Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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How much blood flows through your joints? Would you be surprised if I told you, "None"? That's right! Inside the joint there is a clear, viscous, slippery fluid that lubricates the joint surface, but no red blood flows inside the joint. Doctors do not want to see blood in a joint. When there is blood inside a joint, it is usually because of trauma. That means tissue has been injured and blood vessels have been broken, bleeding into the clear cavity. "How," you may ask, "can a joint get oxygen...
A common lament I hear from my patients as they try to discuss a real concern they have about their body: “I’m sorry; this is so disgusting!” Their cheeks burn with shame as they tell me how their bowels have betrayed them. No matter what the issue is, so many of my patients are mortified discussing their diarrhea, constipation, fecal incontinence. My response, always, is “you can’t gross me out – we talk about poop every day in this clinic.” Plenty of things can go wrong in the gastrointesti...
Chili. Just one little word that causes so much controversy. And no, I'm not talking about the whole "beans-or-no-beans" debate that seems to pit Texas chili purists against the rest of the world. I'm talking about the chili and cinnamon roll combo that so many of us remember from our school lunch days. In 2020, as were all sheltering in place and more of us were cooking at home than we had in years, I was invited to join a Facebook group that focused on "Eating through the pandemic." It was...
I’m anxious these days to get in my vehicle and drive. It’s time to stop looking out my kitchen window and look upwards at all the beautiful fall trees with leaves of golds and reds. Taking a drive with my husband, I was treated to a spectacular show of Mother Nature’s painting skills. In my area of Northeast Nebraska the trees are dotting the landscape in gold, burgundy and deep red. Along a mile stretch of a country road, three acreage driveways and groves are filled with trees that are flood...
If you ever played baseball, you may have been told to “keep your eye on the ball.” When batting, a baseball player is taught to watch the ball the entire time from when it leaves the pitcher’s hand to when, hopefully, their bat smacks the ball for a hit. It may sound simple, but some pitchers can throw fast and sometimes they throw a curve ball. Great hitters use their vision and spot the difference, helping them get a hit. Lose focus and, in the blink of an eye, the pitch has whipped past...
Known as "the other white meat," pork got a bad rap for decades. Cook it until it's completely done and it's dry as a bone. Leave it a bit pink in the middle and you'll die of food poisoning. It has too much fat and it's bad for you. Whatever. A lot has changed in the past 10 years or so. America's pig farmers have worked closely with their teams of pig health professionals reviewing and researching what pigs eat and how they are raised and bred to develop leaner, higher quality pork foods that...
Aristotle is said to have referred to the female as a mutilated male, and this philosophy seems to have carried forward into much more modern times. In 1977, official FDA guidelines recommended that women of “childbearing potential” be excluded from early stage clinical trials. Men, particularly white men, were considered the ideal model, from which the success and side effects of any particular treatment could be judged. Somehow, women’s menstrual cycles made them too difficult to study, while...
From the back of our hands to the back of our legs, pale blue blood vessels are visible just under the skin. Oftentimes these veins are flat and not painful. However when these vessels become abnormally swollen or dilated, they are called varicose veins. This swelling is caused by the valves inside the veins becoming weak and no longer sealing tightly. Varicose veins can become painful, quite large and stick out from the surface of the skin. In order for blood to return from your feet back to...
People often think they need to lose weight. The hard part, of course, is following through on that desire in a sustained and successful manner. Here are a few of the ways people do lose weight and the secrets of their success. Some people should not lose weight, so please talk to your doctor. First of all, consider the reasons to lose weight. Benefits can include having more energy, improved mobility, fewer aches and pains, sleeping better, improvement in mood, lower blood pressure and lower...
We all know that exercise is great for our overall health. Exercise is important for our cardiovascular health of course, which is why the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every week. No less importantly, and especially as we get older, another huge benefit of exercise is in fall and injury prevention. Starting an exercise routine, especially when starting from scratch, can be daunting. The simplest way to get started is to start a timed walking...
My mother had six siblings, 16 aunts and uncles and innumerable cousins. She was the first of them all to be diagnosed with breast cancer. I think of my mom every time one of my patients tells me they aren’t concerned about breast cancer because it doesn’t run in their family. Unfortunately, that is true of most people who are diagnosed with the disease. I also think of my mother every time I do a breast exam or teach someone else how to do a self exam. Her breast cancer was one not det...
On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig said these famous words at Yankee Stadium, “For the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break that I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” The bad break he was referring to was the diagnosis of a condition that would become synonymous with him - a neuromuscular condition called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS is a disease which causes motor nerves in the brain and spinal cord to break down. This reduces the nerv...
My son is a Boy Scout. Hopefully, he will become an Eagle Scout like his dad, his grandpa, his uncle, and not to mention 11 of the 12 men that walked on the moon. Whether he does or not, it has been an honor seeing the program help him and other boys mature into responsible young men. This summer, our troop took our canoes along the 108 miles on the Missouri River in Montana, in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. That stretch of the Missouri, where the river has carved impressive rock formations that create “breaks” in the lan...
