MEDICAL NEWS TIPS September 11, 1998
Media Contact: Sandra Van or Roberta Nichols E-mail: [email protected]
ìTop Tipsî is a semi-monthly servCedars-Sinai Medical Center "Top Tips" 09/11/98ice designed especially for health and medical reporters. To receive ìTop Tipsî twice each month via e-mail, please send your name, organization, phone and fax numbers, plus e-mail address, to [email protected]. If you are already receiving this service and do not wish to, you may cancel by sending to the same e-mail address with the word ìunsubscribeî entered in the subject field. Full-text versions of the news releases for most of these tips are available on Newswise. To pursue any of these story ideas, call 1-800-396-1002.
NATIONAL REHABILITATION WEEK: 27-YEAR-OLD TETRAPLEGIC (QUADRIPLEGIC) REGAINS ABILITY TO WALK LESS THAN 4 MONTHS AFTER CATASTROPHIC AUTO ACCIDENT In the past year, life has changed dramatically for Ana Aguilar, who turned 28 on Labor Day. Her husband died of cancer in November, 1997, and the following April, she was paralyzed from the neck down in a catastrophic auto accident. However, this highly motivated mother of two-preschoolers has defied all medical odds and is walking again -- thanks to her own determination and an inter-disciplinary team approach used by Cedars-Sinai Medical CenterÃs Rehabilitation Department. Interviews: Ana Aguilar, patient; Richard Riggs, M.D., Chair, Cedars-Sinai Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
HEALTHY AGING MONTH: HOW MANY INDEPENDENT, LIVE-ON-THEIR-OWN 102-YEAR-OLDS DO YOU KNOW? With the ìgrayingî of American comes the realization that quality of life is just as important as an extended length of life. Cedars-Sinai Medical CenterÃs Lifeline(tm) program provides seniors with a continuum of care, emergency assistance, peace of mind and the ability to maintain their dignity through independence. More than 600 seniors are served by Cedars-SinaiÃs Lifeline program. Interview: Beverly Freed, Lifeline Program Coordinator; Rose Bolitin, Age 102, Lifeline Subscriber; Evelyn Crow, Age 98, Lifeline Subscriber
CEDARS-SINAIÃS ì C.O.A.C.H. FOR KIDSî PROVIDES FREE HEALTHCARE SERVICES TO HOMELESS CHILDREN Four days a week, doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers and other healthcare professionals from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ìhit the roadî aboard a state-of-the-art mobile medical unit (or ìcoachî). The C.O.A.C.H. sets up in various locations to offer free immunizations, screenings, health care and social services to some of the 500,000 Los Angeles children who live in poverty. Interns and residents from the medical centerÃs pediatric residency program are routinely rotated through the C.O.A.C.H. program. Interviews:Michele Strode Rigsby, R.N., C.P.N.P., Program Manager and Director of Clinical Services
NATIONAL REHABILITATION WEEK: HOLLYWOOD FILM MAKER PARALYZED IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT IS NOW WALKING AGAIN UNAIDED Learning to walk again was the hardest thing Howard Rutman, a Hollywood film maker ever did. An individual with the types of injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident last January would typically be confined to a wheelchair for life. But less than six months after his last reconstructive surgery -- to pin his pelvis back together -- Rutman is walking again -- unaided. His remarkable recovery is largely due to his own tenaciousness, the surgical skill of Michel Levesque, M.D., Director of Cedars-Sinai's Neurofunctional Surgery Center, and an inter-disciplinary, problem-solving rehabilitation team approach. Interview: Howard Rutman, patient; Rob Naples, P.T., Physical Therapist
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