McLaren Health Care

Cancer doesn’t wait for COVID-19. Even though your cancer screenings might look a little different this year, this isn’t the time to delay. Your best chance at detecting breast cancer is your annual mammogram, a diagnostic imaging procedure in which a low-dose X-ray captures images of breast tissue to be examined by a physician for masses and other abnormalities. Regular screenings through mammograms provide the patient and their physician with the best chance to detect breast cancer at an early stage, ...

Medications or minimally invasive treatments can address the potentially debilitating symptoms. A broad category, issues or irregularities within the heart linked to its physical structure, which include the heart’s valves and tissue, can be classified as a structural heart disease. A congenital disease, meaning the condition was present at birth, structural heart disease can also develop as people age, with symptoms becoming increasingly worse. And the likelihood of a disease developing increases if so...

After multiple miscarriages, one patient-doctor team brings a baby to term against the odds. Annette so wanted to complete her family. “He’s a blessing,” she said. “My miracle.” The improbable birth of her son didn’t come without a measure of heartache and struggle, but her faith, perseverance and the commitment of her physician ultimately brought her great joy when she brought Willie Jr., into the world. “I saw her lose three babies,” said Dr. Linda Karadsheh, an OB/GYN with McLaren Macomb. “I couldn’t...

After successful pregnancies, many mothers experience secondary infertility, the most common form of female infertility, when trying to grow their families. And baby makes three… Successfully forming a family by welcoming a baby into a loving partnership can be one of life’s great joys. So much so that many couples soon decide to expand their families by trying for another baby. But if time passes and pregnancy continues to elude a couple, many feelings can begin to set in, specifically frustration with...

“They did an excellent job preparing me for the next step.” Tim called his aches and pains “rewards of a life well spent.” Now in his 60s, Tim was feeling the results of his active life — a life in which he used to crash around on the football field, labor as a leisure and racing sailor and submerge as a scuba diver. Many mornings he would wake up sore or with a stiff back as a reminder of the previous day, but it had never reached the point where he became overly concerned until one morning in February...

Back surgery has progressed, with minimally invasive techniques allowing patients to stand and walk the next day. It’s a common complaint shared by countless people — an achy back. It could start simple enough — a stiff back in the morning when getting out of bed, then during activities, lifting something heavy or just when the day becomes long. But for so many, the ache becomes increasingly worse, reaching the point when it has a negative impact on what were once everyday activities. “When people hear ...

Living and standing again has a local man feeling grateful after a 30-foot fall. “The decisions made at that scene saved my life,” Mark says. “And someone made the decision to take me to McLaren Oakland, and that was where I needed to go.” In late June, as part of an operations crew, Mark was 30 feet up in a power lift cleaning a portion of a wall, having just squeezed the trigger of a power washer. Someone made the decision to take me to McLaren Oakland, and that was where I needed to go. That was the ...

Over the last 30 years, obesity has become the most prevalent disease in the world, and more people suffer from the health effects of obesity than from any other disease.  Morbid obesity, which is typically defined as having a BMI of 35 or higher, is a result of neurochemical changes that occur after a person gains a substantial amount of weight. As a result of these chemical changes, diets are often unsuccessful for patients with morbid obesity and surgical intervention has been shown to be the mo...

“Truly a medical emergency,” it’s vital to pay attention to risk factors. “Unfortunately, many patients don’t experience the symptoms of an aneurysm until it ruptures.” Dr. Aniel Majjhoo, an interventional neurologist at McLaren Macomb, describes one of those symptoms as a sudden and severe headache: “The worst headache of your life.” Aneurysms are a thinning or weakening of the arterial wall, creating a balloon-like bulge in the brain. Blood flow aids in the growth of aneurysms, and, in many cases, the...

There’s no denying that excess weight undermines good health — and it’s the reason weight loss always ranks among the most popular New Year’s resolutions. There are the countless diets and weight-loss plans — some effective, most less so. For those who need to lose weight and are seeking out methods that work, more people are turning to medical science — and bariatric surgery is a viable option. McLaren Port Huron’s Bariatric Center of Michigan is the Blue Water Area’s leader. The hospital’s bariatric s...