Tag: iab-surgery

Tiger Woods Fast Facts | CNN

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Here’s a look at one of the most successful golfers in history, Tiger Woods.

Birth date: December 30, 1975

Birth place: Cypress, California

Birth name: Eldrick Tont Woods

Father: Earl Woods

Mother: Kultilda (Punsawad) Woods

Marriage: Elin Nordegren (October 5, 2004-August 23, 2010, divorced)

Children: Charlie Axel and Sam Alexis

Education: Attended Stanford University, 1994-1996

Won the Masters Tournament five times, the US Open three times, the PGA Championship four times and the British Open three times.

Woods is the PGA career money list leader.

With 82 PGA Tour wins, Woods is tied with Sam Snead for most all-time career victories.

His father nicknamed him “Tiger” after a South Vietnamese soldier with whom he had fought alongside during the Vietnam War.

1978 – At the age of 2, wins a putting contest with Bob Hope. The match was staged for the “Mike Douglas Show.”

1980 – Appears on the TV show “That’s Incredible.”

1991 – Wins his first US Junior Amateur golf championship. At 15 years of age, Woods was the youngest champion in history until 14-year-old Jim Liu broke his record in 2010.

1992 – Wins his second US Junior Amateur golf championship.

February 27, 1992 – Competes in his first PGA tournament at the age of 16. He is given a sponsor’s exemption in order to play and is the youngest player ever to play in a PGA tournament at that time.

1993 – Wins his third US Junior Amateur golf championship.

1994-1996 – Wins three consecutive US Amateur golf championships.

August 27, 1996 – Turns professional.

August 1996 – Signs a five-year endorsement deal with Nike worth $40 million.

October 6, 1996 – Wins his first tournament as a professional at the Las Vegas Invitational.

1996 – Forms the Tiger Woods Foundation for the promotion of minority participation in golf and other sports. In February 2018, the charity is renamed TGR Foundation to reflect its growth and scope.

April 13, 1997 – Wins his first Masters Tournament.

May 19, 1997 – Signs an endorsement deal with American Express worth between $13 and $30 million.

June 1997 – Becomes the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world after his 42nd week on the PGA Tour. At 21 years, 24 weeks, he is the youngest player ever to hold the No. 1 spot.

August 15, 1999 – Wins his first PGA championship.

June 18, 2000 – Wins his first US Open by 15 strokes, the largest margin in US Open history.

July 23, 2000 – Wins his first British Open.

September 14, 2000 – Signs a five-year endorsement contract with Nike. It is worth an estimated $85 million, making it the richest endorsement contract in sports history, at the time.

June 16, 2002 – Wins his second US Open.

December 8, 2003 – Named PGA Player of the Year for the fifth straight year.

May 13, 2005 – Woods fails to make the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. It is the first time since 1998 that Woods is eliminated from a tournament.

November 23, 2005 – Wins the PGA Grand Slam of Golf for a record-breaking sixth time.

February 10, 2006 – Opens the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, California.

May 3, 2006 – Woods’ father, Earl Woods, dies of prostate cancer.

July 23, 2006 – Wins his third British Open.

August 20, 2006 – Wins his third PGA Championship.

August 12, 2007 – Wins his fourth PGA Championship.

April 15, 2008 – Undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He had two prior surgeries on the same knee, first in 1994 to remove a benign tumor, and another arthroscopic surgery in December 2002.

June 16, 2008 – Wins the US Open in sudden death, defeating Rocco Mediate.

June 18, 2008 – Woods announces that he will undergo reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery on his left knee and will miss the remainder of the PGA tour season.

February 26, 2009 – After an eight-month hiatus from golf due to knee surgery, Woods plays the second round of the World Golf Championships Match Play and loses to Tim Clark.

November 15, 2009 – Wins the Australian Masters.

November 27, 2009 – Is taken to a hospital after being injured in a car accident in front of his home in Florida. He is released later the same day.

