Aug 23 2012

U-M doctor uses band to raise money for good causes

by Cathy Mellett, contributing writer, PRMC Comments (0)
Profile

You wouldn’t want to think your physician is a lyin’ dog, but, in the case of Kenneth Tobin, D.O., being a member of the Lyin’ Dog rock band is a way to unwind and to give back.

The Lyin’ Dog Band was originally formed in 1997 when Tobin was a cardiology fellow at Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak. Today, Tobin is assistant professor, department of internal medicine and director, Chest Pain Center at the U-M Health System.

“One of my colleagues-in-training and I teamed up with one of the general internists at Beaumont who was a drummer, and we placed an ad in a local paper to find some other fellow musicians,” Tobin says.

“For me personally, it was a journey back in time. I originally learned to play the acoustic guitar in sixth grade when I joined the music group that performed in Sundays at my local church.”

That was the last time he took formal guitar lessons. Since then he taught himself lead and rhythm guitar.

“When I was in high school in the 70s, I discovered rock and roll, bought my first electric guitar and, along with everyone else who played in local bands, had a dream of touring the country. I came to a crossroads in my early college years and decided instead to dedicate myself to academics and sold all of my guitar equipment. It wasn’t until I was finishing medical school that I decided to pick up a guitar again and began jamming with a few of my classmates.”

From left to right: Jim Paratore (bass guitar), Brian Moore (keyboards), Dave Parr (vocals), Rob Pikal (drums), Ken Tobin (lead/rhythm guitar)

And that’s when a Detroit-style classic rock band was born. Read the rest of this entry »

Aug 16 2012

Moving toward a culture of mobility

by Cathy Mellett, contributing writer, PRMC Comments (2)
Lean, Patient-focused

Early Mobility Program takes hold across Health System

It’s a Catch-22 situation. A critically ill patient must rest. But resting can mean new complications such as pressure ulcers, pneumonia, weakness or malnutrition. Now the Early Mobility Program at the University of Michigan Health System has critically ill patients out of bed early—and hospitals across the country are taking notice.

“Even though patients are on a ventilator, we can still get them up and walking. It may look awkward, but it works. Many patients actually prefer it. They don’t want to be tied down. New medical literature supports that this is a safe and feasible thing to do,” says Don Packard, MSPT, adjunct lecturer and a member of the lean team who developed the program.

The nursing teams on the Critical Care Medical Unit (CCMU) on 6D and the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) on 5D worked with Physical Therapy and physicians to develop new care plans that move patients earlier and more often. Read the rest of this entry »

Aug 15 2012

It’s not just all about fruits and veggies

by Cathy Mellett, contributing writer, PRMC Comments (0)
Bench to Bedside, Lean, Patient-focused

Our Registered Dietitians help our patients heal

A typical American diet consists of 30 to 40% fat, 10% protein, and 60 to 65% carbohydrates, but when you’re a young child with epilepsy, food becomes a medical therapy that can reduce or eliminate your seizures.

Such is the case with a three-year-old Health System patient whose EEG showed he was having about 100 seizures a night. But only two weeks after Health System registered dietitians put him on the Ketogenic Diet—85% fat, 10% protein and 5% carbohydrates—the boy was having fewer than two seizures a day. One month later, after a few tweaks to the diet, he was seizure free.

Three months later, he traveled with his family to Disneyland, an amazing feat for a child who had been exhausted and practically housebound for months.

“Patients tell us all the time, ‘I have my kid back,’” says Registered Dietitian Denise Potter, RD, CDE, who is part of the Ketogenic Diet program. “Up until then, they’d virtually lost them to the seizures—mentally and emotionally. Now they can go to school. They can grow and develop to their full potential.”

“These are the kinds of results our registered dietitians see daily with all sorts of patients throughout the Health System—adults and pediatric alike,” says Sandhya Padiya, MS, RD, CSP, manager, Clinical Nutrition Services and C&W. “The pediatric dietitian works with the medical team by understanding the medical necessities and the parents’ desires to feed their child.”

Typically, treatment also includes hours of teaching and counseling families before, during and after the special diet has begun. Read the rest of this entry »