Tag Archives: surgery

Arthritis could Cause Knee Replacements to Rise

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Experts predict that the number of hip and knee replacements performed in the United States could skyrocket over the next seven years. Why? A larger elderly population in the country — seventy-six million Americans will hit retirement age in 2008. An increase in arthritis in the American population. Arthritis affects more than forty-six million Americans each year and is most common in older adults. An increase in obesity among Americans — every one pound of weight on your body means three or more pounds of pressure on your knees. Carrying extra weight can also make you more likely to develop … Continue reading →

Wow — Is it 2008 already?

January 1, 2008. January 1, 2008. January 1, 2008. Can it really be 2008 already? Seriously? Yep. Here we are. It is 2008, in Hollywood, the writer’s strike continues at full swing and my daily viewing for my workouts is severely hampered. Closer to home, my little girl turned 7 and my husband and I celebrated 8 years of marriage and we’re looking 12 years together total. 2007 was the Year of a Million Dreams at Disney. It was the year of overexposure for Paris and Britney. 2007 started out with my husband recovering from an emergency appendectomy and I … Continue reading →

Dispelling the Weight Loss Surgery Myths

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I should start here by letting you know that I have had gastric bypass surgery. I had a Roux-n-Y bypass. It was back on December 2001. December 14, 2001, to be exact and I will never forget that day because it changed my life. It is like a second birthday for me – only without the cake and ice cream for obvious reasons. Now that you know that, there are a few things that I feel I should tell you about gastric bypass surgery: 1. It is not “The easy way out”. I was accused by more than one friend … Continue reading →

Video Games For Surgeons

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A recent study from Iowa State University shows that surgeons who have a history of playing video games as a hobby may be faster and more accurate when performing video assisted surgery! This doesn’t mean your game-maniac is going to be the world’s next great video surgeon — but video game skill does correlate with laparoscopic surgery skill. Laparoscopic surgery uses video technology to help doctors operate through a small incision in the body, which helps reduce healing time and scarring. More than thirty surgeons and surgical residents took part in the two day laparoscopic surgery workshop that produced these … Continue reading →

Pretty Feet At A Price

Honestly, I have never been fond of the way my feet look. I used to blame it on the fact that I participated in marathons … and when my feet weren’t pounding the pavement on daily runs they were being crammed in high-end heels as part of my not-so glamorous job as a television journalist. But, the truth is my feet were never pretty… even before I made them carry me 26.2 miles without stopping. However, I never contemplated “fixing” them with surgery. Now, it seems I may be in the minority. Surgery (and vanity) has moved south—-to one’s toes. … Continue reading →

How to Recover From Surgery

Are you someone who can’t stand to sit still for days on end? Then this is the blog for you. I am speaking from experience because this is what I am going through right now. I’ve had surgeries in the past, but I always seemed to bounce back from those with relative speed – apparently because what I experienced this time was a major surgery, my bouncing back is a lot slower than I expected. Great Plans of Mice and Men It’s said that there are great plans to be made – and that we base all of those plans … Continue reading →

Oy, I Overdid It – Recovering from Surgery

Let me tell you, the most frustrating part of having had surgery is that as an active person it’s very difficult to sit around and do nothing. So, while I am smart enough to follow my doctor’s instructions, I’m also stubborn enough to push the envelope and today – I overdid it. 15 Minutes of Effort Currently, 15 minutes of physical effort leaves me weak and exhausted. If I take a shower for fifteen minutes, I take a 2-hour nap right afterwards. When I go for my designated 15-minute walk, well that’s another 2 hours I need to spend napping. … Continue reading →

When You or Your Spouse Needs Surgery

Have you or your spouse ever needed to undergo surgery? As my regular readers may know, both my husband and I have both needed surgery in the last three months. Three months, it’s kind of scary when you think that’s all it’s been since I took Scott to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. It was the first weekend of December and the following day was Cassidy’s birthday party. It was a scary night, all told, while the doctors worked diligently to diagnose why he was in so much pain and running such a high fever. It happened so quickly, … Continue reading →

The Fitness Blog Weeks in Review February 10 – March 2, 2007

Weee – we’re back and we’re ready to get this party started! It’s been three weeks since our last week in review and we need to get ourselves back on track, so with that in mind, let’s look at our previous weeks in review. What are you waiting for? Start scrolling, because here we go: Saturday, February 10 Dear Heather … How Are you Coping with Your Medical Problems? This is a special Dear Heather designed to answer a very thoughtful and kind question put to me by a reader after I wrote about what was going on in my … Continue reading →

My Husband is Pretty Great

It’s nice to say that – when you consider how often you hear complaints from married couples. A few years ago, we got into the habit of complimenting each other regularly. We try not to complain too much, but of course, complaints are inevitable. But today, I have no real complaints – because my husband is pretty great and over the last week or two, he’s been pretty phenomenal. It’s going to be all right. My Surgery He was worried about the surgery that I needed to undergo as much as I was. But he did a great job of … Continue reading →