Woman has both arms amputated and part of colon removed after horrific dog attack
Woman has both arms amputated and part of colon removed after horrific dog attack
A South Carolina woman lost both of her arms after she was viciously attacked by dogs.
GoFundMe{Officials said Kyleen Waltman may need more surgeries
The Abbeville County Sheriff’s Office said 38-year-old Kyleen Waltman was mauled by three dogs around 10.30am Monday at a home on Ball Road in Honea Path.
The mother-of-three had to be airlifted to a medical facility after the attack. Officials said she had to have both arms amputated and part of her colon removed as well.
Ms Waltman might also have to have her oesophagus removed, according to local reports.
“This is the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen,” Amy Wynne, Ms Waltman’s sister, told WYFF News .
Another sister, Shenna Green, told reporters that a man found her being attacked by the dogs. He had to get his gun out and shoot in the air to scare the animals off, she said.
“Her whole demeanour, everything about her has changed,” Ms Wynne said. “She’s woken up, which is good. She’s actually woken up, but it’s not her.”
Ms Waltman’s sisters want the owner of the dogs to be held accountable for the tragedy.
“It could’ve been prevented. If the dogs were locked up or if the dogs were chained up, or if they were never there to begin with, this would’ve never happened,” Ms Wynne said.
The dogs that attacked Ms Waltman lived in the area. Reports said there was a “beware of dogs” sign on the property.
The Abbeville County Sheriff’s office said that the animal control department has taken possession of the dogs.
Police are investigating the incident.
Reference: Independent: Maroosha Muzaffar
The tailor-made implant to stop men dying from a ruptured artery
The tailor-made implant to stop men dying from a ruptured artery
Around 80,000 men in England have an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a potentially life‑threatening bulge in the aorta (the main blood vessel that runs from the heart to the abdomen). Thomas Smart, 81, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, was one of the first in the world to receive a new graft to treat it, as he tells Adrian Monti.
The patient
My first and second abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) were found by chance — the first during an ultrasound scan during a check-up following prostate cancer surgery two years before.
It wasn’t causing discomfort but my doctor said it would grow and could eventually burst. I was monitored for about 18 months until it reached 5.5cm, when my consultant advised operating.
I had open surgery under general anaesthetic in October 2010 to repair my aorta. After making a 30cm (12in) cut, the surgeon used a graft, a man-made tube, which he sewed inside the ‘bulging’ part of the artery to strengthen the wall and allow blood to flow through it. I stayed in hospital for ten days and it took about six weeks to regain my strength.
Then, in 2020, I developed pains in my stomach, which turned out to be caused by polyps in my bowel. Scans to diagnose this also revealed a second aneurysm which I was told could be complex to treat.
Provided by Daily Mail Thomas Smart, 81, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, was one of the first in the world to receive a new graft to treat it, as he tells Adrian Monti
I was referred to Dr Raghu Lakshminarayan, who told me the second aneurysm was expanding fast.
This time I was offered a new type of man-made graft which I’d be among the first in the world to have. He said the graft would be inserted via small cuts at the top of each thigh and near my left shoulder. It would then be assembled inside me.
I had a four-and-a-half-hour operation in October 2020 and should have spent four days in hospital, but was in for 12 after getting pneumonia.
I had a scan last year and will have another this October. I’m reassured it’s fixed and I can get on with my life with my partner Jackie, which will include a holiday this summer.
The specialist
Dr Raghu Lakshminarayan is a consultant vascular radiologist at Hull Royal Infirmary.
All men in the UK are invited to attend a NHS screening at 65 to check for an AAA, to reduce the risk of death due to a rupture.
If an aneurysm is more than one-and-a-half times the aorta’s normal size (3cm in diameter), it’s defined as enlarged and requires planned surgery.
An AAA is thought to be caused by the artery furring due to ageing, smoking and high blood pressure, but the condition also runs in families. It’s three times more common in men than women, affecting around 4 per cent of men aged 65 to 74. There are usually no obvious symptoms.
If a swelling is detected, it will be regularly scanned as the worry is that it will burst, which can prove fatal in 80 per cent of cases, causing around 6,000 deaths in England each year.
Repairing aneurysms is traditionally done by open surgery — a major operation with some risks.
Under a general anaesthetic, a large incision is made down the abdomen before the aorta is clamped to stop the blood flow during surgery. The aneurysm is opened, and a graft (specific in length to the patient’s particular aneurysm) made of a flexible tube encased in a polyester fabric, is inserted — this acts like the artery wall and the aneurysm will stay the same size or shrink. After the surgery, the patient typically spends nine days recovering in hospital.
