Ft. Wainwright has many civilians who work in positions that require them to accompany their assigned units during deployment. The majority of these civilians are prior military. They like the travel, the excitement, the honor of continuing to serve their country and the increased pay that they receive. Prior to their deployment, they must meet certain medical criteria, thus are seen in our department.
Mr. S was preparing to deploy to the Middle East for a year. During the evaluation, it was discovered that his liver function test values had radically increased over the last year. Chiara fully educated him as to reasons that could cause this and told him that he would need to see his PCM to get a consult to a GI specialist. Mr. S was not a happy camper and was very upset when he left. Not only because his bloodwork was elevated, but because he couldn't deploy.
Mr. S walked into our office today to start the preparation for a deployment scheduled for a month from now. He was effusive in his thanks for being referred out and apologetic for how he had left our office last time. Upon following up with his provider, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and almost immediately had surgery. His surgeon was thankful that it was identified early enough to have a positive outcome.
If Chiara had not spent as much time with him, explaining possible causes and outcomes, he might not have followed up. As a result, this gentleman has a better understanding of the importance of preventive health evaluations. He has a genuine thankfulness that his health issue was identified at an early stage, is able to stay in the workforce to support his family, and that he has a future to look forward to.
Kudos to Chiara Murrell, NP who works in Occupational Health. Preventive Medicine works!