On the morning of March 12, 2019, I was still in a surgical gown and groggy after a colonoscopy when gastroenterologist William B. Evans, III, M.D., walked into the recovery room to deliver news I didn’t quite know what to do with. I still remember his words: “The good news is that I didn’t see…
It’s Friday evening, and Against the Grain Brewery in Louisville, Kentucky, is hopping. There’s food to serve, drinks to make and customers to keep happy. In the thick of it all is director of operations Jason Smith. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but Jason, 48, has been battling Parkinson’s disease for eight…
Being a hairdresser is all Amy James ever wanted to be. “I remember styling my Barbie doll’s hair and telling my mom I wanted to be a beautician,” Amy said. Her dreams came true when she opened her own salon in 2000. So when Amy was faced with a possible career-ending injury, she was devastated….
It’s an all-too-common experience — lack of quality health insurance, a chronic illness and mounting bills set off a chain of bad luck and a financial struggle. A mystery illness The trouble started in the spring of 2022. “I started feeling burning in my arms, shoulders and fingers. Just excruciating pain,” said Thomas Williams, 55,…
Liz, 66, was hiking in Arizona in February when she thought she pulled a muscle on her left hip. Hot baths and physical therapy didn’t help. By the time she got home to Louisville, she was struggling to walk. Liz went to see her doctor, and images of her hip showed the joint was worn…
We can all imagine it — walking through a parking garage, putting keys away, making sure we have what we need for a doctor appointment. If a ring, earring or something else slipped off, we probably wouldn’t notice. The woman arriving for her neurologist appointment was distraught. Tears running down her face, she rubbed her…
The holidays were coming up, but Jonathan House wasn’t feeling particularly joyous. Jonathan was grief-stricken from the recent loss of his mother and stepfather, and stressed after losing his job of more than 20 years. On top of that, he also was recovering from COVID-19. One evening in November 2021, after having dinner with his…
Dan English got the kind of scare no one wants. He was on a construction site when his vision became blurry and his arms went numb. He had to step back to brace himself on a big piece of equipment — and then drove himself to a local hospital emergency room. Dan underwent extensive tests…
Four years ago, Sara Westerman was diagnosed with breast cancer. She chose treatment that included a double mastectomy with reconstruction. While preparing for surgery, Sara discovered pillows designed for patients who have this surgery. Sara’s mom, Betty, is a retired home economics teacher and promptly created a version of the pillow for her daughter’s recovery….
A conversation with Joseph Mallard needs to last only 60 seconds to understand why he is nicknamed “Sunshine Joe.” He shares the vivid life advice his father and grandmother gave him when he was a young boy growing up in the Jim Crow South. “Persevere, push forward, keep fighting.” He details his relentless approach to…
DeAndr’e Gaines has lived most of his adult life with heart failure. Now at only 42 years old, the father of four is reclaiming life with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). In his late 20s, DeAndr’e was diagnosed with nonischemic cardiomyopathy, a condition that deteriorated his heart muscle. At that time in his life…
When Pat Bristoe began physical therapy at Norton Specialty Rehabilitation Center – St. Matthews in October 2021, he was depressed. Multiple sclerosis (MS), a diagnosis Pat received in 2009, had taken a toll on his body. For years, he managed the disease’s symptoms with medications, but as time went on his condition worsened. “I didn’t…
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