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| Murray's
sister discovered a lump in her breast when she was 31. It turned
out to be breast cancer. But because she had caught it early and she
quickly saw her physician, she recovered completely. Now, 24 years
later, her sister has had no recurrence of the disease. Murray has found that her sister's experience is her most important message: If breast cancer is found and treated early, it almost always is curable. |
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"I and the other staff
at the UK Comprehensive Breast Care Center understand how scary it is
to be diagnosed with cancer," Murray said. "It changes your
whole life and the lives of your family."
Again, Murray speaks from personal experience. When her first husband,
Herbert Ponder, was diagnosed with cancer, her whole life was altered.
Murray married Herbert right out of high school. When he was 31 years
old and she was 26, he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a type of
skin cancer, and died, leaving her with three young sons.
"I never had held a job and did not even know what I wanted to do,"
Murray said. "But one morning, I woke up and knew that I wanted to
be a nurse, and I could not be happier with my career choice or with the
blessing of my second husband, Welby Murray, and two more children."
Murray worked with cancer patients during much of her nursing career.
Thirteen years ago, while she was the manager of the General Surgery Clinic
at UK Hospital, several physicians and nurses began talking about establishing
a center dedicated to diseases of the breast. Through their planning and
the efforts of Director Dr. Patrick McGrath the UK Comprehensive Breast
Care Center was established.
Murray originally intended to be involved only in the planning, but, after
creating the manager's position, she found that she wanted to be a member
of the team.
"I love working at the UK Comprehensive Breast Care Center,"
Murray said. "The physicians, nurses and staff all are truly dedicated
to the patients."
Any woman who comes to the UK Comprehensive Breast Care Center with a
diagnosis of breast cancer is seen in the morning by a surgeon, a medical
oncologist and a radiation oncologist. During the early afternoon, the
physicians hold a conference to discuss all the options for each patient.
If a woman chooses to continue treatment at the UK Comprehensive Breast
Care Center, the best treatment plan for her will be set up that day.
If reconstructive surgery is needed, a plastic surgeon is on call who
can usually see a patient that first day as well. Also on staff are an
on call social worker, a physical therapist, pathologists and mammography
technicians.
Another tremendous advantage of the UK Comprehensive Breast Care Center
is that the physicians continue to care for a patient for the rest of
her life. No matter how long it has been since a patient has been treated
at the UK Comprehensive Breast Care Center, she can be seen yearly by
one of the physicians.
The UK Comprehensive Breast Care Center also performs the screening mammograms
for UK employees.
"But the important message is not about the kind of care the patients
receive from our physicians," Murray said. "The important message
is to do everything you can to catch breast cancer early."
Maureen McArthur
University Employment job fair offers on-spot hiring
Roger Davis
Betsy Mahoney, Food Services, interviewed a potential new employee at
the August job fair.
UK Employment, Student and
Temporary Employee Placement Services and Auxiliary Services held a summer
job fair Aug. 5 at the UK Student Center, hiring 30 people during the
day.
More than 100 people attended the fair, which was broadcast live on a
local Latino radio station. Employees of UK Employment screened applicants
and helped them complete applications. New hires received STEPS assistance
with employment forms.
Employment directors say they hope to offer similar job fairs in the future.
For information on potential fairs, contact Roger Davis at 257-9555, ext.
135, or rdavi2@email.uky.edu.
Staff report
UK gets MOUS certified
UK has become an authorized
testing center for some Microsoft programs, with the Information Systems
Support Services' Desktop Training Services department offering certification
exams to UK faculty, staff and students.
Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access are part of the certification
track called MOUS, an acronym for Microsoft Office User Specialist.
Testing for several types of MOUS certification is available with a separate
exam for each application. Proficient User certification is available
in Word 97 and Excel 97. Expert User certification is available in Word
97, Excel 97, PowerPoint 97 and Access 97, and master certification requires
all Expert User certifications in Office 97.
To find out more about the certification, visit www.uky.edu/IS/Training
or call 257-2900, ext. 255.
Staff report
