HEALTHY DIRECTIONS
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Melissa Vella says her symptoms caused by uterine fibroids became so bad last fall that she constantly felt as if she were several months pregnant. “I was always tired, I had to urinate frequently, and even my abdomen was sticking out like I was pregnant,” says Melissa, a 46-year-old [...]
After working for 47 years as a lineman with a power company, Gary Balon is enjoying retirement this summer by working part time as a golf course ranger and spending time with his family, including two grandchildren. If you saw him on the course, it would be hard [...]
As long as he can remember, Jackson resident Mark Kelber had been suffering from excessively sweaty palms. “I’d have good days when my hands were dry, but anything—heat, caffeine, stress, etc.—could trigger it, and then my hands would be anything from damp to dripping,” shares the 38-year-old iron [...]
For nearly 40 years, Michael Connolly, a 61-year-old Old Bridge resident, had suffered from knee pain that first began after a lacrosse injury in college. His career didn’t help matters; he worked for 36 years as a motion picture, theatrical, and television teamster, driving a truck to move [...]
In 1993, Elizabeth Losardo, then 64, and her husband Michael, had just retired from Brooklyn to Monroe Township and were ready to start living the good life—including wintering in Florida. As Elizabeth recalls, it was a normal day. She woke up and merely had an innocent yawn. The next [...]
Dee Nemeth had rarely been sick in his life, so it was unusual when the 75-year-old Freehold resident began experiencing bloating last fall. After seeking care at a health clinic, he was sent to CentraState’s Emergency Department for a potential gall bladder issue. There, he was diagnosed with a [...]
After 52-year-old Melissa Rizzitello of Lakewood spoke with a colleague who’d undergone bariatric surgery, she decided it was time to set up an appointment. After a careful evaluation, Ragui Sadek, MD, FACS, recommended gastric sleeve surgery. Melissa had considered bariatric surgery for several years. Having worked as a counselor [...]
At only 22 years old, Mariah Rodriguez’s lifelong battle with her weight had come to this: She struggled to walk from her car up to her attic bedroom, she was uncomfortable going out with friends, and she was on the verge of developing diabetes. Having had [...]
Old Bridge residents Betty and Bob Peterson, both 53, had spent their 35-year marriage doing virtually everything together. For many years, that included eating poorly, becoming obese, and developing significant health problems that often accompany excessive weight, including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. “After years of putting our [...]
For decades, Dr. Kohlberg had exercised regularly on a treadmill so he could stay fit for weekly tennis matches and annual ski trips with fellow CentraState physicians. But over the past year, worsening pain in his right knee prevented him from enjoying the sports he loved. Eventually, the pain [...]