December 2, 2009 – Woods apologizes for “transgressions” that let his family down – the same day a gossip magazine publishes a report alleging he had an affair. He does not admit to an affair and offers no details about the “transgressions” in his statement.

February 19, 2010 – Makes a televised statement apologizing for being unfaithful to his wife and letting down both fans and family. “I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame,” he says. Responding to rumors, Woods says that his wife never hit him, as some media reported in connection with the car crash on November 27, 2009, and that there has “never been an episode of domestic violence” in his relationship with his wife. Woods also says that he entered a rehabilitation center for 45 days, from the end of December to early February, and that he will continue to receive treatment and therapy.

October 31, 2010 – After 281 straight weeks, the longest in Official World Golf Ranking history, Woods loses his No. 1 ranking to Lee Westwood.

2010 – Loses about $20 million from estimated endorsements after sponsors including Gatorade, AT&T and Accenture end ties. Other sponsors including Nike, Upper Deck and EA Sports remain with Woods.

June 7, 2011 – Announces he will miss the US Open due to knee and Achilles tendon injuries.

July 19, 2011 – Woods announces that after a 12-year relationship, he and caddie Steve Williams will no longer be working together.

August 4, 2011 – Returns to golf at the Bridgestone Invitational, after a nearly three-month break.

August 11, 2011 – Plays one of his worst first rounds of golf in a major championship. He fails to make the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time in his career.

October 3, 2011 – For the first time in 15 years, Woods does not make it onto golf’s top 50 players list, according to the official World Golf Ranking.

October 5, 2011 – Signs a new endorsement deal with Swiss watch-maker Rolex.

March 25, 2012 – Earns his first PGA Tour win since September 2009, in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.

June 3, 2012 – With his win at the Memorial Tournament, ties Jack Nicklaus with 73 PGA Tour victories.

July 2, 2012 – Beats Nicklaus’ PGA Tour record with the AT&T National win. Woods’ 74th PGA Tour win ranks him in second place on the all-time list.

September 3, 2012 – Becomes the first PGA tour participant to earn $100 million.

March 25, 2013 – Woods wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the eighth time, and regains the No. 1 spot.

March 31, 2014 – Woods undergoes back surgery for a pinched nerve.

August 23, 2015 – Posts a top 10 finish at his debut at the Wyndham Championships but ends his season as the 257th ranked player in the world. His finish was four shots off eventual winner Davis Love III. Woods has now missed the cut for three majors in a row.

December 1, 2015 – Announces that he underwent his third microdiscectomy surgery last month – a procedure to remove bone around a pinched nerve to allow space for it to heal – and admits he has no idea when he will be back on the course.

July 20, 2016 – It is announced that Woods will miss the PGA Championship due to his continued recovery from back surgery. This marks the first time in his career that he has missed all four major championships.

December 4, 2016 – Woods finishes 14 shots behind the winner in the Hero World Challenge, his first competitive event in more than a year.

May 29, 2017 – Woods is arrested on suspicion of DUI in Jupiter, Florida. He says in a statement that he had “an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications” and that alcohol was not involved.

June 19, 2017 – Woods announces that he is receiving professional help to manage medication for back pain and a sleep disorder.

July 3, 2017 – Announces that he has completed an intensive program for managing his medications.

October 27, 2017 – Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving. His 12-month probation is contingent on completing any recommended treatment including DUI school, 50 hours of community services and random drug and alcohol testing.

December 3, 2017 – Making his long-awaited return from a fourth back surgery – his first tournament for 301 days since pulling out of the Dubai Desert Classic in February – Woods finishes in a tie for ninth place in the Hero World Challenge tournament in the Bahamas.

September 23, 2018 – Wins the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, for his first PGA Tour victory since August 2013 and his 80th overall.

April 14, 2019 – Wins his fifth Masters and 15th major title.

May 6, 2019 – President Donald Trump presents Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during a White House ceremony.

