden Yards barbecue entrepreneur said he hasn't yet returned to work but hopes to steadily rebuild his routine the next several weeks after beginning chemotherapy treatment."

For many years, prostate cancer surgery was feared because it almost always resulted in loss of sexual function and urinary control. That began to change 25 years ago yesterday, when Dr. Patrick Walsh of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine tried out a new technique designed to spare the nerves that control these functions. Since then, nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy has become a standard in urology. What made it possible was Walsh's observation that the nerves that maintain sexual function and urinary continence run alongside the prostate - not through it as doctors had thought.

July 29, 1998: Returning from cancer surgery a year prior, Eric Davis hit a three-run home run to help the Orioles beat the Tigers.

Ted Koppel and the gang from "Nightline" (11: 35 p.m.-12: 05 a.m., WMAR, Channel 2) profile Eric Davis, whose remarkable recovery from cancer surgery has turned him into a source of inspiration for cancer patients everywhere. Included will be an interview with Davis, taped shortly after the Orioles defeated Seattle in the Division Series.Pub Date: 10/10/97

Evelyn G. Calhoun, a retired Baltimore County educator and world traveler who was also a thoroughbred racing fan, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at her Parkton home. She was 89. Evelyn Gertrude Dennis, the daughter of a steelworker and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in the 700 block of N. Port St. She was 16 when she graduated from Patterson High School in 1939. During World War II, she worked as a civilian stenographer for the Army at Fort Sill, Okla.

July 29, 1998: Returning from cancer surgery a year prior, Eric Davis hit a three-run home run to help the Orioles beat the Tigers.

To the letter writer who stated that she would not recycle because her container was stolen ("Single-stream recycling isn't for us," Feb. 21) please reconsider. I just had cancer surgery and will be in radiation/chemo treatment, so I know I may miss a week of putting out paper and cans. But with single-stream recycling, I will not be inundated with stuff like under the old program. Jerks exist everywhere in the world, even Baltimore County. Please go to a grocery or liquor store for cardboard boxes and use them for recycling.

William H. Bouchelle, a retired Baltimore surgeon and a sports fan, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease, June 11 at his Cockeysville home. He was 63. Dr. Bouchelle, the son of a real estate executive and homemaker, was born in Portland, Ore., and was raised in Elkton and Wilmington, Del. After graduating from John Dickinson High School in Wilmington in 1963, he earned his bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1967. He earned his medical degree and completed an internship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

When Trish Lannon decided to pose for a 2009 calendar, she figured it would be a good idea to tell her boss. After all, as an administrator with the Howard County public school system, Lannon has a reputation to uphold. And now, as Miss March, the Elkridge resident is projecting a different kind of image. Wearing workout clothes that reveal her toned midriff, Lannon stands in her photograph with hips thrust to the side and left thumb tugging the waistband of her pants. The five men and six other women featured in the calendar gaze confidently into the camera as they display enviable torsos in the stylish portraits.

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced yesterday that he has prostate cancer but that he will continue to govern and expects to be cured by surgery. Olmert, 62, looking fit and speaking calmly, told a news conference that a biopsy had detected a malignant tumor in its early stage. He said he had learned of the diagnosis over the weekend and has chosen to undergo surgical removal of the prostate gland "in the coming months." "My doctors have informed me that I have a full chance of recovery and there is nothing about the tumor that is life-threatening or liable to impair my performance or my ability to carry out the duties bestowed upon me," he said.

Jean Guitton, 98, a Catholic philosopher and academic who was the only layman authorized to take part in the Second Vatican Council, died Sunday in Paris. Mr. Guitton, the oldest member of the Academie Francaise, was the author of about 30 works, mostly focusing on the relationship between Catholicism and modern thought.Dr. Russell Ross, 69, a University of Washington professor whose research made important advances in the understanding of why arteries harden, died Thursday of complications after cancer surgery in Seattle.

For many years, prostate cancer surgery was feared because it almost always resulted in loss of sexual function and urinary control. That began to change 25 years ago yesterday, when Dr. Patrick Walsh of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine tried out a new technique designed to spare the nerves that control these functions. Since then, nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy has become a standard in urology. What made it possible was Walsh's observation that the nerves that maintain sexual function and urinary continence run alongside the prostate - not through it as doctors had thought.

Luciano Pavarotti, the Italian tenor who has enjoyed enormous popularity worldwide for more then three decades, underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer within the past week and has canceled all remaining 2006 concerts. In a statement yesterday to the Associated Press, Pavarotti's manager, Terri Robson, described the 70-year-old singer as "recovering well" at a New York hospital that she declined to identify. "A malignant pancreatic mass" was removed during surgery, Robson said, adding that "Pavarotti remains under the care of a team of doctors in New York and will undergo a course of treatment over the coming months.