Three staffers of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center's Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division are tough stuff after surviving the Tough Mudder obstacle course earlier last month.
Nurse and clinical supervisor and transplant coordinator Tatiana Alvarez, transplant dietician Beth Coplan and transplant coordinator Kristin Kacsur completed the 10-12 mile course designed by British Special Forces to test strength, stamina and mental grit, according to its website.
More than 10,000 people battled through the Tough Mudder May 13 at Pocono Manor in Pennsylvania.
"Despite the fear of not knowing if I would be able to complete the course, the best part of the event was doing it with Kristin and Tatiana," said Coplan in a press release. "They were so helpful and supportive. We had each other’s backs throughout the entire course."
Some obstacles included scaling three 12-foot wooden walls, called Berlin walls, sprinting through a field of live wires, some carrying as much as 10,000 volts of electric shock, crawling through pipes into the freezing mud, climbing across Funky Monkey bars greased with mud and butter and climbing Everest, a quarter-pipe coated in mud and grease.
The toughest obstacles to get through were the Funky Monkey bars and getting over the first Berlin wall, according to Alvarez.
Though, she added, "I would do it again with my teammates."
For more information on the Tough Mudder, click here.
The land is between Kirby Gate Boulevard to the west and Kirby Parkway to the east, part of an 18.7-acre parcel owned by Wills & Wills. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2012 appraisal for the entire 18.7 acres, which is in Kirby Gate West Planned Development, is $1.3 million.
The construction loan matures in May 2027.
Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports
– Daily News staff
McElrath Leaving City Hall For MLGW
City of Memphis Finance and Administration director Roland McElrath is leaving the City Hall post to become controller of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.
The MLGW board was expected to approve McElrath’s appointment Thursday, June 7, with a vote on the appointment by the Memphis City Council to follow.
The MLGW board’s vote comes the same week that city government completed its budget season with council approval of operating and capital improvement budgets as well as a city property tax rate for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
McElrath began his current tenure as finance director in 2005. He had been finance director from 1996-2001 before leaving to be finance director for Memphis City Schools.
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. would appoint a replacement for McElrath and take the nomination to the City Council for approval.
When Wharton took office for a full four-year term earlier this year, he talked of creating a position of chief financial officer.
- Bill Dries
DeAngelo Williams Joins Samaritan's Feet Event
Two NFL players from the Carolina Panthers are scheduled to be in Memphis Friday, June 8, to help provide 500 kids with new shoes and socks.
Former University of Memphis star and current Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams and Carolina teammate Steve Smith will join the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club in partnering with Samaritan’s Feet for the day of giving back. The majority of the shoe distribution is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Streets Ministries, 1304 N. Graham St.
Business leaders, civic leaders like former University of Memphis basketball star Elliot Perry and members of the U of M women’s basketball team were scheduled to be on hand.
The children are all associated with Streets Ministries, Memphis Athletic Ministries and Girls Inc.
- Andy Meek
St. Jude, Le Bonheur Ranked Among Best
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis were both named to U.S. News & World Report’s 2012-2013 Best Children’s Hospitals.
St. Jude ranked No. 6 in the nation for pediatric cancer treatment. Areas in which St. Jude was rated “superior” included the hospital’s infection-prevention program; commitment to best practices; bone marrow transplant services; nurse-to-patient ratio; commitment to clinical research; and engagement with parents and family.
Le Bonheur ranked in five areas: 23rd in neurology/neurosurgery; 25th in orthopedics; 26th in pulmonology; 39th in nephrology; and 48th in cardiology/heart surgery.
The U.S. News rankings feature 50 hospitals in each of 10 pediatric specialties: cancer; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology; neonatology, nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology; and urology. Eighty hospitals across the country ranked in one or more specialties.
U.S. News surveyed 178 pediatric centers to obtain data, such as availability of key resources and ability to prevent complications and infections. The hospital survey made up 75 percent of the rankings.
A separate reputational survey, which asked 1,500 pediatric specialists where they would send the sickest children in their specialty, made up the remaining 25 percent.
-Aisling Maki
Elvis' Virtual Presence Remains in Building
Elvis Presley is going to be touring forever.
Digital production company Digital Domain Media Group has signed an exclusive agreement with CORE Media Group, formerly known as CKx, to jointly develop, produce and own a series of “virtual” Elvis likenesses.
That virtual likeness will be used in projects like shows, films, TV appearances and other multi-platform productions around the world.
Digital Domain Media Group also created the CG likeness of the late rapper Tupac Shakur for Dr. Dre’s recent show at the Coachella Valley Music Festival.
The companies have already begun work on the virtual Elvis likenesses and will announce when and where audiences can expect to see the first virtual performances soon.
