Author: St. Elizabeth Healthcare

It’s no secret that smoking harms your health. But you might not realize just how bad it is. Joyce Jacobs, a Nurse Navigator at the Florence Wormald Heart & Vascular Institute at St. Elizabeth, explains how smoking severely damages the heart, blood vessels and arteries and leads to life-threatening conditions. How Smoking Damages Your Heart and Vascular System “Nicotine in any form can greatly harm the heart, lung and blood vessels,” says Jacobs. When you smoke, toxic chemicals enter your bloodstream and cause inflammation. Over time, this damage can cause the arteries to narrow, a process known as atherosclerosis. The…

The advice is straightforward: Stop smoking and work with your healthcare provider to protect your heart. Kentucky has the second-highest smoking rate in the nation, explains Joyce Jacobs, a Nurse Navigator at the Florence Wormald Heart & Vascular Institute at St. Elizabeth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 17% of Kentucky adults smoke, and approximately 16% of adults in Indiana smoke. Both rates are significantly higher than the national average of 11%. In Indiana, smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Jacobs is determined to help shrink those statistics. She explains that quitting…

Navigating Medicare plans can be tricky. Your health plan is highly personal, and it must meet your unique needs while providing access to the caregivers you trust. When selecting a plan during the annual open enrollment period this fall, it is crucial to remember that not all Medicare plans are created equal. Medicare Advantage differs from traditional Medicare in that it may impose different restrictions on care and limit the providers you can access in network. That’s why research is so important to ensure that the Medicare plan you select works best for you. At St. Elizabeth, we want our…

For five long decades, a smoking habit overshadowed Sally’s life. The idea of quitting always seemed like an unreachable goal — something she never tried to attempt. “I knew I shouldn’t be doing it,” she explained. “But because I enjoyed smoking, I hadn’t previously considered quitting.” Deep down, Sally knew each cigarette was taking its toll, even if she couldn’t see it yet. Lung Cancer Screening Reveals Red Flags Since 2021, Sally has received lung cancer screenings through St. Elizabeth. The caring team in this vital program has performed over 33,000 scans and diagnosed over 500 lung cancer cases. In…

Dr. David Mosko, Oncologist at Edgewood and the Dearborn Cancer Center, competed in the Olympic trials for swimming in 2008 and 2012. Here he shares his thoughts on competing as an elite-level athlete, and how that has informed his approach to life and practicing medicine.  Dr. Mosko’s remarkable swimming career made headlines ever since he was a teen as a member of the St. Xavier High School Swimming and Diving team. While there, he also represented his country in 2005 as a member of the U.S. Junior National team, and went on to become an All-American at Stanford. (He remains on Stanford’s Top…

Jim was looking at his computer one afternoon in his Northern Kentucky home, when he just fell off the chair. “I didn’t feel like I had any symptoms or anything. I just thought I leaned forward and fell out of the chair,” Jim said. “I was lying there and I thought, ‘Why am I not getting up?'” That’s where Jim’s Apple Watch kicked in, sending an automatic fall alert to EMS and to his brother (the fall alert is automatic for people who register a birth date showing they are older than 55). In only a matter of minutes, emergency…

Heartburn, acid reflux, regurgitation — do these symptoms bother you? If so, you’re not alone. Millions of people experience the discomfort of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). It happens when stomach acids take an unwelcome trip back up the esophagus, the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach. GERD occurs because the valve at the bottom of the esophagus is weak or defective. Over time, this acid irritation can lead to those bothersome symptoms. And truly disrupt your daily life. But treatments are available. Over the last ten years, Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation with a device called LINX™, has proven highly…

Winter Richards’ heart was failing in May 2023, but she didn’t know it. In fact, at age 27, the thought had never crossed her mind. “My chest was congested, and my nose was stuffy,” Winter remembers. “For weeks, I couldn’t lie down without coughing and spitting. I remember thinking it must be allergies, even though I’d never had allergies before.” Winter went to an urgent care for help twice. Each time, the provider prescribed antibiotics. When those didn’t help, Winter went to her primary care provider, nurse practitioner Laura Jacobs, APRN. “I told Laura about my symptoms, and she said,…

Eric Callaway celebrated his 40th birthday at St. Elizabeth Edgewood, where he was recovering from surgery to insert his new left ventricular assist device (LVAD). He felt lucky to be there. Callaway was only 26 years old when he had his first heart attack – on his birthday. He credits St. Elizabeth with seeing that he continues celebrating birthdays, going to church, fishing with his nephews and walking about his Moores Hill, Ind., neighborhood. “Since I had my LVAD, I have a better life again,” he said. “I haven’t felt this good in a long, long time. I have more…

Heart specialists at St. Elizabeth Healthcare had been treating Mark Grigsby for months, but his symptoms were worsening. After extensive testing and discussion, they recommended surgery to implant a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). An LVAD is a mechanical heart pump for people like Mark with advanced heart failure. It helps the heart pump blood from the lower left heart chamber to the rest of the body. “One of the doctors said that if I wanted to live, I needed the LVAD surgery,” says Mark, 55, who lives in Milan, Ind. “What I heard was, ‘Do it, or you’re going…