Author: St. Elizabeth Healthcare

Seasonal Affective Disorder: Are You at Risk This Winter? As the weather turns colder and the daylight hours grow shorter, it’s important to keep an eye out for a mood disorder that affects nearly three million Americans each year: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). “Our body runs just like a clock, and when those rhythms are disrupted for any reason, we can experience emotional and physical symptoms,” says Amanda Galer, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “SAD is most often caused when our natural rhythms are thrown off, either chemically or environmentally.” One major cause of SAD is…

A New Surgical Table Can Reduce Complications from Hip Surgery An innovative surgical table at St. Elizabeth Edgewood is changing the way patients experience hip surgery. The Pivot Guardian Distraction System is designed to minimize complications that patients frequently experience after hip arthroscopy and improve the surgeon’s ability to access an injured hip. Dr. Matthew Grunkemeyer, an affiliated Orthopaedic Surgeon with OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine who practices at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, was a champion of acquiring the new table. He says, “This table will improve patient safety and the patient experience. It resembles an exercise machine to hold and position…

After a Heart Event: Reading a Food Nutrition Label So, you have had a heart event, now what? You are probably scared and have asked your doctors, friends and neighbors a million questions to try to prevent it from ever happening again. Joyce Jacobs, RN, MSN, a Nurse Navigator with the Florence Wormwald Heart & Vascular Institute at St. Elizabeth has some advice on reading a food nutrition label to help you stay heart healthy. Joyce is an expert on helping people through all of the questions following a heart event. At St. Elizabeth Healthcare, she leads a monthly support…

Whether you are working out regularly to lose weight or in high-endurance training for a marathon or competition, diet plays an important role in getting the most out of your workout. Brittany Diehl, MS, RDN, LD, Registered Dietitian at the St. Elizabeth Physicians Weight Management Center says, “Proper nutrition is important for any level of training. If you know what to eat before, during and after a workout, you can enhance your performance, sustain energy levels, increase endurance and promote muscle building.” Before a workout, you are looking for snacks to boost your energy but not slow you down. Brittany…

Arthritis: Moving More Equals Less Pain If you are one of the 54 million adults diagnosed with arthritis, you understand the pain of getting up and walking around after a night’s sleep. It can take an hour or more for your joints and muscles to warm up so you can tackle the rest of the day. October is National Physical Therapy Month and if you are living with arthritis we want to use this month to remind you that being active can help decrease your pain. Casey Geiman Bennett, DPT, Physical Therapist and Orthopaedic Certified Specialist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare…

Robotic Hernia Repair—Less Pain, Faster Recovery If you have had a hernia, you know—it is painful. You want to feel better quickly and get back to your normal life. Hernia surgeries have changed drastically over the last several decades and the newest robotic-assisted hernia repair is sure to get you feeling better, sooner. Hernias are a very common injury. They can affect men, women and children. The National Institute of Health estimates nearly 700,000 hernia repairs each year in the United States. What is a hernia? A hernia is caused when your intestine or internal tissue bulges through your abdominal…

Breast Cancer Diagnosis: What Should I Do? At St. Elizabeth Healthcare, we know that a breast cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming and scary. Our entire Breast Center team is here for you during this uncertain time – and rest assured that we’ll walk with you on each step of your breast cancer journey. Terri Bogan, Nurse Manager of the St. Elizabeth Women’s Wellness Centers, offers the following tips to patients and their families when they receive a breast cancer diagnosis. Go to a NAPBC-certified facility. The St. Elizabeth Breast Center is NAPBC-certified (National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers). This accreditation…

A hectic lifestyle often prevents you from eating on a schedule or at a designated time every night. You work late, run your kids to soccer and then head to the gym. That lifestyle can lead to late-night snacking and other bad habits. Rebecca Jilek, MPH, RD, LD, CDE, Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator at St. Elizabeth Physicians has some tips on how you can still healthily indulge in a late-night snack. Stop eating three hours before bedtime. No matter what time you head to bed, you should refrain from eating 2-3 hours before you hit the pillow. Rebecca…

St. Elizabeth Breast Center: Latest Treatment Options A Team Approach to Your Breast Cancer Journey At St. Elizabeth Healthcare, we provide personalized, comprehensive breast cancer care in our National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC)-accredited breast center. Our multi-disciplinary team works together to provide the highest level of services for our patients. From imaging to diagnostics, surgery, treatment and beyond, the St. Elizabeth Breast Center proudly upholds the NAPBC standards. “Each patient’s care is developed and coordinated through our multi-disciplinary panel of specialists who are specifically focused on treating breast cancer,” says Terri Bogan, Nurse Manager of the St. Elizabeth Women’s…

Hepatitis A: What You Need to Know Hepatitis A – What is it and how do you get it? It’s easy to get confused about hepatitis. There are numerous types of hepatitis, but the three most common are: Hepatitis A Hepatitis B Hepatitis C Hepatitis A is a viral infection that affects the liver. The patient experiences flu-like symptoms, including nausea, fatigue, fever, stomach pain, loss of appetite, dark urine, pale stool and jaundice (yellowish skin and eyes). Hepatitis A is spread by direct contact with an infected person, including fecal-oral (if someone hasn’t washed their hands after using the…