October 27, 2019 – Wins his record-equaling 82nd PGA Tour title at the Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan. Woods is tied with legendary golfer Sam Snead, who won 82 titles throughout his more than 50-year career.

May 24, 2020 – Woods and Peyton Manning defeat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady by one stroke in “The Match: Champions for Charity” golf tournament at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida. The event raises over $20 million for coronavirus relief efforts and captures an average of 5.8 million viewers to become the most-watched golf telecast in the history of cable television.

February 23, 2021 – Woods is hospitalized after a serious one-car rollover accident in Los Angeles County, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Wood’s agent Mark Steinberg said the golfer suffered “multiple leg injuries” and was in surgery following the accident. The next day, Woods is “awake, responsive, and recovering” in the hospital after emergency surgery on his lower right leg and ankle at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The leg fractures were “comminuted,” meaning the bone was broken into more than two parts, and “open,” meaning the broken bone was exposed to open air, creating risk of an infection, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anish Mahajan says in the statement.

November 29, 2021 – In an exclusive interview published in Golf Digest, Tiger Woods speaks publicly about his golfing future for the first time since his car crash. “I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day, never full time, ever again, but pick and choose, just like Mr. (Ben) Hogan did,” Woods tells interviewer Henni Koyack.

March 9, 2022 – Woods is inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the PGA Tour headquarters in Florida.

April 7, 2022 – Tees off in the first round of the Masters, his first tournament in 14 months, completing a remarkable comeback after sustaining serious leg injuries in his February 2021 car crash.

October 2022 – Erica Herman, a former girlfriend of Woods, files a complaint in Martin County, Florida after their six-year relationship comes to end. Herman alleges a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act by breaking the oral tenancy agreement. On March 6, 2023, Herman files a second complaint aimed at nullifying the NDA she signed in 2017. On May 17, 2023, a Florida judge rules against Herman, calling her claims that the NDA is invalid and unenforceable “implausibly pled.” In June 2023, Herman drops her lawsuit alleging a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act. In November 2023, Herman drops her appeal to nullify the NDA.

April 19, 2023 – Announces he has completed “successful” surgery on his ankle following his withdrawal from The Masters earlier this month.

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November 20, 2023
‘Dinner plate sized’ device found inside woman’s abdomen 18 months after cesarean birth | CNN

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A surgical tool the size of a dinner plate was found inside a woman’s abdomen 18 months after her baby was delivered by cesarean section, according to a report by New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commissioner.

An Alexis retractor, or AWR, which can measure 17 centimeters (6 inches) in diameter, was left inside the mother’s body following the birth of her baby at Auckland City Hospital in 2020.

The AWR is a retractable cylindrical device with a translucent film used to draw back the edges of a wound during surgery.

The woman suffered months of chronic pain and went for several checkups to find out what was wrong, including X-rays that showed no sign of the device. The pain got so severe that she visited the hospital’s emergency department and the device was discovered on an abdominal CT scan and removed immediately in 2021.

New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commissioner, Morag McDowell, found Te Whatu Ora Auckland – the Auckland District Health Board – in breach of the code of patient rights, in a report released on Monday.

The health board initially claimed that a nurse, who was in her 20s, attending to the woman during the cesarean had failed to exercise reasonable skill and care towards the patient.

“As set out in my report, the care fell significantly below the appropriate standard in this case and resulted in a prolonged period of distress for the woman,” McDowell said. “Systems should have been in place to prevent this from occurring.”

The report explained that the woman had a scheduled C-section because of concerns about placenta previa, a problem during pregnancy when the placenta completely or partially covers the opening of the uterus.

During the operation in 2020, a count of all surgical instruments used in the procedure did not include the AWR, the commission report found. This was possibly “due to the fact that the Alexis Retractor doesn’t go into the wound completely as half of the retractor needs to remain outside the patient and so it would not be at risk of being retained,” a nurse told the commission.

McDowell recommended the Auckland District Health Board make a written apology to the woman and revise its policies by including AWRs as part of the surgical count.

