Hepatitis C, I’ve heard of it, but what is it exactly? We sat down with our very own gastroenterologist Sarah Bligh to learn all about Hepatitis C, its causes, symptoms, treatments, and everything in between and we are here to share all of it with you!
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We are right in the middle of summertime, and that means sunny days and warm weather. People are outside in the sun with their skin exposed trying to soak up the rays. As they shed the layers of clothing, it often prompts people to take a closer look at their skin and what they should do to protect it and could do to improve it. Throughout the summer I am going to post a bit of advice on ways to protect and enhance your skin.
MoreMore than 20 years ago Lindsay Washburn was dealt a hand she wasn’t expecting.
She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease; an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of the digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition.
MoreSkin cancer comes in three forms: basal cell, squamous cell and the worst kind, melanoma.
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Take a look at the photo above. Does one photo automatically make you think that person is happier, friendlier and even more beautiful? Did you have a check list you went through to determine which photo one was more attractive than the other? Our minds subconsciously recognize aspects of people’s faces and bodies that allow us to make the decision that something is considered beautiful. It is the eyes, mouth, cheekbones- all in the right proportions and balanced….natural.
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Our newest, FDA-approved weight loss surgery option, the gastric balloon, was featured on KCAU’s Your Health Matters segment this week.
To watch the video and read the story, click the link below:
To find out more about Weight Loss surgery, click here, or RSVP to one of our weight loss seminars.
MoreMarch is Colon Cancer Awareness month, and for those who are 50 and older, it’s a good time to have a conversation with your doctor about getting a colonoscopy.
For many, just the idea of a colonoscopy produces enough anxiety to keep them from having it done. But putting it off, even for just a year or two, could mean the difference between a simple procedure to remove small polyps and having to undergo serious treatment if a polyp progresses into cancer.
In a two-part series, KCAU’s Tim Seaman shares his personal experience with this potentially life-saving screening, and assures us all that there is no reason to avoid it.
In Part One, which you can find here, Seaman talks to his doctor about the procedure, and interviews a local barber who tells a cautionary tale about waiting too long to get screened for colon cancer.
Part Two, found here, follows Seaman as he sets up an appointment with Dr. Michalak and goes through with the entire procedure, including the “dreaded” prep. Throughout it all, he found no reason to avoid getting a colonoscopy, and encourages everyone who has been putting it off to start that conversation.
MoreThis October, Dr. Paul Johnson was recognized at a ceremony in Lincoln, Neb., for performing multiple surgeries on John Dunning, who survived a tornado in fall 2013 near Wayne, Neb.
Johnson, a general surgeon at Midlands Clinic and Mercy Medical Center – Sioux City, said of Dunning’s condition upon arrival, “I was amazed at the amount of injuries he had to the skin. It looked like he’d gotten sandblasted [from all the debris that assaulted his skin]. That was in addition to the large lacerations that he had and the fractures that he had.”
According to Johnson, Dunning required 38 procedures to treat his many injuries, including a tracheostomy and a feeding tube. Those procedures were completed slowly, over the period of several weeks, before Dunning was transferred to Madonna Rehabilitation Center, where he began a rigorous physical therapy regimen.
Madonna honored Dunning and three others with a GOAL award, and during the ceremony, the efforts of Johnson and other doctors were celebrated with a luncheon.
MoreThis article was featured on KMEG14 Siouxland News.
CORRECTION: The video states that the KYBELLA™ procedure costs “around $5,000.” The correct price is $1200.
There’s a new treatment to melt away “double-chin fat,” and you don’t have to go under the knife for it.
The Kybella procedure is an FDA approved non- surgical injection, which eliminates fat below the chin.
Midlands Clinic Dermatologist Dr. Indy Chabra is one of the first dermatologists in Siouxland to offer the fat removing treatment.
“The product works by dissolving fat cells and releasing the fat, so it works in a permanent manner. So the number of injections really depends on the degree of submental fullness, how much fat there is underneath the chin. So it varies person to person. In this patient, it was 20 injections.”
The procedure costs $1200. Chabra says his patients experience visible results around their chin and areas around the neck.
MoreThis article was featured on KMEG14 Siouxland News.
Bariatric Surgery is a complete life style change
“We look at weight loss surgery as just a tool it is not a quick fix or an easy way out,” said Megan Cleveland, Midlands Clinic. “So to really help the patients be successful with this tool, the educational program is really necessary along with the support group.”
The Educational program team includes registered dieticians, registered nurses, psychologists and bariatric surgeons.
“And so we really work together as a multidisciplinary team to help the patients not only physically but emotionally mentally prepare for the life style changes that they will have to make,” said Cleveland.
Doctors also recommend these patients join support groups to help them through these major life changes.
“If you are on a typical diet, you have the decision of either following your diet that day or not,” said Cleveland. “They don’t have that decision any longer because weight loss surgery is a permanent change to your body.”
Each group includes 10 to 30 patients and they talk about good eating habits and avoiding bad habits.
“So we really try to teach them not only alternatives of things they can do other than rewarding with food but also coping mechanisms to not use foods for comfort or to celebrate or to mourn” said Cleveland. “But to try to rely on some other things.”
Though the Midlands Clinic is one place to find a weight loss support group, you can also find other groups in the community and online.
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