Flourish

Sepsis is the body's reaction to infections. Specifically, it's kind of an exaggerated response to infections that we see typically in different sorts of patients. Sepsis does evolve very quickly and there are some steps that if they're taken early can help lessen the body's response to an infection.

As a physician I was very familiar with sepsis but I think physicians are often poor patients. I took some Tylenol, laid in a bath. I started hallucinating, getting confused. I also felt very weak.

My husband had to help me to the restroom, and at that point, he decided it was time to go to the As a reminder, we use the acronym for time when we're discussing sepsis.

The T in time stands for temperature, so a particularly elevated temperature or a lower than expected temperature can be signs of early sepsis. The I stands for infection. That can be any infection, respiratory infection, urinary tract infection, skin infections, etc. And then M is mental change, particularly in the elderly. So, an elderly patient with confusion, we're very concerned about the possibility of sepsis. And then the last one is for extreme illness. Feeling worse than you might expect because of a recent cold or infection, having shortness of breath, having a rapid rate, those are all things that should prompt you to see emergent medical attention.

Doctor. Thomas came to us with a really complex problem. He had had heart surgery over fifteen years prior. And where they did his heart surgery, the wall of the aorta or the main blood vessel that comes out of the heart had weakened. And as that aneurysm was getting bigger, the wall was getting weaker and it was really at risk of rupturing.

I talked to Austin Ward and he had an idea that he could do a new procedure.

He was pretty confident that it would work. And I said, Well, how confident are you on a one to ten scale? And he said, I'm confident ten. And I said, Schedule it.

Where this problem was in Doctor. Thomas' aorta is really at a crossroads of where I typically work, which is the ascending aorta, and where Doctor. Bicking typically works, which is the descending aorta. Doctor. Thomas' pseudoaneurysm was really in his aortic arch, is the meeting of those two spots. It's a very demanding procedure.

It takes a lot of expertise, lot of training, a lot of time and planning to do this.

We met with the team multiple times. Doctor.

Ward had written up a whole thing for where we need to be, where things were going be in the room.

This problem is extremely rare and this treatment endovascularly has only been performed a few times. So this highlights our ability to adapt and come up with innovative solutions for complex problems like that here at Baptist Health Paducah.

Anyone can have mental health issue, but a crisis will be someone who is either in imminent danger to self or others, they're having an acute exacerbation of psychosis. That could be anyone who has a previous history of mental illness, or someone who is having a new onset of symptoms or going through any difficult time in their personal life or someone who needs to be in the hospital immediately. So when the patient is admitted on the unit, we try to give them a break from the outside world, which means they are not going to be able to have access to things that distract them, and they're kept under constant supervision.

They sleep on time, they eat on time, their medications are maintained and managed by the nursing staff. They see the psychiatrist within twenty four hours of admission to the hospital so that we can do a psychiatric assessment. Based on that, we can formulate a treatment plan. And that treatment plan would include not only the medication management, but also for them to be able to receive some therapy, both the individual and therapy groups.

And then we are able to involve their families into treatment decisions as well. The goal of all of that is, you know, we can stabilize them on their mental health as soon as possible so they could be stepped down to the lower level of care. So when a patient is going through an acute mental health crisis, to be able to get the mental health back on track means not only helping these patients, but their families and the community in general. And that is what we find to be most rewarding.

Perimenopause is the natural transition leading up to menopause. It's the body's way of gradually moving toward the end of the reproductive years. During this time, hormone levels, especially estrogen and progesterone, start fluctuating. And those changes can affect almost every part of your body.

It can last anywhere from a few years to close to a decade before menopause actually occurs. One of the biggest misconceptions is that hot flashes are the only symptom. In reality, many women experience anxiety, depression, brain fog, joint aches, fatigue, weight changes, skin changes before they ever even have hot flashes. Another myth is that you just have to deal with it.

You don't. There are many treatment options that can help and you deserve to know what those are. When I help patients choose a treatment, there is no one size fits all approach. We look at your symptoms, your medical history, your family history, your lab work, your lifestyle, and most importantly, what your goals are.

Together, we come up with a plan that's right for you. Understanding what's happening to your body helps you recognize the symptoms and know what to expect and feel empowered to ask for help. There are effective treatments available and with the right support, you can continue to feel healthy, active and like yourself again.

Lumbar fusion surgery is an operation where we join two or more bones at the back together. We're doing that typically with placement of screws and rods. And then as part of the surgery, we're typically removing a degenerated or herniated disc. And then we replace that with either a spacer or a cage, with the goals being to decompress the nerves, stabilize the spine, realign the spine.

Before surgery, patients obviously will see us in the office where they'll get a thorough history and physical, and we'll decide if they're even a candidate for surgery. The surgery is rarely the first option chosen, so almost everybody is going to get some sort of conservative treatment and the majority of patients can do well with this. But ultimately if their pain and quality of life are diminished and their match their imaging, then they can be a candidate for surgery and we discuss that in more detail. Today's fusion techniques have certainly come a long way compared to fifteen or twenty years ago with a lot of the focus being on more minimally invasive techniques using smaller incisions, less tissue which ultimately leads to typically less blood loss, lower rates of infection, and faster return to activities for our patients.

The most important thing about lumbar fusion surgery is choosing the right operation for the right patient. For those that are good candidates, we see typically very excellent results. Obviously, of these things take time for them to see the maximum benefit, but most patients can return back to the activities they were enjoying before surgery, and many of them could not do things before surgery because of their pain that now they're able to do.

Here at Baptist Health Floyd Podiatry, we often treat a lot of heel pain, arch pain, generalized foot and ankle pain that is typically due to overuse. Treatments vary from anything from simple in office methods all the way to surgical management for those issues.

So as we age, things wear out, joints wear out, tendons wear out. So it's really important to pay attention to your feet, listen to what they're telling you. Things can progress and get worse with time. And if we catch it early, treat it early, have a quicker recovery, better chance of no long term issues, and get you back up and moving quicker.

A lot of basic treatments for foot and ankle issues are quite simple. They're really revolved around proper shoes, supports, stretching, physical therapy methods, and lifestyle modifications that can help offset some of the symptoms. Surgery is usually a failed conservative treatment that we are at a point where it's affecting a patient's quality of life to an extent that the surgical measures are required. So obviously surgery depends on exactly what issue is being addressed and those discussions would be addressed in the office and talking about management and what those recoveries look like as well.

So our main goal here at Baptist Health Floyd Podiatry is get you active, get you back on your feet, get you back in the game, get you back at work, increase your quality of life, and prevent you from having to come back and prevent those re injuries.

The Meds to Meds program is a discharge delivery service that's provided by our team in the outpatient pharmacy here at Baptist Health Floyd. At the time of discharge, prescriptions are sent electronically by the provider to our patient Our pharmacy team fills the prescriptions, troubleshoots any insurance issues, and then the pharmacist calls the patient in their hospital room and counsels and educates on their medications. They will also obtain any payment that's necessary for their co pays. The co pays are typically the same that you'll see at any other retail pharmacy. There are no additional charges for the Meds to Vets program.

One of the great advantages of the Meds to Meds program is the pharmacy team in the outpatient pharmacy has the ability to secure chat with providers. We can change expensive medications to a more affordable one that is therapeutically equivalent.

We can change a prescription that is maybe non formulary on patient's insurance to something that is non formulary, and also we can initiate prior authorizations too. Patients benefit because it's convenient for them to have their medications delivered directly to their hospital room. They don't have to stop at another pharmacy on their way home. They leave with their medications in hand. Meds to beds allows us to take care of the patients one last time during their hospital stay and sets them up for a successful recovery after they leave the hospital.