How to Welcome Back a Colleague in Recovery

Colleague in recovery: young adult male and female coworkers talking outside in black and white

It can be awkward or difficult to welcome back a colleague who has been absent for reasons related to mental health. These issues, historically, have been taboo, and are loaded with stigma. It is hard to know how to act toward a colleague in recovery who has returned from treatment for a mental health issue. […]

Physical therapy after hip replacement: Can rehab happen at home?

Health care worker helping an elderly man with a walker

By Robert H. Shmerling, M.D. Harvard Health Blog Chances are good that at some point you or someone you know will have hip replacement surgery. I can say that with some confidence because it’s a common operation that’s becoming more common all the time. An estimated 300,000 total hip replacements are performed each year in […]

Not In Vain

Plastic surgery exists for those who don’t want the attention By Megy Karydes Not everyone who seeks out plastic surgery is looking for breast augmentation or rhinoplasty services. In fact, for wounded veterans or burn victims, just looking like themselves and being able to function in society are among the reasons they undergo hours of […]

Coping with Kidnapping

kidnapping

How do our bodies react and recover from horrific experiences like the one in Cleveland? By Nancy Maes The names of recently released kidnap victims Amanda Berry, who is now 27, Georgina DeJesus, 23, and Michele Knight, 32, are imprinted on our brains. But how do we begin to understand the psychological impact that nearly […]

Forget Your Lines

Memory Ensemble and Lookingglass Theatre use improv to help Alzheimer’s patients By Nancy Maes Physicians encourage Alzheimer’s patients to stay intellectually stimulated and socially connected, but when they are no longer working and have trouble attending their favorite leisure-time book club or volunteer activity, they have a hard time following the doctor’s orders. An improvisational […]

A Perfect Baby Body

Perfect Baby Body

New program helps women restore their bodies after childbirth By Morgan Lord Childbirth brings with it plenty of joys—unconditional love, a new, impenetrable bond and all of that cuddle time. But giving birth can also mean a slew of not-so-joyous bodily changes for a new mother including bladder, bowel and sexual health issues. NorthShore University […]

Have a Heart

heart transplant

When the heart fails, it’s time to consider a transplant Glenn Bovard didn’t realize he’d had a heart attack six years ago. The Valparaiso, Ind., resident had been having trouble breathing while lying down at night. He was fatigued, too, but he assumed it was from working long hours as a state trooper. There may […]

Triathlon Recovery

MRI of knee

A lifetime runner gets a second chance with a total knee replacement Fear of immobility caused William Marty to postpone knee replacement surgery until it was almost too late. A professor at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago since 1980, Marty had been an avid lifelong runner. As a college student, he attended Biola University in Los […]

The Waiting Game

Myeloma

Facing down an incurable cancer with optimism and research In late November of 2006, the pain in Bill Herlihy’s back had become unbearable. At 56, he knew he was at an age when a lot of men suffer regular back problems, but the pain he’d begun experiencing months before had escalated beyond what could be […]

Uncovering Concussions

Concussions football field silhouette of players

How They’re Changing Our Brains and the Game It’s nearly kickoff. Families and friends nationwide gather around the television and bundle up in stadiums and bleachers. They cheer on their sons and sports heroes as they battle over the holy pigskin. Bright lights illuminate sweat-drenched and grass-stained soldiers in their armored uniforms as they crouch, white-knuckled, ready […]

The Misery of Sex

The misery of sex after cancer

Sex after cancer brings its own kind of debilitation. Women who have faced and beaten gynecologic or breast cancer often survive with a problem rarely discussed. The surgeries and treatments have left them with concerns about their sex life, but they don’t know where to turn for help. “It is sort of a ‘don’t ask, […]

The Long Road Back

Much of you is required to rehabilitate after a stroke Life is unpredictable. Most of us go about our days concerning ourselves with immediate tasks. What to pick up at the grocery store for dinner. Getting the kids to soccer practice on time. Meeting that deadline at work. Rarely do we consider the possibility of […]