The case has also been referred to the director of proceedings, an official who will determine whether any further action should be taken.

Dr Mike Shepherd, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand group director of operations for Te Toka Tumai Auckland, apologized for the error in a statement.

“On behalf of our Women’s Health service at Te Toka Tumai Auckland and Te Whatu Ora, I would like to say how sorry we are for what happened to the patient, and acknowledge the impact that this will have had on her and her whānau [family group].”

“We would like to assure the public that incidents like these are extremely rare, and we remain confident in the quality of our surgical and maternity care.”

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September 4, 2023
Lisa Marie Presley died of complications from prior weight-loss surgery, autopsy report shows | CNN

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A report by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner states Lisa Marie Presley’s death in January was caused by a “sequelae of a small bowel obstruction.”

A small bowel obstruction is a blockage in the small intestine, often because of things like scar tissue, a hernia or cancer. Without surgery, it can cause bowel tissue to die or perforate, leading to death.

Presley’s autopsy report, obtained by CNN on Thursday, included the official opinion of deputy medical examiner Dr. Juan M. Carrillo, who attributed her small bowel obstruction to “adhesions (or, scar tissue) that developed after bariatric surgery years ago. This is a known long term complication of this type of surgery.”

Carrillo also stated that he reviewed the autopsy toxicology results, which showed “therapeutic” levels of oxycodone in Presley’s blood – i.e., levels that are in the range of medically helpful, and not dangerous. He added that quetapine metabolite (used to treat depression, schizophrenia or manic episodes) and buprenorphine (a painkiller that can also be used to treat opioid addiction) were present but “not contributory to death.”

“There is no evidence of injury or foul play. The manner of death is deemed natural,” Carrillo concluded.

Dr. Michael Camilleri, a consultant and professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic, told CNN on Thursday that the medications found in Presley’s may “have slowed down the motility of the intestine and would have made it perhaps more likely” for it to get “obstructed by the adhesions.”

“Unfortunately, adhesions can happen to anybody,” he added. “And just because there were these other medications on board doesn’t necessarily mean that the person was more prone to develop the complications.”

Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of the late Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, died hours after being hospitalized following an apparent cardiac arrest on January 12. The medical examiner’s report also detailed that she was complaining of abdominal pain on the morning of her death.

Dr. Folasade P. May, associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the Melvin and Bren Simon Gastroenterology Quality Improvement Program, told CNN Thursday that she suspects Presley “developed a cardiac arrest because she had a severe complication from the small bowel obstruction.” Neither doctor interviewed by CNN for this report was directly involved in Presley’s case.

She was 54.

Video shows Lisa Marie Presley on the Golden Globes red carpet

“Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie,” the family said in a statement at the time. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

Lisa Marie Presley’s last public appearance just days before her death was at the Golden Globe Awards, which she attended with her mother to support the Baz Luhrmann film “Elvis,” about her late father.

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July 13, 2023
Tiger Woods to miss PGA Championship as he continues ankle surgery recovery | CNN

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Tiger Woods will not play in the PGA Championship next week, with the 47-year-old absent from the tournament’s field list released on Wednesday.

The four-time champion was not named among the 155 players set to tee off on May 18 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, for the second men’s major of the season.

Woods underwent “successful” ankle surgery in April after an early withdrawal from The Masters, however no timeline was specified for a return to competitive action.

The fifteen-time major winner’s competitive appearances have been few and far between since he suffered severe leg injuries in a car crash in 2021, but Woods has prioritized appearances at the four major championships.

He had missed only one of five potential major outings – the 2022 US Open – since his return from a 17-month absence from the sport.

His appearance at the 2022 PGA Championship in Tulsa marked his second major appearance since his comeback. Woods made the cut at Southern Hills, but – as at The Masters in April – subsequently withdrew after a painful third round. A nine-over 79, including five straight bogeys, saw him card a career-worst score at the event.

