Latest news with #UniversityHealth
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Sangita Patel reflects on having an 'ugly cry' after being diagnosed with cancer: 'I've never had a breakdown'
Sangita Patel is reflecting on her journey with a rare form of thyroid cancer. In a interview released in March for "Carry The Fire," a podcast from the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation hosted by Canadian journalist Lisa LaFlamme, Patel opened up about receiving her diagnosis at the peak of her professional life. The Toronto-born TV host was told she had encapsulated angioinvasive oncoytic carcinoma in 2023. Although she's now cancer-free, she said she's only now begun healing emotionally from the life-changing diagnosis, surgeries and treatment. This April is Cancer Awareness Month, otherwise known as Daffodil Month. In honour of the special month, here's everything we learned about Patel's recent conversation with LaFlamme. Patel is a strong person, both physically and mentally. The former ET Canada host has cultivated an online presence filled with fitness, healthy recipes and positivity. This article was first published in March 2025. However, when LaFlamme asked the 46-year-old mother of two about her biggest takeaway from cancer, Patel had a surprising answer. "That I'm allowed to be weak," Patel said, adding that for her, weakness looks like "vulnerability." Despite the lesson, Patel added she's still learning how to put it into practice. Patel was understandably nervous when the lump on her throat was biopsied and when she underwent surgery to have one side of her thyroid removed. However, following the surgery, Patel's pathology report revealed she had encapsulated angioinvasive oncoytic carcinoma, also known as Hürthle cell carcinoma. It's a form of thyroid cancer that can be more aggressive and potentially spread to the lungs or bones. Patel said she understood the pathology report was serious because her husband, a radiologist named Samir, was quiet when reading the results. "It's bullshit. I was just like, 'I can't believe this is happening,'" Patel said. "I thought I've done my part. I'm healing. Life is good. I've done what I had to do ... and I'm like, 'What's wrong with me? What is happening right now?'" View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sangita Patel (@ Patel and her family decided to retreat to Barbados following the official diagnosis. Although the trip was supposed to be restorative, she said she experienced a new emotional low point. "I've never had a breakdown in my 45 years. I don't even know what happened. Something my daughter said. And we were at dinner, and I went back to our hotel room and I had the ugly cry," she said. "I don't remember the last time I ever had an ugly cry like that. And my husband was there, and I'm thinking about death, and I'm thinking about everything, just things I would never think about. I finally said, 'Holy shit, I could die.'" Patel said her husband admitted he had a similar breakdown after learning of her cancer and said she was going to do more to see how Samir's feeling even now that she's cancer-free. Patel's surgeon, Dr. Jesse Pasternak of University Health Network in Toronto, removed the rest of her thyroid. For both surgeries, Pasternak used a cutting edge method called TOETVA (transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy-vestibular approach). TOETVA involves making incisions inside the mouth to access the thyroid, instead of accessing the gland through the neck, meaning there's no visible scarring. Pasternak is the only surgeon in Canada using the method, and although the surgery was successful, he ordered more treatment to help prevent future cancer recurrences. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sangita Patel (@ "Radioactive iodine is an iodine pill that you take that has, instead of the regular iodine that we eat in our iodine salt, it's got a radioactive particle attached to it," he explained to LaFlamme. "Interestingly, only thyroid cells in the body use iodine, and so the iodine only goes to the thyroid cells, and then it basically explodes once it gets to those thyroid cells and kills the thyroid cell with it." While Patel is on the mend emotionally, she now focusing on new projects. That includes establishing a wellness brand, which she compared to Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. "Building my brand is what my goal is for the next few years, and I take it step by step. If there's one thing I do is I definitely stay on my own journey," she said. "I don't look to the left. I don't look to the right. I stay on my journey. "I don't even know how I got here, but it's partly because I stayed on my journey. And that's my next step, is to actually explode internationally, to be in that space, knowing there's a whole world out there."
