Cancer is everywhere, it\u2019s the epidemic we skate around until it hits close to home. So, when an MRI outed a suspicious nodule on my thyroid, and when further testing confirmed it was a point of concern, I was surprised, and then I thought, \u201cAh, now this.\u201d
\nThyroid nodules are generally nothing to worry about, I was assured, but it turned out mine was not one of those. A biopsy at Tahoe Forest Hospital turned up a tumor just large enough, and weird enough to be of even more concern. Hurthle cell tumors are rare; the cells can function like thyroid cells, or they can be cancerous. Apparently, they also can change their minds later.
\nThis story, though, is not really about me. It\u2019s about surgeon Dr. Ben Hunt, a well known, and highly respected Sacramento physician who just happens to be giving up his thriving practice to come to Plumas District Hospital (PDH) and Eastern Plumas Health Care (EPHC) as the new surgeon here.
\nYou could say that a fortuitous set of circumstances led me to be a Plumas County guinea pig with our community\u2019s new surgeon. I\u2019ll start with the punchline and work back from there: my experience with Dr. Hunt, from start to finish, could not have gone any better. I\u2019m giddy and almost disbelieving that we\u2019ve managed to lure this caliber of surgeon to our small and isolated community. And it is a credit to Dr. Kepple, CEO, at Plumas District Hospital for pursuing and persuading him to come, along with Tom Hayes, CEO at EPHC and the staff at both hospitals.
\nThe road leading to Dr. Hunt, and surgery in Sacramento, began with a quickly scheduled appointment with EPHC\u2019s telemedicine endocrinologist, Dr. Victor Ettinger. My primary care physician, Dr. Michelle Kim, didn\u2019t feel comfortable being my only pre-surgery physician. Hurthle cells, those little darlings, were outside of her experience, as well.
\nBased on the biopsy and a conversation he had with the pathologist, Dr. Ettinger said I would need to have half of my thyroid and the tumor removed. He told me that I had a one in four chance of cancer, maybe even less\u2014which sounded good while I was talking with him and less good when I saw the faces of friends when I told them.
\nHe asked who was doing the surgery, and I said I was planning to make a pre-surgery consultation appointment with a Reno surgeon. Dr. Ettinger said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you go to Dr. Hunt, the new surgeon at EPHC?\u201d By some stroke of luck, both Ettinger and Hunt had attended the same healthcare provider meeting at the hospital\u2014Ettinger traveling from Bakersfield to meet EPHC\u2019s staff and his patients \u201clive,\u201d and Hunt coming from Sacramento so that Dr. Kepple could introduce him to the physicians and staff who would be working with him here.
\nDr. Ettinger was quite impressed with Hunt, he said. Dr. Hunt had received his medical degree from the prestigious UCSF Medical School, he was one of the top surgeons in Sacramento according to Dr. Kepple, and he just happened to mention to Dr. Ettinger that one of his specialties was thyroid cancer. \u201cGo to him,\u201d Ettinger said forcefully, as if it was the one right choice.
\nNo fortuitous path is simple and straight forward. You have to work for the best things; always, they involve an element of belief and, to my mind, whimsical good fortune. Dr. Kim caught me in the hallway after my appointment and asked how it went. I mentioned Dr. Hunt and she shook her head and said, \u201cHe\u2019s not coming till December.\u201d I felt that balloon deflate, but I simply went ahead and made the appointment with the Reno surgeon. My appointment wasn\u2019t for six weeks–there are a lot of people in need of thyroid surgery in Reno it seems. When I asked if I could be put on a waiting list for cancellations, the receptionist said kindly, \u201cWe don\u2019t really have cancellations. Everyone is pretty much in the same situation you are.\u201d Desperate, is what she meant, and afraid.
\nBack at work in EPHC\u2019s Administration Office, my friends asked how my appointment went. I gave them the rundown, including the daunting six week wait until my pre-surgery appointment. Then, one of them asked a rather simple question: why didn\u2019t I try calling Dr. Hunt to see if I could get an appointment with him in Sacramento. I hesitated a moment, then I made the call, doubting that I\u2019d get through or that the appointment would be sooner in such a big city.
\nI left a message for Dr. Hunt explaining my situation. I added that Dr. Ettinger at Eastern Plumas Health Care said he was coming here and that he was the right surgeon for my case. And then the amazing set of events began to unfurl. Dr. Hunt had been in surgery, but he called back as soon as he got out. \u201cDo you want to come down tomorrow or Thursday?\u201d he asked. I picked Thursday, three days away. A long trip to Sacramento beat waiting and wondering for six weeks.
\nBesides, by then I\u2019d checked Dr. Hunt out online. Patients LOVED this guy. Besides being ranked among the top surgeons in Sacramento, he\u2019d garnered a Compassionate Doctor of the Year award, based on patient reviews. I thought that had a nice ring to it. And, Dr. Kepple said when he called Dr. Hunt\u2019s references they said, \u201cYou\u2019d be crazy not to hire him.\u201d Apparently, after a rotation during residency in Matanuska Valley, that small Alaska town was \u201cready to make him the Mayor,\u201d added Kepple.
\nDuring that first phonecall, Dr. Hunt explained the surgical procedure, the chances of cancer and more, leaving me feeling much more on the side of the living than I\u2019d felt only moments before. After that, he asked if there were any questions I had or anything I was worried about. He said, \u201cWith any luck, you\u2019re looking at just two trips to Sacramento, and you\u2019re done. In a little while, you won\u2019t even remember my name.\u201d Dr. Hunt was right about a great many things, but about that he was very wrong.