Only five-time winners Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen have more PGA Championship victories than Woods, who defended his title at Tulsa in 2007 to clinch his fourth win at the tournament.

Jordan Spieth will tee up at Oak Hill in his pursuit of a career grand slam, having withdrawn from this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson Classic in Texas due to a left wrist injury.

The Dallas-born golfer expressed his disappointment at missing out on his home tournament under doctor’s orders for “rest and limited movement,” he said in a statement released to Twitter on Monday.

Runner-up in 2015, the 29-year-old is a PGA Championship crown away from becoming only the sixth golfer to win all four majors in the modern era, after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Nicklaus, and Woods.

To do so this month, Spieth will have to overcome a star-studded field headlined by Jon Rahm, who claimed his first green jacket at The Masters in dominant fashion at Augusta in April.

The Spaniard tops the world rankings ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, with the latter looking to add a third PGA Championship to his four-major haul.

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May 11, 2023
Democratic congressman has surgery to remove cancerous tumor in his tonsil | CNN Politics

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Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan had surgery Monday to remove a small cancerous tumor in his tonsil, his office said.

Kildee, who announced last month that he’d been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, will stay at George Washington University Hospital “for the next several days as part of the normal recovery process,” his chief of staff, Mitchell Rivard, said in a statement, adding that he’d continue his recovery at home later in the week.

Kildee will miss House votes while he recovers. “During this time, the Congressman will be submitting written statements for the record to the House Clerk for any missed recorded votes, to keep his constituents updated on his positions,” Rivard said.

In announcing his diagnosis, Kildee said he’d scheduled what he had thought would be a “preventative scan for a swollen lymph node.” Following additional testing, however, he received his diagnosis. “Thankfully, I caught it very early,” he said.

“The prognosis after surgery and treatment is excellent,” Kildee said at the time. “I am going to get through this. I’m going to beat cancer.”

First elected to congress in 2012, Kildee currently represents Michigan’s 8th Congressional District and is co-chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

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April 17, 2023
$Sen. Blumenthal will undergo ‘routine surgery’ after fracturing femur during parade | CNN Politics$

Sen. Blumenthal will undergo ‘routine surgery’ after fracturing femur during parade | CNN Politics

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Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal will undergo “routine surgery” on Sunday after he fractured his femur at a University of Connecticut men’s basketball victory parade.

Connecticut’s senior senator said in a post on Twitter that the fracture happened during the team’s parade Saturday in honor of their NCAA championship win last week.

“I did indeed fracture my femur after a fellow parade goer tripped & fell on me during the parade today,” Blumenthal said. “Routine surgery tomorrow just to make sure everything heals properly. I expect a full recovery!”

Blumenthal was replying to Sen. Chris Murphy, a fellow Connecticut Democrat who was also at the parade and tweeted that his colleague “FINISHED THE PARADE” after breaking his femur. “Most Dick Blumenthal thing ever,” Murphy said.

The 77-year-old Blumenthal won a third Senate term last fall. First elected in 2010, he previously served five terms as Connecticut’s attorney general.

The Senate is set to reconvene April 17. The Democratic Caucus’s narrow 51-49 advantage in the chamber means any absence could affect key votes. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman was recently discharged from a hospital where he was being treated for depression and expects to return when the Senate reconvenes.

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April 9, 2023
Indiana and Idaho enact bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth | CNN Politics

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Indiana Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill Wednesday to ban gender affirming care for minors in the state, following a growing trend of GOP-led states restricting transgender youth’s access to such treatments after Idaho enacted similar legislation earlier in the week.

“Permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelong impacts and medically prescribed preparation for such a transition should occur as an adult, not as a minor,” Holcomb said in a statement upon signing Senate Bill 480 into law.

The legislation, which takes effect July 1, states that physicians or practitioners who provide minors with such care, including puberty blocking medication, hormone therapy and surgery intended to help transition genders, will be subject to discipline by their regulatory board.

