About.com Surgery

Hospital Staff Does Pink Glove Dance For Breast Cancer

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:19:27 +0000

The staff of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center decided to do something a little different to promote breast cancer awareness. �The employees, including janitors, nurses, surgeons, residents, dietary staff and more, donned pink gloves and danced to make a You Tube video that was bound to catch more attention than the typical breast cancer awareness campaigns.

Take a look at the lighthearted video: �Pink Glove Dance

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Hospital Staff Does Pink Glove Dance For Breast Cancer originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 08:19:27.

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Insurance Company Tells 12 Year Old That He Can't Have a Prosthetic Arm

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:34:28 +0000

12 year old Benjamin French is your average kid in many ways. �He plays football, he goes to school and he plays with his 3 siblings. �In one small way, Benjamin is different from other children his age: �he was born without his right arm below the elbow.

Benjamin is a typical growing boy, so he needs a new prosthetic arm every two years or so. �In Michigan, where he lives, insurance companies are able to set a maximum lifetime cap on prosthetics, so people like Benjamin can receive a limited number of devices.

33 states allow insurance companies to cap the lifetime coverage for prosthetics. �It is less of a problem for adults, who can use a prosthetic arm or leg for extended periods of time, but children often need as many as a dozen to get through their childhood. �A good fit is essential to making a prosthetic work. �As a child grows and the device becomes too small, they can experience pain, poor function and eventually the limb won't fit at all.

For Benjamin, his prosthetic will cost about $30,000, which his parent's insurance will not pay. �Considering he needs one every two years, and the fact that his parents make a combined $42,000 a year, means that he may have to go to school without the arm he desperately needs. �His mother equates the expense to purchasing a brand new car every two years.

Conjoined Twins Wake Up After Separation Surgery, Parents Encourage Australian Adoption

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:17:03 +0000

2 year old conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna are now awake after successful surgery. �The procedure that separated them was a marathon 25 hour procedure in Australia. �The surgery was followed by an additional 6 hours of surgery for reconstruction.

The twins were given up for adoption by their birth parents because their parents were unable to care for their highly specialized needs. �The twins were then taken to Australia, where more advanced surgery was available than in their native Bangladesh.

After an announcement that both twins had successfully made it though surgery and were awake, their birth mother expressed her relief and her hope that the twins would be adopted and remain in Australia. �Their mother, who is 23, expressed her hopes that they would be educated and have a good life.

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Conjoined Twins Wake Up After Separation Surgery, Parents Encourage Australian Adoption originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 19:17:03.

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101 Year Old Surgery Patient Returns To Work

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:06:33 +0000

Internationally known architect Oscar Niemeyer has returned to work after having surgery for an intestinal tumor and gallstones. �It doesn't sound very remarkable unless you know one small detail: Niemeyer is 101 years old and will celebrate his 102 birthday this December.

Niemeyer was hospitalized from September 23 until October 17th and says that being hospitalized is a "lonely thing." �He wanted to return to work to keep busy and keep in touch with friends.

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101 Year Old Surgery Patient Returns To Work originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 19:06:33.

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Conjoined (Siamese) Twins From Bangladesh Still In Surgery In Australia After 24 Hours

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:46:46 +0000

Surgery to separate infant twin girls continues in Australia even though doctor's have already worked for 24 hours. �Trishna and Krishna, �who are two years old, share parts of their skulls, brain tissue and blood supply.

The surgical team caring for the girls includes 16 surgeons, in addition to the anesthesia providers, nurses, surgical technologists and other support staff. �Reports indicate that the girls are stable, and their condition is actually improving as the surgery proceeds. �The greater the degree of separation, the better the girls seem to do in terms of blood pressure, urine output and other key indicators of health.

Once the brain tissue has been separated, the operation will be complete and the girls will be given bone grafts to reform their skulls. While the predictions of the surgeons are not exactly encouraging, with a 25% that one girl will die and a 50% chance that one or both will be brain damaged, doctors remain cautiously optimistic.

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Conjoined (Siamese) Twins From Bangladesh Still In Surgery In Australia After 24 Hours originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 19:46:46.

