Page 9 - Jupiter Spotlight - September '24

Jupiter Spotlight, Page 9
League Of Women Voters

Of Palm Beach County To Host ‘Hot Topic Lunch’

On School Year 2024 With also serves on the Governance Board and the Goals and For more information about the League of Women Voters
Palm Beach County (PBC) Budget Committee of the Florida Education Association, as of Palm Beach County, please visit lwvpbc.org or facebook.
well as the Government Relations Committee.
com/lwvpbc.
School Superintendent One topic of discussion will be the
proposed half-cent tax increase that
Michael Burke And Gordon would take place in 2026, after the full
penny sales tax expires next year.
Longhofer, PBC Classroom If approved by voters, these

Teachers Association President funds will help purchase, maintain,
and repair/refurbish facilities and
equipment to create a positive learning
The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County environment for Palm Beach County
(LWVPBC) is inviting residents and parents to an upcoming students. All district-operated and
lunch event focused on local education, including the charter schools in Palm Beach County
proposed half-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot will benefit from this measure.
and how it would benefit our local public education system. Where: Hilton Palm Beach Airport,
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 150 Australian Avenue, West Palm
Hot Topic Discussion, In-Person Beach, FL 33406
School Year 2024 Registration Fee: $40
The State of Education in Palm Beach County Notes:
• Guest Speaker: Michael Burke • Doors open at 11 a.m. Lunch
As the superintendent of the high-performing School begins at 11:30 a.m., the program
District of Palm Beach County, he is passionate about starts at noon.
ensuring academic excellence and paving the way to post- • Advance registrations and
graduate success for the more than 170,000 students who payment must be made online at www.
attend 182 district-operated schools. He is deeply committed lwvpbc.org.
to the School Board’s mission to educate, affirm, and inspire • Walk-ins cannot be accommodated.
each student in an equity-embedded school system. As The fee is nonrefundable.
superintendent of the tenth-largest district in the nation, • The deadline to register is Sept. 6.
Burke also oversees Palm Beach County’s largest workforce The League of Women Voters of
of nearly 23,000 people. Palm Beach County is a nonpartisan
• Guest Speaker: Gordon Longhofer political organization of women and
As president of the Palm Beach County Classroom men of all ages and backgrounds,
Teachers Association, he represents more than 13,000 encouraging informed and active
teachers. He began teaching in 1983 in Oklahoma and has participation in government through
been here since 1988, teaching math and vocal music at education and advocacy. The League
Pahokee Middle High School for 18 years. His wife, oldest of Women Voters of the United
son, and daughter-in-law are also teachers. Longhofer has States believes that voting is a
been an advocate for teachers as a union representative, board fundamental citizen right that must
member, negotiations team member, and vice president. He be guaranteed.

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SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH CARE By Sue MacDonald

Robotic Surgery Targets Common

Gynecological Cancers Among Women

The same robotic technologies that al- It’s like a car —the driver has to turn it
low cardiac specialists to perform del- on, steer it, speed it up, clutch it, and
icate surgeries inside the human heart stop it to get from Point A to Point B.
and send hip replacement patients The robotic capabilities allow us to be
home the same day with new artificial more delicate with tissues so there’s less
joints are offering similarly profound trauma, less disruption, shorter down
benefits for women experiencing gyne- time and less pain.”
cological cancers.
Robotic instruments also allow sur-
Whether they are diagnosed with cer- geons to access hard-to-reach tumors
vical or ovarian cancer, or facing a hys- and cancers, including those that are
terectomy because of uterine/endome- recurring or have invaded nearby tissue.
trial cancer, women can experience less
invasive surgeries with less blood loss The benefit for patients: less blood loss
and quicker recoveries thanks to the during surgery and quicker recoveries/
presence of robotic surgical systems in view of the surgical field, compared to “The DaVinci platform allows for the healing for gynecologic cancers and
the operating suite, says Dr. Michael traditional laparoscopic surgery.” surgeon’s right eye and left eye to have lung cancer.
Worley Jr., a women’s cancer specialist actual depth perception and greater
at Jupiter Medical Center’s Anderson Jupiter Medical Center’s cancer special- dexterity than laparoscopic surgery,”
Family Cancer Institute. ists and surgeons deploy the DaVinci 5 he notes, “and it increases the types of
robotic surgery platform at The Johnny complex surgeries we can do robotically
Some women, in fact, are sent home the & Terry Gray Surgical Institute, which because it improves our vision.”
same day after a hysterectomy, thanks opened in late 2023.
to the precision and minimally invasive Robotic-surgery instruments also mim-
nature of robotic surgery. Technology beyond laparoscopy ic the more fluid movements of human
hands and wrists, compared with lap-
“Since the beginning of robotics as the Robotic surgery’s benefit is that is pro- aroscopic instruments that tend to be
platform on which minimally invasive vides better visual acuity and manual more rigid, he explains.
surgeries have evolved, the optics and dexterity for surgeons as they operate,
dexterity for surgeons have improved, explains Dr. Worley. Laparoscopy in- “Cancer-based surgeries that used to be
resulting in better patient outcomes,” volves manipulating tiny surgical in- done only through open surgery can
says Worley. “Robotic surgery has al- struments through small incisions on now be done robotically,” notes Dr.
lowed us to do significantly more com- the patient’s abdomen to the exact spot Worley. “And it’s important to point Michael J. Worley, Jr, MD
plex procedures but through smaller where surgery is performed, whether out that the robot doesn’t do anything
incisions. These new surgical systems doctors are removing a defective ovary autonomously. It’s not a robot doing For information about robotic surgery
provide binocular vision, which allows or an entire uterus. surgery. The instruments are really and capabilities at Jupiter Medical Center,
for depth perception and an improved extension of what we do as surgeons. visit jupitermed.com/robotics.
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