Transgender youths’ access to gender-affirming care – medically necessary, evidence-based care that uses a multidisciplinary approach to help a person transition from the gender they were designated at birth to the gender by which they want to be known – has become a flashpoint in red states across the country.

Some Republicans have expressed concern over long-term outcomes and whether children should be able to make such consequential decisions, even with parental consent. But major medical associations say that gender-affirming care is clinically appropriate for children and adults with gender dysphoria – a psychological distress that may result when a person’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth do not align, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Indiana’s new legislation was met with immediate backlash by LGBTQ advocates.

The American Civil Liberties Union and local ACLU of Indiana sued the state Wednesday on behalf of four transgender youth and their families, as well as a doctor and healthcare clinic, alleging the new law violates their constitutional rights.

“Gender-affirming care is life-saving care for our clients,” Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, said in a statement. “No child should be cut off from the medical care they need or denied their fundamental right to be themselves — but this law would do both.”

Holcomb’s signing of SB 480 came a day after Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little enacted similar legislation.

Under the Idaho law, which takes effect on January 1, 2024, physicians or practitioners who provide gender affirming care, including puberty blocking medications as well as surgeries, could face a $5,000 fine and a felony charge.

“In signing this bill, I recognize our society plays a role in protecting minors from surgeries or treatments that can irreversibly damage their healthy bodies. However, as policymakers we should take great caution whenever we consider allowing the government to interfere with loving parents and their decisions about what is best for their children,” Little said in a statement to lawmakers.

Following Little’s signing of the bill, the ACLU of Idaho said it planned to challenge the law.

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April 6, 2023
Federal agents interview veteran who alleges George Santos took thousands from dying dog’s GoFundMe | CNN Politics

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Federal law enforcement officials are investigating a US Navy veteran’s allegation that Rep. George Santos raised money for a lifesaving surgery for his dying dog only to take off with the money.

Rich Osthoff, the veteran, told CNN he spoke to a pair of FBI agents on Wednesday about the incident on behalf of the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, which is investigating Santos’ finances. Osthoff said he cooperated with the agents’ requests, including handing over his text message exchanges with Santos.

CNN has reached Santos’ attorney for comment. Santos did not respond to questions about the matter when asked by reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.

Politico first reported the development.

Osthoff told CNN last month that in 2016 Santos promised to raise funds for his pit bull, Sapphire. Osthoff said at the time he was homeless and living in a tent after losing his job and house.

Santos set up a GoFundMe which eventually raised around $3,000. A post from the Facebook profile of George Devolder at the time links to a GoFundMe raising surgery funds for the dog.

Osthoff said Santos became uncooperative when he tried to access the GoFundMe money.

Santos, a New York Republican, told CNN in January that he had “no clue” what Osthoff was talking about and defended his work with animals.

Text messages provided to CNN by Osthoff also show his exchanges with Santos in 2016.

“Hey Anthony, Rich here. I was hoping to hear from you. Just checking whether you made contact with the vet,” Osthoff writes in one text to Santos, who was going by the name Anthony Devolder at the time.

Santos replies that he “just called” Osthoff and he’s been “jumping through hoops.” He adds, “They are not as flexible as you said they were,” apparently speaking about the vet Osthoff referenced.

Santos also writes that a vet “had already ruled out the surgery without the ultrasound because based on his experience he thinks it’s very invasive,” but he tells Osthoff he will take the dog to a vet to get an ultrasound “to give you piece of mind.”

After Osthoff says, “I’m starting to feel liked [SIC] I was mined for my family and friends donations,” Santos tells him that, because his dog is not a candidate for surgery, “the funds are moved to the next animal in need and we will make sure we use of [SIC] resources to keep her comfortable!”

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February 2, 2023
YouTube star MrBeast helps 1,000 blind people see again by sponsoring cataract surgeries | CNN

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YouTube superstar MrBeast is making the world clearer – for at least 1,000 people.

The content creator’s latest stunt is paying for cataract removal for 1,000 people who were blind or near-blind but could not afford the surgery.

