| Story of a birth | | Posted Sunday, January 21, 2007 12:46:31 PM by Blog57 Team | | Editor's Note: Starting last week, after a seven-month hiatus, Emily Bailey, the former community editor at Seacoast Media Group, has resumed her weekly column as a freelancer. It will appear on Fridays in the iT section, Page C1. Last week, I shared the experience of losing my mother, about whom I wrote often in the pages of this newspaper. Before returning to the usual column fodder, I'll finish the personal update by sharing the story of my baby's birth. Both events took place during the column's June to January hiatus. On Tuesday, Sept. 5, I was 41 weeks pregnant and due at the hospital early the next morning for a scheduled induction -- I was to be given synthetic hormones intended to jump-start contractions. I'd been waiting for this baby for what seemed like forever, so I should have been happy -- but was disappointed things weren't going to take their natural course -- and angry with myself for not having the patience and backbone to insist on waiting till this kid was ready.... | |
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| | | Accused nurse appears in court | | Posted Monday, November 13, 2006 2:47:56 PM by Blog57 Team | | When former St. Mary's Hospital nurse Julie Thao appeared in court Thursday morning, she didn't go alone. About 150 supporters - mostly nurses from Madison's three hospitals - came to the Dane County Courthouse to rally in defense of Thao, who was charged last week with neglect of a patient in the July 5 death of 16-year-old Jasmine Gant at St. Mary's after a medication error. There were so many supporters that bailiffs only allowed a limited number, about 80, into the courtroom because space was needed for others attending court. "No punishment could come close to what (Thao) has sentenced herself to," said UW Hospital operating room nurse Shelly Campbell, Thao's friend and former co-worker at St. Mary's. "Julie is a wonderful, caring, compassionate person.... | |
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| | | Author gives insight into giving birth | | Posted Monday, November 06, 2006 10:47:27 PM by Blog57 Team | | IN TWO YEARS, Tina Cassidy has become the nation's resident expert on birthing babies. The first-time author spent considerable time in hospitals, birth centers and a HypnoBirthing class. She interviewed midwives, doulas, health educators and parents. She watched births ? in homes and in hospitals, natural and cesarean, twins and triplets. Yet when the research was done and her book was written, Cassidy found she still couldn't answer the most-asked question: What's the best way to give birth? Cassidy laughs as she sits near the pool at the Claremont Resort and Spa in Berkeley. "Not to be cute," she says, "it's really whatever way the woman feels comfortable. "You can't advocate home birth if the woman's going to be freaked out by having the baby at home.... | |
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| | | Readers share their teeth-whitening woes | | Posted Monday, October 30, 2006 10:47:10 PM by Blog57 Team | | Your teeth are gleaming white. Or in some cases blue. And maybe sensitive to air conditioning, cold water and even breathing. But you look good. Was it worth it? When we asked readers to weigh in with their experiences bleaching their teeth, we learned how much some of you have suffered for beauty. One reader described a pain so piercing it made him jump, but he doesn't regret it: "The teeth are whiter now, even three years later and I am happy." Granted, some of you brought it on yourselves by being overly ambitious and using your whitening strips for longer periods of time than recommended. But others followed directions to the letter and still wound up in agony. "Now I drink everything through a straw due to very sensitive teeth," wrote one dental assistant who over-whitened.... | |
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| | | Pain - you may not have to live with it | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 6:46:32 AM by Blog57 Team | | Most of us will experience pain from time to time, but when it becomes chronic and interferes with daily life, it's time to seek expert help. Acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself. Chronic pain is different; it persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. There may have been an initial mishap, such as a sprained back or serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause for the pain, such as arthritis, cancer, or an ear infection. However, some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. Many chronic pain conditions affect older adults, with more than 50 percent of patients over the age of 65 coming to the clinic for back pain.... | |
