HEALTHY DIRECTIONS
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At 5 feet 2 inches, Antonella Caruso has always been petite. But when she started suffering from severe abdominal pain after eating, she had trouble keeping her weight above 100 pounds. Antonella, 35, began experiencing severe stomach pain in late summer 2019. She saw several doctors and underwent countless [...]
A string of falls and a car accident left Whiting resident Nanette Neves in constant agony. Plagued with numbness and pain in her leg and lower back, she endured eight years of treatments to manage the pain. When she had trouble getting out of bed, she knew it was [...]
When Freehold resident John Russo fell after a progressive decline in his ability to walk, he figured he’d have to endure another joint replacement surgery. But he was shocked to learn that a serious spinal condition was causing his pain—and partial paralysis. John, 54, was in the Navy during [...]
After a successful surgery for bladder cancer earlier this year, Monroe Township resident Kalyanbhai Patel, 80, thought his battle with the disease was over for good. But when a routine follow-up appointment a few months later sparked worry, Troy Sukkarieh, MD, board-certified urologist, used innovative new technology called narrow [...]
We can't predict the future, but we can predict that it will be a lot better if you're healthier. You can start by checking important healthcare-related items off your to-do list. Whether it's going for screenings, getting a physical, or finally doing something about that bad knee, let's take [...]
Necrotizing Fasciitis No Match for Coordinated, Comprehensive Care Audra Carletta awoke in the middle of the night with a small, painful bump on her right elbow. Less than 48 hours later, she was in the operating room. The cause? A fast-moving form of necrotizing fasciitis, or “flesh-eating” disease. After [...]
Hip replacement surgery is one of the most common and successful orthopedic procedures performed in the United States. There are multiple ways for surgeons to perform hip replacements, with the classic and most common technique through the posterior approach, where the surgeon makes the incision on the back or [...]
Bruce Springsteen famously sang, “You can’t start a fire without a spark.” For Freehold resident Mary Beth Wilson, that spark came in the form of emergency hernia surgery. Mary Beth, 52, an avid Springsteen fan, had been overweight for most of her life. She had struggled for years to [...]
Last Christmas day, Scott Fischer felt bloated and uncomfortable. The 47-year-old Manalapan resident and comic book store owner thought he had food poisoning, but the symptoms persisted and he went to the Emergency Department at CentraState a few days later. When a CT scan revealed that his appendix had [...]
The most important aspect of surgery isn’t what’s new, but what’s best for the patient, particularly when it comes to joint replacement surgery. While robotic techniques are emerging, research and experience has shown that minimally invasive surgery delivers the same or better outcomes at a lower cost. For example, [...]