- Andy Meek
Keep Tennessee Beautiful Unveils New Logo, Website
Keep Tennessee Beautiful, the state agency dedicated to rallying its residents to take responsibility for their community environments, has unveiled a new logo and website at www.keeptnbeautiful.org.
Visitors to the site, which showcases a logo that mirrors the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee, can find their local affiliate and local volunteer opportunities in each county.
Guests also have the opportunity to take the Stop It Litter pledge – a pledge of commitment to keeping Tennessee clean, green and safe.
In addition, the site features an interactive map that allows Tennesseans to search for recycling locations by county or ZIP code.
Keep Tennessee Beautiful has served the state of Tennessee for nearly 30 years as its primary resource center in three focus areas: litter prevention and education, community greening, and recycling and waste reduction. Keep Tennessee Beautiful is an Extended Programs department of the University of Memphis, sponsored through a grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation with funds from special taxes levied on malt beverage and the soft drink industries.
- Sarah Baker
US 30-Year Mortgage Drops to Record 3.67 Pct.
Average U.S. rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages this week fell to fresh record lows for the sixth straight week. Cheap mortgages continue to help boost prospects for home sales this year.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.67 percent. That’s down sharply from 3.75 percent last week and the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
The 15-year mortgage, a popular refinancing option, declined to 2.94 percent. That’s down from 2.97 percent last week.
To calculate average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.
The average does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
- The Associated Press
Haslam: Pre-K Funding, Vouchers no Package Deal
Gov. Bill Haslam is weighing both an increase in funding for the state’s public pre-kindergarten program and creating a school voucher system in Tennessee, though the Republican says he doesn’t consider the two proposals to be linked.
The governor told The Associated Press after a recent groundbreaking event outside Nashville that while both measures face heavy opposition among factions of lawmakers, he doesn’t see one as providing political cover for the other.
Haslam says his administration is delving into various studies detailing the pros and cons of both pre-K and vouchers. In his words: “Our job is to wade into the middle of that and see if it works for Tennessee.”
Republicans in the Legislature have traditionally been more supportive of voucher programs, while voicing more skepticism about pre-K.
Just days after a source said "American Idol" champ Phillip Phillips? was going to skip? a much-needed kidney surgery, a spokesperson for the 21-year-old singer said he underwent a procedure on Wednesday and is now resting comfortably.
"Surgery went well," a spokesperson told MTV News about the reportedly six-plus hour surgery in Los Angeles to remove kidney stones so large Entertainment Weekly reported that there was "no chance" he could have passed them on his own. "He's resting and will be ready for the 'Idol' tour kickoff in July!" the rep added about the 45-day summer outing slated to launch on July 6 in Detroit.
When you think about it, it's pretty incredible that Phillip Phillips was able to not only hang in, but win "American Idol" season 11 given the pain he was in from chronic kidney problems. The singer struggled with kidney stones during his entire run on "Idol," and had a stent implanted in one of his kidneys in March to prevent blockage, and allow him to keep competing on the show.
Phillips reportedly went through eight surgeries from the time "Idol" began in January until the May 23 finale, but this week's procedure could help alleviate a lot of the pain he's been suffering, according to a leading nephrologist.
"Kidney stones are fairly common ... occurring in more than 10 percent of men and 5 of women and once they've formed one, they're likely to form another," said Dr. Gary C. Curhan, a professor of medicine and editor-in-chief of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Typically made up of calcium, stones can be formed for a number of reasons, said Curhan, who is not treating Phillips and has no firsthand knowledge of his case. Those reasons include low fluid intake (which leads to concentrated urine), dietary factors, certain medications and, in some cases, an anatomical predisposition to forming them.
He also noted that the stent is a temporary measure and is typically very painful, but allows urine to continue flowing until the swelling in the ureter (the tubes that move urine from the kidneys to the bladder) goes down.
Phillips was slated to have reconstructive kidney surgery right after his "Idol" win, but, according to TMZ the procedure was postponed because of a bad sinus infection that triggered a high fever. TMZ also reported earlier that Phillips suffers from a serious congenital kidney condition that produces stones so large they cannot pass and which has seriously damaged his right kidney.
Curhan, who spoke to MTV News before Phillips had the surgery, said most stones will pass on their own, but in doing so will cause a huge amount of pain. Others are too big and require removal by a urologist, either by breaking them up with shockwaves or using a surgical tools to break them up internally or pull them out. He noted that it's rare for stones to form quickly, as they normally take months, or years and multiple surgeries in a short period of time is also unusual.