“We’re curing a thousand people’s blindness,” says MrBeast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – in the Saturday video, which reached over 32 million views as of Sunday afternoon.

The video features touching before-and-after footage of patients seeing with clear vision after finishing the surgery. The YouTuber also gave cash donations and other gifts to some of the participants.

Jeff Levenson, an ophthalmologist and surgeon, worked with Donaldson to perform the first round of surgeries in Jacksonville, Florida. Levenson has coordinated the “Gift of Sight” program for over 20 years, which provides free cataract surgery for uninsured patients who are legally blind due to cataracts.

“Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute surgery,” Levenson says in the video, referring to the cataract removal surgery.

Levenson explained to CNN he became inspired to help people access cataract surgery after undergoing his own cataract correction surgery.

“In the days and weeks after my own cataract surgery, I was stunned by how bright and beautiful and vivid the world was,” he said. “But I was shocked by the idea that there are hundreds of millions, probably 200 million people around the world, who are blind or nearly blind from cataracts and who don’t have access to the surgery.”

Levenson got a call from a member of Donaldson’s team in September. “I had never heard of MrBeast,” he said. “So I almost hung up. But I gratefully did not hang up.”

They started by calling homeless shelters and free clinics to create a list of patients in the Jacksonville area who needed cataract surgery but could not afford it. Eventually, they had a group of 40 patients – and Levenson performed all of their surgeries in a single day, starting at 7 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m.

Levenson said that patients were in “disbelief that somebody would actually seek them out to to rescue them from blindness, and then have the kindness and generosity of spirit to offer the surgery.”

The ophthalmologist also connected Donaldson’s team with SEE International, for which he serves as the chief medical officer. The nonprofit provides free eyecare around the world to patients in need. The organization helped Donaldson reach even more patients, for a total of 1,000 surgeries completed around three weeks. The video shows patients receiving the surgery in Jamaica, Honduras, Namibia, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and Kenya.

Levenson said he hopes the video and Donaldson’s generosity inspire “a concerted effort to end needless blindness.”

“If MrBeast can light a fire, and if we can get governmental and private support behind it, we can end half of all the blindness in the world,” he said. “Without all that much cost, and with incredible gains in human productivity and human potential.”

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January 29, 2023
Idaho suspect in student murders thoroughly cleaned vehicle, also seen wearing surgical gloves multiple times outside family home, source says | CNN
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The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in November had thoroughly cleaned the interior and exterior of his car and was also seen wearing surgical gloves multiple times before being apprehended, a law enforcement source tells CNN.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, is currently the sole suspect in the gruesome stabbings of students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, who were found dead inside their off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13.

Kohberger, who was pursuing a PhD in criminal justice at Washington State University at the time of the killings, “cleaned his car, inside and outside, not missing an inch,” according to the law enforcement source.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was briefed on observations made by investigators during four days of surveillance leading up to Kohberger’s arrest at his family’s Pennsylvania home on December 30.

As Kohberger now remains behind bars in Idaho awaiting his January 12 status hearing, new details have emerged elucidating some of the suspect’s movements in the days leading up to his arrest.

A surveillance team assigned to Kohberger was tasked with two missions, according to multiple law enforcement sources: keep eyes on Kohberger so they could arrest him as soon as a warrant was issued, and try to obtain an object that would yield a DNA sample from Kohberger, which could then be compared to DNA evidence found at the crime scene.

Kohberger was seen multiple times outside the Pennsylvania home wearing surgical gloves, according to the law enforcement source.

In one instance prior to Kohberger’s arrest, authorities observed him leaving his family home around 4 a.m. and putting trash bags in the neighbors’ garbage bins, according to the source. At that point, agents recovered garbage from the Kohberger family’s trash bins and what was observed being placed into the neighbors’ bins, the source said.

The recovered items were sent to the Idaho State Lab, per the source.

