Angel Care

Gynecologic surgeons usually don’t have a lot of time with their patients, but gynecologic oncologist Cheryl Bailey feels blessed that she gets to care for her patients all through their treatment. She specializes in removing pelvic cancers, including those of the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, cervix, and vulva. After surgery, she follows her patients through chemotherapy or radiation. “It’s really interesting, radical surgery,” she says. “And you really get to know the patients.”

Bailey, director of gynecologic oncology at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and a member of the staff at Minnesota Oncology Hematology, Minneapolis, attended the University of Minnesota Medical School before doing a residency at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, and a fellowship at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She is a founding board member of the Angel Foundation, a charitable, Minneapolis-based organization to benefit people with cancer, and a member of the medical advisory board of the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, which supports ovarian cancer research.

Bailey joined Minnesota Oncology Hematology in 1996. Since then, she points out, there have been several major developments that have improved the care of patients with cancer or at high risk for cancer. The development of better anti-nausea drugs has allowed patients to better tolerate chemotherapy. More sophisticated computer technology helps doctors better focus radiation therapy, which leads to fewer problems with the skin surrounding the irradiated area. The availability of a blood test that looks for BRCA1, the genetic mutation for breast and ovarian cancer, has been invaluable, she says, because it identifies patients at high risk for these diseases and “then you can do surgery or really increase the surveillance.”

Bailey is also grateful that women today have a lot more knowledge about how to lessen their risk of getting pelvic cancers and how to catch them early. Bailey recommends getting regular Pap smears, not smoking, maintaining the recommended weight and, for women twenty-six years old and younger who have not had sex, getting immunized against the human papilloma virus, a sexually transmitted virus that can lead to several types of cancer, including cervical cancer.