GDC Tour
The Wellness Lounge
The Women’s Wellness and Education Lounge, located within the GDC, is an ideal place for women and their families to obtain either written educational materials or web-based information and audio-visual instruction on cancer-related issues. The lounge also offers a relaxing environment with surround sound for patients awaiting chemotherapy, radiation treatment or counseling. A meditation room equipped with a waterfall, high definition television and a massage chair are available for patients that need more focused relaxation as part of our interventions aimed at reducing stress among our cancer patients.
The Wellness Lounge also features a boutique where patients undergoing cancer treatment can receive free makeovers from volunteers associated with the “Look Good…Feel Better Program” through the American Cancer Society. In addition, a variety of products aimed at management of treatment related side effects and improving patient well being are available to sample. These items include aromatic lotions, books, creams, and personal care products: scarves and bonnets, wigs as well as special appliances that are specific to certain surgical patients.
Examination Room and Minor Procedures Site
A state-of-the-art examination room and minor procedures suite is equipped with digital colposcopy and four-dimensional ultrasound for the evaluation of gynecologic cancers. A plasma screen and sound system is mounted in the ceiling to create a more relaxing atmosphere for patients undergoing gynecologic evaluations or minor surgical procedures.
The Patient Conference Center
The patient conference center provides a soothing atmosphere where we can counsel patients regarding research protocols and treatment options as well as conduct family conferences to discuss the prognosis and treatment of their respective cancers. This area also serves as the executive suite and communications hub for the center with video-teleconferencing capabilities, and computer systems that are networked with our laboratory, communications equipment, wellness center, video surveillance and institutional computer systems. This alcove also contains multi-headed microscopic equipment and video display for examining tumor slides.
GDC Laboratory Facilitates
The Center’s Laboratory facilitates the processing of data and/or tissue specimens from consented patients with gynecologic tumors. These materials are used to support our research activities at our off-site lab space at the National Cancer Institute. These materials facilitate our research by giving us a better understanding of the molecular biology of cancer.
The Future
Our patients and staff will have the opportunity to enjoy the Gynecologic Disease Center over the next four to five years while the vision for the new Walter Reed campus is being constructed across from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, M.D. During this time, our patients will continue to receive world-class care in an even more modernized gynecologic care facility.