Maggie McKay (Host): When you get diagnosed with colon cancer and you need to choose a surgeon, it can be overwhelming. So it's comforting to know a little bit more about who's treating you and what they're about. Today we're getting to know Dr. Liz Wood surgical oncologist and colorectal surgeon at Regional One Health, who specializes in treating colorectal cancer as well as benign colorectal conditions. This is One-On-One with Regional One Health. Your inside, look at how we're building healthier tomorrows for our patients and our community.

Join us as we get to know some of the individuals who help provide life-saving, life-changing care for our community. I'm Maggie McKay. It's an honor to have you here. Welcome, Dr. Wood. First off, what inspired you to become a physician and to specialize as a surgeon treating colorectal cancer and other conditions?

Dr Liz Wood: Thanks Maggie. I'm really happy to be here today. So I originally went into medical school thinking I was going to choose either emergency medicine or some other specialty, anything basically, but surgery. But when I did my rotations, I had some fantastic mentors in the residents that I worked with, and just really enjoyed being in the operating room and taking care of patients with surgical problem. When I went through training, I eventually decided upon colorectal as my specialty because it seemed like the perfect mix of diseases.

You could take care of patients with cancer, but you could also take care of patients with benign problems such as diverticulitis or inflammatory bowel disease. And it was a great mix of cases as well. So I could do giant cases that took six to eight hours. I could also do small anal rectal cases that were outpatient procedures, and I could also do colonoscopies. So for me, it was a great mix of high acuity and low acuity cases, as well as having the opportunity to take care of cancer patients and work in a multidisciplinary fashion.

Maggie McKay (Host): So it sounds like it never gets boring. You're always doing something new that's, we gotta keep it interesting. And you see patients for everything from colonoscopies to treatment of benign conditions to cancer, as you mentioned. So what do you enjoy about that work and what's the most rewarding part?

Dr Liz Wood: The most rewarding part is just seeing the patients after surgery when you are able to help fix a problem and improve a patient's quality of life. It's just extremely satisfying. I also really enjoy my specialty in that I get to work with a lot of different providers, so I work really closely with medical oncology as well as radiation oncology and the treatment for my cancer patients. I also work really closely with gastroenterology for inflammatory bowel, so being able to collaborate with a lot of my peers, has been really rewarding.

Maggie McKay (Host): And what's it been like Dr. Wood helping to establish a new oncology service at Regional One Health?

Dr Liz Wood: It's just been really rewarding to be at the ground level, to help build the program. The patients, are very grateful for the care that we provide, and it's been really fantastic just to see the people that have been brought in to help develop this program.

Maggie McKay (Host): And how long did it take to establish?

Dr Liz Wood: I would say we're still working on building kind of the top part of the program. So, we've been at regional one for about 18 months now, and the growth has just been exponential. our clinics are full, it's very busy. We're operating, and the patients are getting great care at a hospital that typically wasn't geared for taking care of cancer patients. And so we have a brand new oncology floor that is fantastic. The nurses are great. the patients have been incredibly happy with their experience in the hospital. and it just proves that with the right people and with the support that Regional One provides, we're able to build this cancer center that, will hopefully rival that of anywhere else in the nation.

Maggie McKay (Host): How wonderful For the community. That's awesome. So Patients with cancer of course, can be often scared and overwhelmed. How do you approach patients and their families to provide the support and compassion they need? Because it can be a scary time.

Dr Liz Wood: Yeah, absolutely. So for patients who are newly diagnosed with cancer, when they come to their first clinic appointment with me, I always make sure they have a support person with them and we take all the time. We need to make sure that the patient's questions are answered. it can be very overwhelming and cancer has many treatment algorithms, and there's many different options that a patient could have. So I really like to take the time to talk over all of the options that a patient has and kind of go over a step-by-step approach for what they can expect in their treatment.

Maggie McKay (Host): I think when many people get a cancer diagnosis, they think the worst case scenario that it's not gonna end well. But that's not always the case with colon cancer, correct?

Dr Liz Wood: Yeah, you're absolutely correct, and again, this is probably another reason why I chose this specialty. colon and rectal cancer now because of screening colonoscopies, when people come to my office, a lot of times they're fairly early in their diagnosis, and so surgery itself can be curative and these people can live long fulfilling lives. So it's really gratifying to be able to see a patient who's been newly diagnosed with cancer, walk them through the treatment imaging, making sure that if they need chemotherapy or radiation that'll get set up. And then taking them to surgery and telling them The cancer is gone now. We now enter surveillance and you can live the rest of your life cancer free.

Maggie McKay (Host): That's awesome. Okay. Dr. Wood, what about outside of work? Like you have any free time, but when you do have free time, what are some of the things you enjoy doing?

Dr Liz Wood: So I really enjoy cooking in my free time. that's something that I've really only picked up in the last couple of years. I say probably during Covid when all the restaurants were shut and I really had no choice but to cook for myself. But I am Chinese, and so I grew up eating a lot of Chinese food. My family is from the Sichuen Province, so a lot of really spicy, delicious food, which I haven't really been able to find here in Memphis. So, for good or bad, I've really learned to kind of cater for myself, which has been great. And then I love spending time outdoors. It's been really nice to have access to such green spaces here in Memphis. And, we will drive out to East Tennessee and go hiking. So just really like to be outside.

Maggie McKay (Host): I was gonna say there must be some things you have to do just to de-stress and, get out of that whole work life because, it's gotta be stressful at times.

Dr Liz Wood: It definitely can be. My husband, is fortunately, or unfortunately not in medicine. So when I go home, I don't have to talk about work, which is great. and on weekends, I actually really like to kick back with a good puzzle. I find it is completely mindless, it's repetitive kind of finger motion, which I enjoy, which is why I enjoy surgery. And it kind of just lets me zone out and focus on something that isn't, a life or death situation.

Maggie McKay (Host): That's great. Are you working on one now?

Dr Liz Wood: Always. There's always a puzzle on the go.

Maggie McKay (Host): What is it?

Dr Liz Wood: It's actually a panoramic of the Cistine Chapel. My mom just got back from the Vatican and brought that back from me.

Maggie McKay (Host): Oh, that must be fun. Dr. Wood, this has been so informative and fun getting to know you on a more personal level as well and encouraging to patients who might get a diagnosis like this. So thank you for being here and making the.

Dr Liz Wood: Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my story.

Maggie McKay (Host): Once again, that's Dr. Liz Wood and you can learn more about Regional One Health Cancer Care by visiting RegionalOneHealth/Oncology. And for an appointment call 901-515-hope that's 901-515-4673. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks for making one-on-one with Regional One Health, part of your journey to better health. Join us next time as we introduce you to another member of the Regional One Health Family. I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening.