Blog Topic: Patient Stories

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  Giving New Life to Dead Bones

  December 14, 2012

  While most artificial hip joints in use today will last 10-20 years, like all devices, the artificial hip joint – which replaces the natural hip bone with a metal ball and resurfaces the hip socket with a metal shell and plastic liner – wears out over time. For younger patients, this means a second surgery (and maybe even a third) will be required to replace the artificial joint. Fortunately, a rare procedure now being offered by specialists at Penn Medicine provides a long-term alternative for younger patients with chronic hip pain.

  Orthopaedics Patient Stories Surgery
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  A Runner's Heart Healed

  November 16, 2012

  In April 2009, Penn patient Elliot Gordon suffered from an aortic dissection, and required almost immediate open-heart surgery. Less than four years later Gordon will attempt to complete the Philadelphia Half-Marathon Sunday.

  Heart Patient Stories Surgery
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  Be a Hero. Donate Blood.

  November 07, 2012

  Do you donate blood? If you’re like the majority of Americans –- more than 90 percent -- the answer is no. Most people don’t think about it in their busy lives. Or they feel someone else will take up the slack. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Less than 40 percent...

  Cancer Community Patient Stories

• 140 Miles of Grace

  October 09, 2012

  On October 20th, 2012, HUP traumatic brain injury survivor Candace Gantt will participate in an Ironman Triathlon in Wilmington, North Carolina called Beach to Battleship to raise funds for brain injury research in Penn’s Center for Brain Injury and Repair (CBIR).

  Brain and Behavior Patient Stories
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  First Look: Working Through OCD

  October 05, 2012

  A team of Perelman School of Medicine researchers, led by Edna Foa PhD, director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, are conducting the first study that examines whether one of the most effective forms of psychotherapy for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), exposure and ritual prevention (EX/RP), can help people with OCD achieve and maintain wellness after they stop taking the medications their doctors prescribe for their OCD.

  Brain and Behavior Patient Stories Research
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  Celebrating Every Moment

  September 21, 2012

  Chemo luauBeach Boys music, hot dogs, sheet cake and feather boas aren’t the tools oncologists usually use to attack cancer. But along with powerful drugs and targeted radiation treatments, they’ve all played a big role in helping Debbie Hemmes, a 52-year-old Abramson Cancer Center patient from Westampton, NJ, fight lung cancer. Debbie’s daughter, Kelly McCollister, quickly added her own prescription to the list: a special party during each chemo session to help her mom count down the days until she finished her treatment.

  Cancer Community Complementary and Alternative Medicine In the News Patient Care Patient Stories
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  Blinded by the Light

  September 14, 2012

  One man’s refusal to let choroideremia slow him down Image courtesy of E.J. Scott Earlier this year, the world paused to watch its greatest athletes take center stage and compete for the gold in the Games of the XXX Olympiad. The United States’ Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian...

  Basic Science Patient Stories Research
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  Penn's Transplant House: A Home Away From Home

  July 20, 2012

  The Penn Transplant Institute’s reputation draws patients from across the nation who are waiting for a second chance at life. It is the region’s leader in total number of organ transplants performed; Penn transplant surgeons performed over 400 solid organ transplants during the 2011 fiscal year, including heart, liver, kidney,...

  Patient Care Patient Stories Surgery Transplant

• The Rickels Standard

  July 09, 2012

  “We need new and better ways to treat our patients, not just ‘me, too’ medications. We need new and daring approaches. Our patients deserve it!”

  Health Care Quality and Safety Patient Care Patient Stories Penn Medicine Magazine Research

• Pharmacists Play Key Role in Reducing Medication Errors Among Hospitalized Patients

  June 18, 2012

  Drugs used in hospitals are meant to save lives – to battle infections, kill cancer cells, control pain, steady uneven heart beats, and prevent blood clots from forming when patients are unable to get out of bed and move around. But despite these healing powers, medication errors are common, and the consequences can be severe. According to the Food and Drug Administration, medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people each year in the United States. And countless so-called "near-misses" with incorrect dosing or drug mix-ups go unreported. In response, the federal government and hospitals across the nation have made cutting medication errors a cornerstone of patient safety initiatives. Baligh Yehia, MD, MSHP, MPP, an Infectious Diseases fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, recently published a study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases examining the prevalence of antiretroviral medication errors among hospital patients infected with HIV. Medication errors are a risk during hospitalizations of all kinds, but HIV patients are especially vulnerable.

  Education Health Care Quality and Safety Infectious Disease Patient Stories