Podiatrist Dr. David Alper joins co-hosts Kym McNicholas and Dr. John Phillips to talk about the cold weather dangers for those with poor circulation and how to protect their life and limb, especially feet.
Mindset is medicine for both the physician and patient. Medicine already recognizes the persuasive power of beliefs. The use of placebos is a great example of that. But it's much more than that, especially with chronic, painful vascular ailments such as peripheral artery disease (P.A.D.), which is restricted blood flow in mainly the leg arteries due to plaque build-up. Patients with P.A.D. feel at times as though a tourniquet is wrapped tightly around their legs when they walk. Sometimes the leg pain and cramping wake them up at night. Dr. Paramjit Romi Chopra joins hosts Kym McNicholas and Dr. John Phillips to talk about the powerful combination of science and spirituality to help patients and physicians persevere in challenging life and limb-saving situations.
Open Enrollment just wrapped up and call centers were center stage, handling a high volume of calls from patients looking to secure their health insurance for 2023. On the front lines ready to prevent call center failure was Cyara, a quality assurance technology company that helps organizations, including those in healthcare, spot problems and find resolve of them before the customers discover them and hang up. Show hosts Kym McNicholas and Dr. John Phillips talk to Cyara Senior Vice President of Customer Experience Dennis Reno about the biggest call enter fails and how to fix them. Also, a former Highway Patrol Call Center Supervisor, Connie, shares her limb saving story in our Save My Piggies series. She continued to help facilitate potentially life-saving calls for others while fighting for her own life.
Show co-host Kym McNicholas is dedicating this how to her Mom Marilyn Lou Baum McNicholas who transitioned earlier this year due to an undetected abdominal aortic aneurysm that ultimately ruptured. Marilyn’s cardiologist told Kym that there’s still so much doctors don’t know about aneurysms and because of that, there are gaps in care, which lead to premature death. Marilyn was diagnosed with having a 4cm thoracic aneurysm six months prior to her transition. Her cardiologist would only say it’s not at a size to worry about since a surgeon typically does not treat an aneurysm until it’s at least 5cm. Her cardiologist never discussed how to preventthe aneurysm from growing, what symptoms to look for, or her increased risk of having an abdominal aortic aneurysm because of it. So, not further testing was done despite textbook symptoms of symptoms of increasing erratic blood pressure, tachycardia, a pulsating feeling around her belly button, an abdominal mass, and severe radiating pain in her back. Her cardiologist, a vascular surgeon, and an emergency room doctor told her there was nothing life-threatening with her symptoms. They told her to take muscle relaxers and prescribed physical therapy, along with traction. The autopsy revealed what doctors missed.
Should Marilyn’s 4cm thoracic aneurysm have been taken more seriously? Should she have been tested for an abdominal aortic aneurysm after being diagnosed with a thoracic aneurysm? Should her symptoms have been a red flag for doctors?
In this episode, co-host Dr. John Phillips leads the discussion with guest Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Arnaoutakis, about specifically thoracic and thoraco abdominal aneurysms. For those who aren’t familiar with what an aneurysm is and how it forms, they will go through the basics. But the primary discussion will be around the current gaps in care, new innovative approaches to diagnosis and treatment, as well as critical questions to discuss with your healthcare team. Also, Retired Veterinarian, triathlete, and author Dr. Kevin Morgan shares his personal story about how he diagnosed his own aortic aneurysm, found the right treatment, and continues to compete in running and cycling events.