Morocco World
25-02-2025
- Health
- Morocco World
Morocco to Digitize Children's Health Records
Doha – The National Observatory for Children's Rights (ONDE) has announced the launch of a digital child health record project. The announcement came during Monday's celebration of the Maghreb Days for School and University Health under the theme 'Importance of School Vaccination.' Directed by ONDE President Princess Lalla Meryem, the initiative is being implemented in collaboration with multiple partners, including the Population Department of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and various pediatric scientific societies. According to the announcement, the digitalization project aims to provide an integrated digital platform that will give families and healthcare professionals immediate access to children's essential medical information, including complete vaccination records and medical consultations. The initiative will enhance preventive healthcare by sending automatic reminders for vaccine appointments and medical examinations, ensuring accurate and sustainable monitoring of children's health. In addition to basic health monitoring, the project will establish a digital channel for distributing health guidelines and providing specialized consultations, particularly in mental health. This effort specifically targets the prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, learning disabilities, and hyperactivity. The project represents a qualitative shift in preventive healthcare management for children, improving the efficiency of medical interventions and contributing to faster, more effective health services in line with digital transformations occurring in the health sector both nationally and internationally. Meanwhile, the situation in Morocco regarding measles outbreaks remains concerning, especially among children. The country recorded 3,355 new cases between February 10-16, along with six deaths during the same period. Despite a slight decrease of 3.4% compared to the previous two weeks, the numbers reflect the continued spread of the virus in several regions. Authorities are currently accelerating the pace of a catch-up vaccination campaign in collaboration with the Ministries of Health and Social Protection, National Education, and Interior. The campaign includes reviewing more than 9 million health records to ensure children under 18 years old have received the recommended doses, as measles vaccine requires two doses for full effectiveness. The digital health record initiative aligns with Morocco's broader 'Digital Morocco 2030' national strategy, which places digital technology at the heart of national priorities. The strategy aims to transform Morocco into a digital hub to accelerate the country's social and economic development by focusing on two strategic axes: digitalizing public services and stimulating the digital economy. The plan includes three main accelerators: developing digital talents, expanding cloud services, and improving connectivity, with artificial intelligence and inclusive digital use as transversal levers for success. Read also: Report: Social Media Poses Risks for Children's Mental, Physical Health in Morocco Tags: Child healthcareHealth digitalizationONDE
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A look at University Health's history: Segregation, connected tunnel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Next year, University Health, formerly Truman Medical Center, will celebrate 50 years in its current building. Its roots, however, stem back more than a century, including 50 years of segregation and secrets buried below that eventually helped bring the hospitals together. For decades 22nd Street was the divide between General Hospital #1 and General Hospital #2. One was for white, the other for Black. The Kansas City flood of 1903 brought evidence Black residents may need their own hospital and doctors. National Wear Red Day falls on last Chiefs Red Friday of the year 'People were so paranoid of hospitals and they had such a bad reputation in terms of experimenting on African-Americans people would, even though they were injured or having heart attacks, they wanted to be served at home,' Kevin Willmott, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind 'From Separate to Equal,' said. 'After a new General Hospital was built in 1908, the old hospital became the hospital for the Black community. After a fire at that hospital, in 1930 an eight-story hospital was built across the street from present-day University Health, called General Hospital #2.' Alvin Brooks, who was a police officer at the time, remembers delivering a baby in a cab outside the hospital's doors and bringing an overdosing victim he transported back to life. 'The doctor said 'he's gone, he's gone.' I said 'Doc are you sure.' He said 'Yeah he's gone,'' Brooks recalled. 'I started hitting him in the back and he said Brooks, he said I was dead but I could hear everything you were saying.' General Hospital #2 over time became a source of pride. It had Black nurses and attracted some of the nation's top Black doctors. But didn't necessarily have top equipment. 'While General #2 was a building and a healthcare system that the Black community was grateful for, it didn't necessarily meet the standards of General 1,' Candice Brooks, University Health Community Relations Officer, said. 'Even though General #1 had the better things, when they wanted to they went over to #2 and took things,' Willmott said. Willadine Johnson, 84, delivered her first child at #2 and last child at #1. It was when she lost a child born preterm she'd learn of the two hospitals' underground connection. 'She (a nurse) said 'There's a tunnel and I will take you there so you can see her' and she did,' Johnson explained. By 1957, facing budgetary constraints of operating two hospitals, General Hospital began integration that was completed by the time they opened Truman Medical Center. The community safety net hospital has never shied away from its past, working with Willmott on the documentary From Separate to Equal and detailing its story on its walls 'I think it is an important history to remember and to tell,' Willmott said. 'I would say that our rich history really helps to pave the path for what we are today,' Candice Brooks said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
