Author: St. Elizabeth Healthcare

If you’re struggling to get back into your daily routine following your COVID-19 illness, you are not alone. The St. Elizabeth Healthcare rehabilitation team knows that COVID-19 recovery can take time – one day you’re feeling like yourself again, and the next you can barely get out of bed. At St. Elizabeth, we saw a need in our community for additional support during the lengthy COVID-19 recovery process. We created the St. Elizabeth COVID-19 Recovery Program to offer supportive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language services to recovering patients who need extra help. Our COVID-19 recovery team works together to…

At the age of 90, Roy “Bud” Smith still had a lot of living to do. But Bud was at a crossroads with his health. With a failing heart valve from aortic stenosis, he needed open-heart surgery. Between his age and the possibility of a difficult recovery, open-heart surgery wasn’t an option. Without intervention, Bud likely only had months left to live. Aging can cause aortic stenosis, which is a stiffening and narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve. This makes your heart work harder and limits blood flow to your brain and other parts of your body, causing symptoms like…

Although it’s been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, yet there are still many unanswered questions about the virus. One of those questions is whether there’s a link between vitamin D and COVID-19. Some experts claim that having low vitamin D levels could put you at risk for more severe symptoms from COVID-19. But research results are mixed and limited. So, should you start taking vitamin D during this pandemic? We spoke with Robert Tracy, MD, a family medicine specialist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, to find out more. Why do we need vitamin D?…

Intermittent fasting has risen in popularity as an effective diet and fitness tool. It has gotten a lot of attention during the pandemic as an accessible at-home diet option for people who usually spend their workdays in an office. Surprisingly, intermittent fasting has been around since the early days of humans. Hunter-gatherers didn’t always know where their next meal would come from, and they were unable to rely on a steady breakfast, lunch and dinner. “The “feast or famine” reality created a positive response to intermittent fasting,” says St. Elizabeth Healthcare cardiologist Darek Sanford, MD. What is intermittent fasting? Intermittent…

Most of the headlines around COVID-19 have focused on respiratory side effects and symptoms — coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. But new evidence shows that the virus’ effects may go beyond the lungs. It may also have an impact on brain and mental function. “There’s still so much that we don’t know about COVID-19, but we’re seeing some patients complain of a brain fog,” says Barry Wendt, MD, an internal medicine specialist with St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “Patients tell us that they have trouble concentrating, difficulty finding words or even short-term memory loss.” We spoke with Dr. Wendt to learn…

Kenny Moore’s progressing heart failure left him unable to walk a block without becoming fatigued. His health was also declining. His heart was not pumping efficiently, and fluids were building up in his body. His doctors gave him some choices. To improve his quality of life he could get on a heart transplant list or get a ventricular assist device (VAD). Or he could continue with his current quality of life on medications alone. Kenny opted for a better quality of life. “I wanted to keep my own heart,” says Kenny, a 66-year-old from Petersburg, Kentucky, who became St. Elizabeth’s…

When people think of pelvic floor health, they typically think of women and the infamous Kegel exercises. But pelvic floor health is an important issue for men, too — and it actually involves something called an “anti-Kegel.” “When it comes down to it, men and women have the same kind of pelvic floor muscles,” says Molly Carpenter, PT, DPT, a physical therapist with St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s Pelvic Health Physical Therapy program. “While women’s pelvic floor issues are often about weak muscles, men’s issues are usually caused by muscles that are too tight.” Fortunately, the first line of treatment for men’s…

Brittany Sorrell was well prepared for her third child’s arrival — and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, turning her carefully thought-out birth plans upside down. Brittany, a former Educational Specialist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare and mom to two boys, knew she would be in great hands once she arrived at the Family Birth Place. “But the closer I got to delivery, the more anxious I became,” says Brittany. “I’m so close to my mom, my sisters and my mother-in-law, and no one could be at the hospital with us.” “When I had to go into triage for the second time…

For many people, the idea of joint replacement surgery can seem daunting. It may conjure thoughts of a long hospital stay or a painful recovery. But what if that surgery didn’t require a hospital stay? What if it meant you would be up and walking shortly after the procedure? With same-day joint replacement surgery, all that is possible. “Most patients can move and follow commands right after the surgery,” says Matthew Grunkemeyer, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon with OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine practicing at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “We work closely with anesthesiologists and use less invasive techniques to help control…

The past efforts of many made it possible for Deborah Miller to have a healthier future. The Kentucky resident recently underwent robotic-assisted surgery to treat her early-stage lung cancer. “It was a success because of the doctors and scientists researching the field of early-stage lung cancer treatment. And because funding to hospitals helps support the purchase of new technology. And the academic experience the doctors, nurses, and medical staff have. Each of them took care of me,” says Deborah. In early May 2020, Deborah was receiving care for another health issue when a computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a shadowy…