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Golden Girls Star Rue McClanahan Has Heart Surgery

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:08:19 +0000

Rue McClanahan, most famous for her role as Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, has undergone heart surgery. �Her heart problem was reportedly discovered when she was having a cardiac examination as part of routine testing prior to having knee surgery. �Unfortunately, instead of having the planned orthopedic surgery, she ended up having cardiac bypass surgery instead.�

According to reports, which did not name the facility where the procedure was performed, the surgery went well and McClanahan is on the road to recovery.

Bypass surgery, commonly known as a CABG, reroutes blood around arteries blocked by plaque, helping more blood to reach the heart muscle. �

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Golden Girls Star Rue McClanahan Has Heart Surgery originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 23:08:19.

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Pediatric Hospital Advertising Snot and Ouchies

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:36:08 +0000

The pediatric hospital in my city has a new advertising campaign. �Now, each day when I leave the house, I see a billboard that says "We Know Ouchies." �This billboard is a great improvement on the previous one in the same location, which stated "We Know Snot."

Now I understand why this seems like a good idea, they are showing that they know about the realities of parenting, but it seems a bit, well, gross, or at the very least, childish. �That's the point I suppose, and the campaign must be working on some level if �someone who doesn't have children is blogging about it, but I'm not so sure how I feel about the whole thing.

What do you think? �

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Pediatric Hospital Advertising Snot and Ouchies originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 19:36:08.

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11 Patients Blind and 20 More Hospitalized After Free Cataract Surgery

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:20:46 +0000

Patients in India who signed up for a free cataract surgery clinic are facing the worst possible outcome: blindness.

Low-income patients signed up for free, or very inexpensive, cataract surgery to improve their vision. �Now an infection has affected 31 of them, with horrifying results. �At least five have already had the infected eye removed, 20 are hospitalized and a further 6 will never see again.

Initially, officials blamed the patients for not taking proper precautions to prevent infections after surgery, but are now promising an investigation to see if negligence was responsible, or possibly prescribed eye drops .

Preventing Infection After Surgery

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11 Patients Blind and 20 More Hospitalized After Free Cataract Surgery originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 08:20:46.

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Rhode Island Hospital Has Third Wrong Site Surgery This Year, How To Prevent Wrong Site Surgery

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:15:44 +0000

Rhode Island Hospital, located in Providence, has released information about the third wrong site surgery performed in the facility this year.

Wrong site surgery, where the correct surgery is performed on the wrong part of the body or the wrong patient, is supposed to be prevented by "time outs" and staff double checking the procedure and the patient. �In this case, the wrong finger was operated upon after the correct hand was marked before surgery, but the correct finger was not marked.

The wrong site surgery prior to this one was performed on a child who needed a cleft palate repair. In that case, the wrong side of the mouth was operated upon. �While the inside of the mouth cannot be marked, in this case, the wrong side of the mouth was indicated on the skin by the surgeon and staff did not catch the mistake.

The hospital has a history of wrong site surgeries, in the past, the center had three wrong site brain surgeries performed in one year. Those mistakes, coupled with the three surgeries this year, have led to a large fine and potentially further action against the hospital.

So, how do you as a patient prevent wrong site surgery from happening to you? �Insist that the doctor mark the surgery site while you are still awake and before any medications are given that relax you or make you sleepy. �

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Rhode Island Hospital Has Third Wrong Site Surgery This Year, How To Prevent Wrong Site Surgery originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at 19:15:44.

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Man Without Insurance Enlists In Army To Save Wife's Life

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:41:56 +0000

Bill Caudle, a 39 year old Wisconsin man, recently enlisted in the Army out of a desperate need to obtain health insurance for his family. His wife, Amy, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2006, and has needed surgery and chemotherapy in the years following.

Bill lost his job of 30 years in March, and by May he was desperate to obtain affordable insurance coverage. �When his job search didn't pay off, he did the nearly unthinkable, he enlisted in the Army.

Originally assigned to a base halfway across the country, Bill was thrilled to find out that he would be much closer to his family than planned, but he would still be hundreds of miles from his family while his wife continued chemotherapy.

While there is a media frenzy around their story, the Caudle's are not activists and have no desire to become poster children for healthcare reform. �Right now, they are just looking forward to Bill's graduation from basic training and hoping that Amy will be healthy enough to attend. �

As for Amy, she is now receiving the treatment that doctors recommended for her, which is chemotherapy for now. �Their health insurance became effective when Bill reported for basic training. �

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Man Without Insurance Enlists In Army To Save Wife's Life originally appeared on About.com Surgery on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 18:41:56.

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