Cases where stones continually form and are hard to pass are typically caused by an anatomical difference that causes the kidney to drain urine improperly, which predisposes the patient to stones. "If aggressive therapy is not working, you have to have surgery to change the anatomy to help it drain better," he said. "There is risk involved in the procedure [surgery], but not treating it can also cause risk," he said.
Perrigo wins approval for renal failure drug - Drug Store News
Related Content
ALLEGAN, Mich. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug for kidney disease made by Perrigo.
Perrigo announced the approval of calcium acetate capsules, a generic version of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals' Phoslo Gelcaps. The drug is used to treat end-stage renal failure.
Perrigo settled a patent infringement lawsuit concerning the drug last year, though terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Annual sales of the branded version of the drug and generic versions were $95 million, according to Wolters Kluwer Health.
The Ins and Outs of the Doctor's Day - New York Times (blog)
Martin Barraud/Getty Images
The inpatient wards and the outpatient clinic are part of the same hospital where I work, but they are like different planets.
On the inpatient side, the patients are acutely ill — malignant brain tumor, acute renal failure, heart valve infections, intestinal bleeding, gravely low platelet levels, sudden-onset delirium, metastatic esophageal cancer, severe aortic valve stenosis, disseminated blood infection, liver failure, intractable seizures. Whenever I’ve started a month on the inpatient ward, I would always blanch the first time I’d look at my list of patients. After months in the clinic, I’d always forget how sick these patients could be.
Not so in the outpatient clinic, where patients get their regular medical care to manage everyday chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, obesity and heart disease. The prosaic nature of these diseases by no means suggests that outpatient medicine is calm. It’s quite the opposite, in fact — a nonstop frenetic pace of too much to do in too little time. But it’s comforting to know that there is a low likelihood that your patients will drop dead on the spot.
Traditionally, internists practiced both outpatient and inpatient medicine. In fact, this distinction was never even made: Doctors took care of you when you came to the office and took care of you when you were admitted to the hospital. In some ways, this model is the ideal — your doctor was your doctor, no matter where you were or how sick you were.
I tried this for a short time early in my career, working in a private practice office while also taking responsibility for the patients admitted to the hospital. But medicine had ballooned into a round-the-clock, high-tech affair in the years since Marcus Welby, and the two sides of medicine were nearly impossible to balance..
I would get up at the crack of dawn to round on the hospitalized patients, then rush to the office for a full slate of scheduled patients. Throughout the day, I’d field calls from the nurses in the hospital: Someone’s potassium was low. A patient had new symptoms of nausea. A feeding tube was clogged. The M.R.I. results were back. Dialysis was canceled.
It was the worst feeling in the world, trying to focus on patients in the office while managing my hospitalized patients by phone until I could finish up, then racing back to the hospital for evening rounds. I knew I was doing a substandard job with both sets of patients, but I couldn’t be in two places at once. This was simply unsustainable.
This turned out to be the general conclusion of the larger medical community. Prodded by efficiency pressures from managed care and the reality that most internists couldn’t feasibly do inpatient and outpatient medicine at the same time, the “hospitalist” subspecialty was created — doctors who would work full time on the inpatient side, caring for hospitalized patients on the minute-to-minute basis that they require, ideally staying fully in touch with the patient’s primary care doctor.
For better or worse, the last 15 years have solidified this model. There are now some 30,000 hospitalists, not to mention a professional hospitalist society, specialized journals and academic meetings.
There are many critics of the new model, rightly pointing out that it fragments care even more. But having practiced on both sides of the divide, I think that it is impossible to return to the old-style doc who does everything. Each job is all-consuming, and the patients require full energy and focus. There really isn’t any way to do both well.
The medical center where I work moved toward this model a decade ago. Over all, it works reasonably well, though inpatient-outpatient communication has yet to reach the ideal. But if one of my own patients is hospitalized while I’m at clinic, I can breathe a sigh of relief that she will be cared for by one of my colleagues who is present, full time, on the ward.
The net effect is that the inpatient and outpatient care of our patients is shared among a group of physicians who, ideally, all know and trust one another. It’s not a perfect system by any means, but among the imperfect choices out there, it is probably the best.
Despite my years doing this, I still cringe when someone calls me a “hospitalist” while I’m on the ward. It sounds like I am taking care of hospitals rather than patients. (But I’ve already given my two cents about this.)
There are moments when I pine for the simpler days (if they ever actually existed), when patients could get everything they needed from one doctor. But that era no doubt had as many flaws as strengths. As I rummage around in my pockets, trying to remember whether I’ve left my stethoscope on the inpatient ward or back in clinic, I accept that we can’t choose the era in which we practice medicine, so we may as well make the best of what we have.
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