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| | | Massive epidural paralyzes new mother | | Posted Monday, October 23, 2006 12:46:33 PM by Blog57 Team | | INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- An Indianapolis woman is unable to move her legs after being given a 10-hour dose of intravenous epidural anesthetic in just one hour. Amber Baise, 18, entered Methodist Hospital on Oct. 8 to give birth to her first child and a doctor hooked her up for an epidural, which is a regional anesthetic. Instead of programming the drip rate for 10 hours, the unidentified doctor punched in just one hour, the Indianapolis Star reported. While Baise went on to deliver a healthy daughter, she was paralyzed from the waist down after the birth and has only regained the ability to move her toes, the newspaper said. "To the best of our knowledge, we believe that human error entered into the equation," Bill Stephan, senior vice president for corporate communications at Clarian Health Partners, which runs the hospital, told the Star.... | |
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| | | Methodist Hospital Admits Doctor Error in Epidural Overdose | | Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 10:46:16 AM by Blog57 Team | | A doctor's error is what officials at Methodist Hospital say led to the overdose of a new mother. The hospital says the baby is fine, but the teenage mother cannot walk and has little feeling and movement in her legs. "It appears that human error accounted for the inappropriate dose being administered," said Methodist Hospital Spokesman Bill Stephan. Stephan says an anesthesiologist's error is to blame for an overdose that left 18-year-old Amber Baise unable to walk. Hours before baby Kylie was born Sunday morning, a doctor gave Amber an epidural to ease her pain. Hospital officials say the anesthesiologist gave Amber the correct dose of the medication, but gave her too much of it in a short period time, instead of spreading it out over several hours. "Our reality in health care, however, is that medicine is to be practiced by humans then there are always going to be errors.... | |
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| | | Run, Hunter, run | | Posted Tuesday, October 10, 2006 6:46:11 PM by Blog57 Team | | His very life is a miracle; then came radical surgery. Through it all, a Spring Hill boy's courage is amazing. By SUE MCCLURE Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ky. If fear can immobilize a person, it stands to reason that a lack of fear could, in fact, mobilize. At least that's the case with Hunter Alexandrow, a 6-year-old Spring Hill boy who has dreamed of the day he'll receive what he calls "robot legs'' that will enable him to run, jump and do the other things a boy his age loves to do. .... | |
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| | | Notebook: Bad back could keep Johnson out of playoffs | | Posted Wednesday, October 04, 2006 2:46:28 AM by Blog57 Team | | NewYork Yankees lefty Randy Johnson has a herniated disc in his lower back, an injury that could prevent him from pitching in the playoffs next week. The injury was discovered during magnetic resonance imaging Thursday. He received an epidural injection yesterday. "Hopefully, that will ease the discomfort," New York manager Joe Torre said. "If it doesnt ease the discomfort, Im not sure hes going to be able to pitch." Johnson, 43, is expected to play catch today and throw in the bullpen Sunday. Johnson has a 7.64 ERA in his last three starts, failing to last longer than six innings. He is 17-11 this season with a career-high 5.00 ERA. Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina will pitch the opening two games of the best-of-five series against Detroit or Minnesota. Johnson is scheduled to pitch Game 3 on Friday.... | |
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| | | Brain Matters | | Posted Wednesday, September 27, 2006 10:45:57 AM by Blog57 Team | | Driven by a growing clinical understanding of how the human brain functions and enhancements in the size and reliability of medical technologies, the field of neurology is receiving unprecedented levels of attention from physicians and industry alike. According to The Neurotechnology Industry 2006 Report by NeuroInsights (San Francisco), neurological diseases and psychiatric illnesses represent the largest and fastest-growing unmet medical market, with conditions affecting 1.5 billion people worldwide. The report breaks the $110 billion neurotechnology industry into three sectors: neuropharmaceuticals, neurodevices, and neurodiagnostics. While the neurodevices sector's estimated annual revenue of $3.4 billion represents the smallest of the three slices, its 21% annual growth rate far exceeds those of neuropharmaceuticals and neurodiagnostics, at 7% and 11% respectively.... | |
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