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TWU Professor
Designs Gown For Breast Cancer Patients
11/19/04
DALLAS — Women who undergo a mastectomy experience a
great deal of anxiety following the surgery. Dr. Ho Soon Michelle
Cho, associate professor of nursing at Texas Woman’s
University, is easing some of their concerns with a hospital
gown she designed specifically for post-mastectomy patients.
“After surgery,
breast cancer patients experience many physiological and psychological
issues,” said Dr. Cho. “Some of their apprehension
immediately after the surgery comes from the drainage tubes
inserted into their chest and the way those drains are attached
to their hospital gowns.
“The standard
hospital gown doesn’t address all the needs of patients
following a mastectomy; its basic function is to facilitate
physical exams and bathing. The Papilla Gown is designed with
the patient in mind.”
The Papilla Gown
features pockets and tucks that securely and discreetly hold
the drainage tubes and pouch that breast cancer patients wear
immediately following a mastectomy. Typically, post-mastectomy
patients use safety pins to attach the tubes to traditional
hospital gowns. Patients say the Papilla Gown is much more
comfortable than the traditional gown and relieves them of
the fear that the safety pins will pop open causing the tubes
to become dislodged or tug on the surgical wound.
Dr. Cho also is
studying whether the gown’s larger open arm openings
reduce the incidence of lymphedema, a swelling condition that
affects 10 percent to 40 percent of those who undergo breast
cancer surgery and radiation therapy. Dr. Gail C. Davis, professor
of nursing at TWU, is a co-investigator in the study.
Aiding Dr. Cho
in the gown’s development was Dr. Jae Un Pack., with
Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Methodist Dallas
Medical Center currently is testing the gown, which is patent-pending,
with mastectomy patients.
According to the
American Cancer Society, 215,000 people will be diagnosed
with breast cancer in 2004, with approximately half requiring
surgery.
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For Further
Information Contact:
Roy Kron
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: rkron@twu.edu
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