\nHe told me his assistant would call me the next day to confirm my appointment time and give me additional instructions. I\u2019m prone to worry; the little details working out not quite right can leave me breathless. So, when I hadn\u2019t heard from the assistant the next day, I was telling a friend in my worried way that it was now the morning after the day of the expected phone call, and I was wondering what to do. Just then, my phone rang. \u201cHi, this is Ben Hunt,\u201d he said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure my assistant had a chance to call you yet, and I didn\u2019t want you to be worried.\u201d I held out my phone and looked at it. I looked for a hidden camera. I decided Dr. Ben Hunt was a psychic\u2014and a very, very compassionate doctor.
\nDr. Hunt was even better in person–gentle, reassuring, and funny. I like funny; it helps me relax, and relaxation is helpful in a case like this. Panic doesn\u2019t encourage preparation or healing. He went over the possible complications: that in one out of two hundred cases, there was a chance of damage to the voice, as the laryngeal nerve travels directly through the two halves of the thyroid. In addition, the parathyroid glands, four pea sized glands that wrap around the thyroid, are in danger of being nicked in the process of removing half the thyroid and my Hurthle cell tumor. This is a delicate surgery, so his partner would be assisting him, Dr. Hunt told me.
\nHe told me what to expect at the hospital and from recuperation. He asked if I had any questions. He talked about cancer risk and again reassured me that it was unlikely. Further, he said that even if it was cancer, it wouldn\u2019t be life threatening. I\u2019m not sure if I can stress enough how important it was to get all that information, and to get it delivered with kindness and, yes, that word again\u2014compassion. This is a doctor who truly cares and that, as they say, makes all the difference.
\n\tI made my surgery appointment on my way out of the office\u2014it would take place in a little over a week. The day of the surgery, as I waited in the bed to get wheeled into the OR, Dr. Hunt came in, he took my hand, he reminded me about how long the surgery would take, and he told me everything would be alright. He said, \u201cI\u2019ve already warmed up on a couple patients, so we should be good. It\u2019ll be a first for me for this surgery, but what the heck.\u201d He made me laugh. Then, he asked if I had anyone waiting for me that I\u2019d like him to talk to. I said \u201cYes,\u201d and he went out right then and told my son and friend what to expect, and when I\u2019d be out. The nurse said, \u201cIsn\u2019t Dr. Hunt wonderful? We love him!\u201d
\nHe came back in and wheeled me back into the OR himself. Once there, he mentioned that his partner hadn\u2019t arrived yet. \u201cYou may have to hold the instruments,\u201d he told me. The OR nurse, who knew he was leaving Sacramento for Plumas County asked if he would take her with him. When I say that everyone I met loves this doctor, I\u2019m not exaggerating.
\nI remember taking two or three breaths into an oxygen mask. And, then it was done and I was in a room that was more like a hotel room, and Dr. Hunt was there to let me know that everything had gone very, very well. Later, he let me know that we\u2019d have to wait until the next week to get the biopsy results\u2014those pesky Hurthle cells weren\u2019t giving up their secret easily.
\nI had about seventeen hours of sleep on an IV drip, peppered by visits from family and nurses, and then I went home. I tried the pain meds, but I didn\u2019t really need them, so I switched to ibuprofen. The only pain was from the tube they\u2019d put down my throat. The surgery site itself was painless. I had a few days of easy rest and recuperation; I know that I was lucky, but I also know this points to what a fine surgeon Dr. Hunt is. The following Monday, Dr. Hunt called. He asked me to say my name, for privacy reasons, and then he blurted, \u201cNO CANCER! Sorry, I\u2019m not one to beat around the bush.\u201d
\nThat\u2019s nearly the end of my story. I felt lucky\u2014that my tumor had been found, that it was benign, and that I had somehow fallen into the hands of this marvelous surgeon. This narrative is important to the rest of you, however, because Dr. Hunt will be coming to practice full time at PDH and EPHC this December. What I hope is that my story has impressed upon all of you just how lucky, fated, blessed\u2014whatever you want to believe\u2014we are to have this physician among us. I know that some of you in Quincy have had a chance to meet and welcome him. Dr. Kepple has hosted Dr. Hunt and his wife (Alexandra Hunt, MD, who just graduated from Sutter Family Medicine Residency program at UC Davis Medical School and will be joining the PDH staff to practice family medicine and obstetrics) at his home several times.
\nIf you or anyone you know has need of surgery, please, utilize his services, because that will be a great thing for you, for him, and for this community. And beyond that, make Dr. Hunt and his family feel welcome here. Because, let\u2019s face it, it isn\u2019t every day a great doctor comes to our area, and we need to do whatever can to keep him or her!
\nOne final note: when I asked Dr. Hunt why he wanted to come to our small, out of the way community, he said that if he stayed in Sacramento he figured he wouldn\u2019t know his daughter when she was growing up\u2014she\u2019d be a \u201cmall girl.\u201d He grew up in the small town of Big Trees, CA. \u201cIt\u2019s always been my dream to return to a small town,\u201d Dr. Hunt explained. \u201cI was born and raised in a place very similar to Plumas County, in the Sierras. I chose a career in general surgery so I could come back to rural living after I finished my training.\u201d
\nHe and his wife share the same perspective. \u201cWe just aren\u2019t city folks, and these days fewer doctors want to work in rural areas despite the significant need. It is a perfect match for us to live in the mountains and serve the [Plumas County] community; it is where our greatest passion meets the greatest need.\u201dGiven that Dr. Hunt is at the top of his game in the city, this is probably an unusual choice; let\u2019s help him know for sure it\u2019s the right choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cancer is everywhere, it\u2019s the epidemic we skate around until it hits close to home. So, when an MRI outed a suspicious nodule on my thyroid, and when further testing confirmed it was a point of concern, I was surprised, and then I thought, \u201cAh, now this.\u201d Thyroid nodules are generally nothing to worry about, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}