But in the past three decades, a technique called endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) has also been used. It involves keyhole surgery using a graft that has a metal scaffold inside it, allowing it to be compressed very tightly and inserted via a catheter tube into a tiny hole made in the patient’s groin.
Once at the site of the aneurysm, the graft expands to fit tightly like a cork in a wine bottle and acts like a liner to strengthen the weakened artery wall. Research shows this type of operation is less risky than open surgery — reducing the risk of death by nearly a third in the first month after. Also, the patient spends only three or four days in hospital.
These two types of surgery work for most patients, depending on the position of their aneurysm.
If the aneurysm is below the two kidney arteries on either side of the aorta or the patient has already had it repaired before, this can cause a problem, as was the case with Thomas — there was insufficient space left above his original graft to fit a standard second graft without blocking off the kidney arteries.
Normally, we would not be able to offer a safe option and Thomas’s aneurysm most likely would have eventually burst. But in 2019, Oxfordshire-based company Lombard Medical asked me to work with its team on a new design of graft to overcome this problem.
Instead of a traditional graft (which resembles a tiny pair of trousers with a waist) we decided to adapt an existing graft — 9cm in length — made of two tubes that are not joined together but sit side by side in the aorta leading to smaller tubes which supply blood to the legs.
In order not to block the blood supply to each kidney artery, we created two 6mm-wide open ‘windows’ on the outside of each tube at the point where the aorta connects to each kidney artery — extensions are then put into each tube and through each window into the kidney artery.
The graft is the first of its type in the world. We used CT scans and 3D-model printing to make an exact glass model of Thomas’s aortic aneurysm so we knew exactly where to place the graft, which we had made specifically.
As with all AAA repairs, patients will have an annual scan to check the graft is in place, and medication for life to stop blood clots.
Covid-19 slowed down the new graft being used more, but I’ve so far used it on another NHS patient and observed one being done in Doncaster. Eventually we hope to design a few ‘off-the-shelf’ grafts to use on patients with similar sorts of aortic aneurysms.
EVAR costs £8,000 to £10,000 on the NHS.
Reference: Adrian Monti for the Daily Mail
The danger of Sepsis: family almost loses son after thinking sepsis was a cold
The danger of Sepsis: family almost loses son after thinking sepsis was a cold
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the body's response to an infection damages its own tissues. When the infection-fighting processes turn on the body, they cause organs to function poorly and abnormally - this can may progress to septic shock.
The difficulty is that Sepsis can be hard to spot. There are lots of possible symptoms, and these can be vague. They can be like symptoms of other conditions, including flu or a chest infection.
One person who knows this better than most is Toby Grimberg. Back in February of 2018, Toby was given a 60 per cent chance of survival after he developed Sepsis.
Speaking to Herts Live, Toby's dad, Adam, said: “I got a phone call from the school about 20 minutes after they got back asking me to collect him and from then on it went quite rapidly downhill Toby was with me and his older brother Ben and he came downstairs and I gave him some calpol and a bite to eat and within 10 minutes he vomited all over the kitchen floor. At which point I phoned up Helen and said she had to come home, because he wasn’t well and it was worse than normal, there was something wrong."
By Saturday morning, Toby had developed a rash, and a very high temperature and because the GP surgery was shut, his mum called 111 to ask what to do. Helen said: "Because the doctor said it was just a cold and he seemed just poorly, that’s why he went to school, he didn’t seem that bad at that point. Then I thought, this seems a bit more than a cold.
"In the morning on Saturday I called 111 because I didn’t know what I should be doing. 111 were really helpful and within half an hour a doctor called back and they said we need an ambulance."
'We would know in 12 hours whether he would survive'
After a two hour wait the ambulance arrived, and that was the first point paramedics mentioned Sepsis. Toby had two of the biggest red flags for the condition, a rash and high temperature.
Toby was taken to Luton and Dunstable Hospital and very quickly isolated into his own cubicle where nurses and doctors began pumping him with antibiotics. The pediatrician doctor came to see him and initially diagnosed Scarlet Fever, Toby was then taken to his own room where his condition continued to get more severe.
Helen was with Toby when the atmosphere in the hospital room quickly changed. Lots of people began entering the room and Helen was asked to leave.
(Image: Adam Grimberg) Toby and his mum, Helen (Image: Adam Grimberg)
She said: “The doctor said, 'look we are going to have to intubate him', he needed a lot of fluid. Lots of people started coming in the room and the mood in the room changed massively and I was asked to leave.
