Executive Chef Sonny Sweetman is known for his meticulous attention to detail and unwavering culinary artistry. His dedication to the craft is what led him to oversee the kitchen for Oprah Winfrey, 沃尔夫冈•普克则开, 酒店位于洛杉矶, and, 最近, 派拉蒙电影公司.
So, 2022年初, when he started to occasionally bump into things in the kitchen and experience some blurriness in his vision, he figured he was simply getting older and it might be time for some glasses.
But when the eye doctor suggested he needed to see a specialist and got him an appointment for the next day he knew something wasn’t right.
斯威特曼说:“我就是有种不祥的感觉. “The doctor had this sense of urgency and I thought there's no doctor in Los Angeles hanging out on a Friday afternoon willing to see somebody for a pair of glasses. 这显然不好，对吧?”
斯威特曼很快意识到他的直觉是正确的.
He was diagnosed with uveal melanoma, a rare type of cancer that occurs in the eye. 黑色素瘤来源于葡萄膜中的黑色素细胞, accounting for only about 5% of all cases of melanoma in the United States. 只有1个左右,每年有700人被诊断出患有这种癌症, 根据美国国家癌症研究所.
在接受诊断后, Sweetman, 53, 是两个儿子和一个女儿的父亲, was introduced to a team of specialists 皇冠hga025大学洛杉矶分校健康中心 who are experts in treating this disease.
“As difficult as cancer is, I just really feel so lucky to be in such gifted hands,” said Sweetman.
一个多学科的专家团队
斯威特曼的团队是由调查人员领导的 皇冠hga025大学洛杉矶分校健康约翰逊综合癌症中心 including Tara 麦康奈尔，医学博士，博士, director of the Ophthalmic Oncology Center at the 皇冠hga025大学洛杉矶分校斯坦眼科研究所 和肿瘤学家Bartosz Chmielowski医学博士, 血液学/肿瘤学的临床教授 皇冠hga025大学洛杉矶分校大卫·格芬医学院.
The team immediately put Sweetman on radiation that helped save his eye and get him back in the kitchen.
然后是2023年4月, 在一次例行扫描中, 研究小组发现癌细胞已经转移到他的肝脏. About half of patients with this disease will see the cancer spread to other parts of their body, 尤其是肝脏.
Sweetman was first put in a study testing an oral chemotherapy pill that worked for a while, 但它并不能长期抵抗癌症.
正是在这段时间，Hepzato Kit程序, 肝脏导向治疗, 得到了美国政府的批准.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and brought to Sweetman’s attention.
一种新的治疗方法
不像传统的化疗, 是什么在全身循环, the Hepzato Kit procedure uses a special system to deliver high doses of chemotherapy directly to the liver without exposing the rest of the body to the drugs. 这种针对性的方法意味着更少的副作用, making the treatment safer and more effective for patients with metastatic uveal melanoma who have liver metastases that cannot be surgically removed.
The complex procedure requires a high level of clinical skill and extensive collaboration across multiple departments including 麻醉学、灌注和 介入放射学.
The interventional radiologist leads and performs the vascular intervention procedure; the anesthesiologist plays a crucial role in managing the hemodynamic changes associated with this procedure; and the perfusionist monitors and controls the extracorporeal pump and veno-venous bypass circuit.
The UCLA team for this procedure is interventional radiologist Siddharth Padia, MD; anesthesiologist Dane 萨克萨，医学博士，工商管理硕士; and 金·德拉·克鲁兹，中国共产党, 谁指导心脏灌注服务.
“The introduction of the Hepzato Kit represents a cutting-edge and promising development in addressing this challenging condition,” said Dr. Saksa, who is the director of non-operating room anesthesia for 皇冠hga025大学洛杉矶分校健康. “我们的目标是显著延长患者的生存时间, 一些病人在治疗后超过了两年.”
The minimally invasive procedure starts with an infusion of chemotherapy directly into the hepatic artery. Then the blood is drained from the body after it leaves the liver and passes through various special filtration system that filters out all the chemotherapy and then returns the blood back to the patient. 整个过程通常需要大约三个小时, 患者通常在第二天出院.
当病人从手术中醒来, 他们只是带着几张创可贴醒来,” said Dr. Padia. “真的不需要缝合或大切口. 许多人很快就能恢复日常生活.”
“One of the most unique features about this procedure is it all happens outside of the traditional operating room,” said Dr. Saksa. “It really is an exemplar to other hospitals around the country of what can be done in a less-invasive setting and still be able to make a big difference.”
Because the procedure is highly specialized and requires advanced training, 它只在特定的医疗中心提供. Currently, 皇冠hga025大学洛杉矶分校健康 is one of only two hospitals west of the Mississippi that offer this therapy.
Sweetman was among the first patients 皇冠hga025大学洛杉矶分校健康中心 to have the procedure after the FDA approval. Patients can receive the therapy up to six times, and Sweetman had the procedure twice. 在这两个场合, he was discharged from the hospital the next day and returned to work within a week.
回到厨房
今天，斯威特曼回到厨房做他喜欢的事情. He credits his medical team for helping him return to work quickly and his team in the kitchen for stepping up and making it easy for him to take care of himself.
“I’ve been working for 30 years doing what I love and I never really have missed work,斯威特曼说. “我去上班，而且很早. So, I really had to rely on my team to get me through this because I couldn’t be there every day. 这是一个过渡，每个人都非常支持我. 这真的让我很惭愧.”
As for his medical team, Sweetman calls them “magical humans” whom he can’t thank enough.
“Everyone from UCLA has talked about the importance of quality of life, getting back to living your life and not letting cancer control you. 这就是我的经历，”斯威特曼说道. “我感到被重视、被尊重和安全. 我找不到比这更好的团队了.”
