Saving Lives Part 1: Pediatric Oncologist
FOX 21’s Dan Hanger is beginning a two-part special report called “Saving Lives.”
You’ll meet one of the Northland’s top heart doctors and his 102-year-old patient he took a life-or-death chance on.
But first, in part one, Hanger introduces you to a top pediatric cancer doctor at Essentia Health St. Mary’s Medical Center who is very aware that death is part of the job – but he says providing comfort outweighs it all.
There’s something about a couple’s first-born child that brings so much happiness to their lives.
For Nick and Heather Kepler, of Hibbing, and their little girl, Layla, it was a dream come true.
“She loves to explore — loves to discover things. A lot of people think she will be an engineer when she gets older. She loves to build things and learn how things work,” Heather explained.
But a hospital room is not the place the Kepler’s ever thought they’d be spending so much time in.
“It came as a real big shock. I mean, she was just a normal little girl for the first 14 months and then almost overnight, we find out that she has cancer,” Nick explained.
Doctors say it is cancer of the liver – the size of a small melon.
Layla’s pediatric oncologist, Dr. Ross Perko from Essentia, is a local guy who was born and raised in Eveleth and now has a wife and child.
Dr. Perko says his family life deeply strengthens his professional connection with patients and their families, especially when death is very real.
“That’s tough, but that’s also part of the reason we all go into this because we know that that’s a possibility and we know that … it’s going to happen whether we are dealing with it or not. I want to be that person who helps get that patient through that,” Perko explained.
He believes there’s nothing more rewarding than treating a patient so they can feel the best they can during one of the darkest times of their lives.
“We had a kid last night that star wars came out and he wasn’t able to go see it because his counts were so low and he was finally got to go see it and he was like, wow. I mean, he was so excited about it. I mean it seems little — something that we take for granted, Dr. Perko explained.
For little Layla, it’s all about making her upcoming liver transplant and ongoing chemotherapy as pain-free as it can be.
“You give them medicine so their tummy doesn’t hurt; you support them; medicines to help their white blood cells be stronger. And you give them transfusions if they need it,” Perkso said.
“Very hopeful. I mean, everyone that we’ve worked with – all of the doctors, all of her surgeons, nurses — everyone has been just so positive and it’s really helped us a lot.” Heather said.
“She is really tough and she is really brave going through all of this,” Nick said.
Meanwhile for Dr. Perko, it’s keeping in tune with Layla’s progress…
“After four cycles of chemo therapy, the thing has shrunk by over 50 percent. But we’re just starting,” Perko said.
…while giving 100 percent care to many other patients – each with a story to tell.
“I had moments in my training where we would have a 15-bed transplant unit and I would go into one room to a kid that was terminal and you would walk in and have this very in-depth conversation, walk out of that room and go into the next room and tell somebody that they’re in remission — that they’re cancer is gone,” Perko sai.d
“In a span of 30 minutes you are hitting the whole roller coaster of everything in life,” Perko said.