“There was a lot of anxiety. It felt very odd, then the doctor told me, your son is very ill, he has sepsis and he’s gone into septic shock."
By this point, Helen and Adam were told that Toby would have to be taken into London, where a specialist team in children's ICU could begin the next steps. He was put into the care of specialist children's doctors who would know what to do.
After four hours of doctors and nurses trying to stabilise Toby, he was put into a medically induced coma. His kidneys and liver had begun failing and he was put on an Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine - the highest amount of life support a person can receive.
There are only five centres in the UK that offer that level of treatment. A person only goes on ECMO when doctors know it's a last resort.
'We thought it was flu at worst, we didn’t think it was anything like this'
By now, the situation had become very serious and his mum had no idea just how bad things had got. Helen said: “I just couldn’t believe what had happened in such a short space of time.
"A nurse said it was touch and go, and we would know in 12 hours whether he would survive. We’d never been in that environment, we did not expect this from a cold.”
Toby was on life support for five days, before medical staff began slowly taking him off and he was eventually transferred back to Luton. He stayed there for a couple of nights until he was allowed home.
Sepsis kills around 50,000 people per year and thankfully Toby survived it, doctors said that due to Toby's age and the fact he plays a lot of sport, helped him through the worst stages. Toby still required daily intrevenous injections at the hospital every day to continue to fight what his body had been through.
Helen and Adam took it upon themselves to speak openly about Toby's journey through Sepsis, asking for more support and more awareness as to what it means and how it can be caught early. They also want to see more support for the months after the illness, as people's mental and physical health can still suffer.
Sepsis Research FEAT is the UK’s only charity dedicated to funding research into sepsis while also working to raise awareness of this life-threatening condition. The charity’s campaigns rely on supporters like Helen and Toby sharing their sepsis stories to show others the importance of learning the symptoms and seeking urgent medical attention.
Symptoms of sepsis can include:
- fever and/or chills
- confusion or disorientation
- difficulty breathing
- fast heart rate or low blood pressure (hypotension)
- extreme pain
- sweaty skin
Helen said: "I think we really need to promote them, I think by spreading the word about Sepsis we can stop people dying, it's too many and it can be avoided. Once parents are told this is Sepsis, all you can do is hope and pray."
Adam spoke of what they would have done, had they been more aware of the situation and if they had spotted the signs of Sepsis in Toby. The only option is ambulance care when Sepsis begins to set in.
He said: “If we were more knowledgeable, we would have got him to hospital 24 hours earlier but we didn’t know, we thought it was flu at worst, we didn’t think it was anything like this. A GP appointment won’t cut the mustard, it has to be an ambulance, it has to be straight to intensive care, and they can hopefully cut all of this off without the onset of organ failure which is horrific to watch.”
Colin Graham, Chief Operating Officer at Sepsis Research FEAT, said: "A massive thank you to Toby’s family for sharing their story to support our charity’s work. 5 people in the UK die every hour from sepsis. Despite the shocking figures, many people are still unaware of how serious it is.
"If more people have a better understanding of the condition and the signs to look out for then this could lead to more lives being saved. If, like Toby’s family, you have personal experience of sepsis, please consider sharing your story to help others learn more about it.
“Sepsis is an indiscriminate, deadly condition that can kill a healthy person in a matter of hours. The biological processes that cause sepsis are not understood, and this is why we need more research.
"In addition to our awareness raising work, our charity relies on legacies and donations to help us fund research into improved treatments that could save more lives. We would be grateful for any support you could give Sepsis Research FEAT to help in the fight against sepsis.”
Reference: Hull Live: Jaimie Kay & Rachel Hains
How cyberchondria can send us into a spiral of health anxiety
How cyberchondria can send us into a spiral of health anxiety
Provided by Metro Does googling too much about your symptoms cause you alarm? (Picture: Getty/Metro.co.uk)
Do you run to Dr Google for a consultation after an ache, pain or newfound symptom? You’re not alone.
According to the official Google blog, one in 20 Google searches are for health-related information, while Pew Research found that eight out of 10 online health seekers begin at a search engine.
While Googling your symptoms isn’t recommended (and if you decide to do so, try to use verified sources like the NHS Symptom checker) most of us will still do it – looking for basic information but knowing to take any findings with a pinch of salt.
However, some people will spend hours searching up repeated symptoms on different websites, which can lead to a range of terrifying diagnoses – contributing to significant health anxiety.
This process – where using the internet specifically to search for medical information, which leads to health anxiety – is known as cyberchondria.
It refers to people who excessively use the internet to research symptoms and health conditions, and then get stressed and anxious about the results they read.