It’s “peek time” in the garden. I don’t mean peak time which is the finalization of time in the garden when everything is at its best. It’s time to take a sneak look at what is happening with some of the produce in the vegetable garden. I’ve been scouting the pumpkin patch for well over two months but suddenly the vegetation is so thick that I can’t see the pumpkins that are buried in the patch. So I wait. It’s the same with potatoes. Especially sweet potatoes. Their crop is underground and it isn’t time to harvest them. So I wait. As August is...
Assuring effective health care to a population is a challenge for every society. As care options become more complex – and expensive – the challenges increase. In the US, both the organization and financing of health care are perennial issues in public discussions, political campaigns and among social policy researchers. Basically there are two distinct, but intimately related, concerns: providing access to care and paying for that care. There is widespread agreement that when folks are sic...
Here it is, August. Summer has flown by and already there is Halloween candy roaming the shelves of Walmart. For most of us, August also brings the normal adjustment of transitioning back to the school year. It is normal for this to look differently for everyone, especially depending upon the age of your child. You may find yourself stressing to find the school supplies list, supporting your youth through two-a-day practices for athletic season or looking forward to getting back to the routine...
High costs and shortages of pharmaceuticals are serious, ongoing issues. Drug prices in the US are among the highest in the world. A recent survey by the Rand Corporation looked at drug prices in 32 developed countries. US prices were the highest in the group and were more than twice the average of prices in other countries. What is especially troubling is that the products sold in many of these countries are the same drugs produced by the same manufacturers as those sold in the US at much higher prices. When it comes to drug prices, consumers...
One of the most common reasons a person comes to the Ear Nose and Throat clinic is a stuffy nose. The way the symptoms are described varies. Stuffiness or congestion can be present at all times, at certain times of year, worse on one side, alternate sides, and may or may not respond to medications. Getting this clear history and taking a close look helps me determine what are the causes and how best to help. The nasal passages are divided from left and right by the nasal septum, which is made...
1. After your visit: Your physician may order blood work, x-rays or a scan of your body. If the concern is acute or potentially a threat to your immediate health, you may be asked to wait for your results in the clinic. Normally, patients may leave and await their results from home. If the physician has requested a follow-up appointment, schedule prior to your departure. We highly encourage this step as the schedules fill up very quickly. 2. Results: Nowadays, many health institutions offer an a...
While there is no debate as to WHO created the original chocolate chip cookie, there is some "controversy" as to HOW this classic cookie came to be. According to a story on nestle.com: "It all started back in 1938. Ruth Wakefield, who ran the successful Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts, was mixing a batch of cookies when she decided to add broken pieces of Nestlé Semi-Sweet chocolate into the recipe expecting the chocolate to melt. Instead, the semi-sweet bits held their shape...
As a patient, it can be challenging to navigate the healthcare system. This can lead to frustration and disappointment in the system itself. My intent with this article is to be both informative and alleviate some angst associated with seeking medical care. 1. Preparing for your appointment: This may be the most crucial step - whether the appointment is with your primary care physician or a specialist. As the patient, it is important to have the most important concern(s) prepared to address. As...
July in the garden brings on another pace for me. I sort of slow down and look at what is blooming out my kitchen window. I've hustled through the previous months planting, watering and weeding. The weeding and watering doesn't stop, but on this particular morning, the chores don't seem as demanding. Sitting under the patio awning I'm placing flower blooms on the paper of phone books. It's time to preserve some of those special blossoms. Pressing flowers is an old art and I'm hoping an...
From Dr. Marcus Welby and Dr. Meredith Grey to “Hawkeye” Pierce and Doogie Howser, MD, there have been a multitude of television doctors. You likely spend more time watching them than you do with your own physician. Television shows the life of a doctor as exciting, dramatic and glamorous; however, real life is often much different. On television, doctors can solve every medical mystery within the span of a single show. Rare diseases or unusual presentations are no match for the intellect or...
The patient was young, healthy and short of breath. She had not been sick recently, other than a minor cough. Her oxygen level was normal and her lungs sounded clear. Her heart rate was a little fast and she was breathing rather quickly, too. She was anxious about it, but she knew there was more to this than anxiety. Meanwhile, she was taking an antibiotic for bronchitis which did not seem to be helping. We did some additional tests, some blood work, to look for other possible causes. One test...
I previously wrote about how to save money on your grocery budget even though food costs are on the rise. I offered suggestions from Cami Wells, a Nebraska Extension Educator in Hall County, for foods in the protein, dairy and grains groups. This week, we'll learn ways to save money on fruits and vegetables. Vegetables "Check for sales and purchase those that are in-season," Wells said. "Most of us prefer fresh but canned and frozen vegetables are also healthy choices. Canned and frozen vegetabl... Full story
