Community Corner
ABOUT TOWN: Stoughton Man Leading Fight Against Cancer
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
STOUGHTON MAN LEADING FIGHT AGAINST CANCER: Dr. Keith Kowalczyk of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, is using a new tool to fight kidney cancer. It's a robotic laparoscopy procedure, with a new Firefly technology that allows for greater visibility and accuracy.
"Firefly is a procedure that uses infrared imaging to illuminate exactly where the kidney and its blood supply is," according to WUSA9-TV, a Washington, D.C. news outlet.
"The robotic laparoscopy involves inserting a tube in a small incision to remove the tumor with a remote controlled unit," WUSA9 reports.
Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Kowalczyk is son of former Stoughton selectman John Kowalczyk.
Keith is an attending physician in the Department of Urology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in D.C. He specializes in robotic surgery; minimally-invasive surgery; urologic oncology; prostate cancer; and kidney cancer, according to his bio.
Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
He can be seen in the WUSA9 piece wearing a New England Patriots surgical cap.
Kowalczyk explained to WUSA9 that, "The Firefly technology involves injecting a tracer called indocyanine green into the patient's bloodstream. Then, using infrared imaging, doctors light up the region and the arteries turn green."
"It's almost like a black light turns on. In a dark field, all of a sudden, arteries turn green," he said. "The tumor itself does not light up like the rest of the kidney. So we can see where the tumor is, and therefore, cut out just the tumor and spare the normal kidney...It makes the procedure easier...more precise."
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LOCAL RESIDENT CAST IN PLAY: Stoughton thespian Dale Appel reports, "I am happy and excited to announce that Theatre One Productions in Middleborough, MA has cast me as one of the sisters in the play, 'Prisoner of Second Avenue,' by Neil Simon.
Peg Holzemer is the Producing Artistic Director. The play opens this November 8th through 18th at The Ally Theatre, 133 Centre Steeet in Middleboro, MA."
Appel was recently in a film, "A Manor of Speaking," which was screened earlier this month in Brockton. .
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