The term was first coined in the early 2000s, when it was reported that an increasing number of patients were printing out their possible health outcomes and taking it to the doctor.
However, researchers have agreed cyberchondria should be treated as a form of anxiety of its own right – despite still knowing little about the exact underlying mechanisms.
What’s the difference between hypochondria and cyberchondria?
Like hypochondria, cyberchondria involves excessive anxiety about health.
Cyberchondria is specifically when over-internet searching due to health anxiety occurs.
However, cyberchondria is believed to affect more people because access to the internet is so widespread nowadays.
‘Previously, hypochondriacs could only gather data on their health from libraries or physicians,’ Mariana Bodiu, from mental wellbeing company Plumm Health, tells Metro.co.uk.
‘Nowadays, its possible to access [medical information] on the go or from home on your smartphone.
‘Due to easy access to the internet, it is believed that cyberchondria affects more people.
Microsoft published a study on cyberchondria back in 2008. It looked at two key areas, characterising cyberchondria and studying the effects of the condition over time.
At the time, the company said they were taking ‘the first step’ when it came to research in this field, as ‘none of the prior studies addressed the important issue of the links between online activity and medical anxiety.’
Provided by Metro It’s easy to get swept up in Google-provoked panic (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Ultimately, the study found that ‘escalation of medical concerns’ was potentially related to the amount and distribution of medical content viewed by users and the presence of ‘escalatory terminology’ – such as ‘cancerous’ or ‘life threatening.’
This means that the scarier the users found the content, the more reading and research they went into for longer periods of time.
If you feel like this is something you might be suffering from, Mariana strongly recommends not to ‘DIY’ it.
‘If you have a health query or concern it’s best to seek advice from a medical professional,’ she says. ‘Making an appointment with your doctor to discuss will be a healthier approach than self-researching.’
She also says to try and decrease your screen time to try and ‘not get lost down the rabbit hole.’
Jonjo Hancock-Fell at Westfield Health, agrees.
‘If you really feel to urge to have a quick look, make sure you are reading credible sources,’ says Jonjo. ‘This way, you are less likely to run into drastic, dramatic, and unfounded diagnoses.’
The most important thing to do is ‘speak up’ when discussing this with a professional. ‘Discuss the cycle you can find yourself in and how you can be supported to manage the anxiety effectively.’
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that this is a condition that shouldn’t be downplayed.
Health anxiety, cyberchondria and other related disorders should be taken seriously – if you suffer from this, no one should put it down to a ‘little worry,’ – which is why seeking help from a qualified professional is extremely important.
Reference: Metro: Zesha Saleem
Articles - Most Read
- Home
- LIVER DIS-EASE AND GALL BLADDER DIS-EASE
- Contacts
- African Wholistics - Medicines, Machines and Ignorance
- African Wholistics -The Overlooked Revolution
- African Holistics - Seduced by Ignorance and Research
- The Children of the Sun-3
- Kidney Stones-African Holistic Health
- The Serpent and the RainBow-The Jaguar - 2
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-3
- 'Tortured' and shackled pupils freed from Nigerian Islamic school
- King Leopold's Ghost - Introduction
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-4
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-2
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-5
- African Wholistics - Medicine
- Menopause
- The Black Pharaohs Nubian Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
- The Mystery System
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-6
Who's On Line?
We have 62 guests and no members online
Ad Agency Remote
Articles - Latest
- The Male G Spot Is Real—and It's the Secret to an Unbelievable Orgasm
- Herbs for Parasitic Infections
- Vaginal Care - From Pubes to Lubes: 8 Ways to Keep Your Vagina Happy
- 5 Negative Side Effects Of Anal Sex
- Your Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
- Struggling COVID-19 Vaccines From AstraZeneca, BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna Cut Incidence Of Arterial Thromboses That Cause Heart Attacks, Strokes, British Study Shows
- Cartilage comfort - Natural Solutions
- Stop Overthinking Now: 18 Ways to Control Your Mind Again
- Groundbreaking method profiles gene activity in the living brain
- Top 5 health benefits of quinoa
- Chromolaena odorata - Jackanna Bush
- Quickly Drain You Lymph System Using Theses Simple Techniques to Boost Immunity and Remove Toxins
- Doctors from Nigeria 'facing exploitation' in UK
- Amaranth, callaloo, bayam, chauli
- 9 Impressive Benefits of Horsetail
- Collagen The Age-Defying Secret Of The Stars + Popular Products in 2025
- Sarcopenia With Aging
- How to Travel as a Senior (20 Simple Tips)
- Everything you need to know about mangosteen