b'26THE PANDEMIC &NEWLY DIAGNOSED CANCERSandra BrownSandra Browns cancer journey at Concord Hospital included good fortune and bad timing.The good fortune? Tests to diagnose internal bleeding caused by a fall discovered kidney cancer. The bad timing? It was March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Hospital to shut down all but emergency services. After consulting with Dr. William Santis of Concord Hospital Urologic Institute, Sandra agreed to delay surgery. When the Hospital began resuming some procedures in May, with greatly enhanced safety precautions, Dr. Santis removed the tumor and part of her kidney. Sandra fell in November 2019, while visiting her sister in Arizona. She dismissed the bleeding and waited for it to go away on its own. Weeks later, when she returned to her home in Chester and there was no improvement, Sandra visited her primary care physician, Dr. Elizabeth Clardy at Concord Family Medicine. A CT scan revealed a growth on her kidney, which Dr. Santis diagnosed as a slow-growing, cancerous tumor that would not have been noticed if not for the bleeding caused by the fall.Im so glad I fell, Sandra said. It never would have been detected.Dr. Santis recommended delaying surgery because of COVID-19 restrictions limiting the number of patients in the Hospital to reduce their possible exposure and to keep resources available for a potential spike in COVID-19 patients.He contacted Sandra in May to say the time was right because of the small number of COVID-19 patients in the Hospital, meticulous safety measures and the importance of removing the tumor before it grew any larger.If we had waited half a year, it might have gotten large enough that we would have had to take the whole kidney out, Dr. Santis said. We want to try to preserve the kidney as much as possible.Sandra, 74, was nervous, but reassured when she learned of the Hospitals COVID-19 precautions, which included a separate area and staff for COVID-19 patients, as well as careful monitoring and screening for all staff and patients.Being a patient during the pandemic was a little frightening. Sandra could only communicate with her family by phone or video chat because visitors were restricted. Also, everyone who cared for her and kept the area sanitized wore masks and gowns and kept their distance. The staff was aware of how scared everybody was, she said. I know they were nervous, too, but there was extra kindness because they knew your family wasnt there.That was kind of the hardest thing, to be going through a lot of pain with no family members near, but the staff extended themselves. They didnt have to, but they did, and I appreciated it.Sandra was impressed that even in the crisis, her care team listened to and valued her concerns.They made me part of the process and I know not every hospital does that, she said.Sandra did not require chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Seven months later, she was feeling finetaking two-mile walks and strong enough to have sold her farm in Chester and move to northern New Hampshire. I would not have been able to do that if I didnt feel like myself, she said.She is grateful for the kindness she felt at a time of high anxiety for her and those caring for her.It permeated everything and it was a special kindness that makes me choke up now, she said. They knew they were possibly putting themselves in harms way but they overcame it and managed it.'