Last Friday, a Pennsylvania State Police SWAT team then moved in on the Kohberger family home, breaking down the door and windows in what is known as a “dynamic entry” – a tactic used in rare cases to arrest “high risk” suspects, the source added.

On Thursday, Kohberger had his initial court appearance in Idaho after he was booked into the Latah County jail Wednesday night following his extradition from Pennsylvania.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. He did not enter a plea at the hearing.

Steve Goncalves, whose daughter Kaylee was among those killed, he told CNN’s JIm Sciutto in an interview that aired Friday morning.

“Nobody understands exactly why but he was stalking them, he was hunting them,” Goncalves said. “He was a person looking for an opportunity and it just happened to be in that house. And that’s hard to take.

“She had her phone right next to her and she couldn’t call 911. So these were just girls that went to sleep that night and a coward, you know, a hunter that went out and he picked his little opponent that was girls, that’s probably why the house was targeted.”

Goncalves was in the courtroom for Kohberger’s appearance.

“He knows I want him to look me in the eye. So he didn’t. He didn’t give me that opportunity,” Goncalves said. “He’s scared to look at me in the eyes and start to understand what’s about to happen to him. You know, he picked the wrong family.”

Authorities spent nearly two months investigating before they were able to name publicly a suspect, a task that grabbed national attention and rattled the victims’ loved ones as well as the community – which had not recorded a murder in years.

Still, the public’s view of the case remains mired with questions. As of late Thursday, it remains unclear what motivated the killings. It’s also unclear how the suspect entered the house after authorities said there was no sign of forced entry or why two roommates who were inside the residence at the time of the killings survived the attacks.

Here’s how investigators narrowed the search to Kohberger:
DNA: Trash recovered from Kohberger’s family home revealed that the “DNA profile obtained from the trash” matched a tan leather knife sheath found “laying on the bed” of one of the victims, according to a probable cause affidavit released Thursday. The DNA recovered from the trash “identified a male as not being excluded as the biological father” of the suspect whose DNA was found on the sheath. “At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father,” the affidavit said.
Phone records: Authorities found the suspect’s phone was near the victims’ Moscow, Idaho, home at least a dozen times between June 2022 to the present day, according to the affidavit. The records also reveal Kohberger’s phone was near the crime scene hours after the murders that morning between 9:12 a.m. and 9:21 a.m, the document says. The killings were not reported to authorities until just before noon.
A white sedan: A Hyundai Elantra was seen near the victims’ home around the time of their killings. Officers at Washington State University identified a white Elantra and later learned it was registered to Kohberger. The same car was also found at the suspect’s Pennsylvania family home when he was arrested last Friday. The suspect’s university is about a 10-minute drive from the Idaho crime scene.
One of two roommates who were not harmed in the attacks said she saw a masked man dressed in black inside the house on the morning of the killings, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Identified as D.M. in the court document, the roommate said she “heard crying” in the house that morning and also heard a man’s voice say, ‘It’s OK, I’m going to help you.’” D.M. said she then saw a “figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her,” the affidavit continued.

“D.M. described the figure as 5’ 10” or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows,” the affidavit says. “The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a ‘frozen shock phase.’

“The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. D.M. locked herself in her room after seeing the male,” the document says, adding the roommate did not recognize the male.
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January 6, 2023
What older Americans need to know before undergoing major surgery | CNN

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Larry McMahon is weighing whether to undergo a major surgery. Over the past five years, his back pain has intensified. Physical therapy, muscle relaxants, and injections aren’t offering relief.

“It’s a pain that leaves me hardly able to do anything,” he said.

Should McMahon, an 80-year-old retired Virginia state trooper who now lives in Southport, North Carolina, try spinal fusion surgery, a procedure that can take up to six hours? (Eight years ago, he had a lumbar laminectomy, another arduous back surgery.)

“Will I recover in six months — or in a couple of years? Is it safe for a man of my age with various health issues to be put to sleep for a long period of time?” McMahon asked, relaying some of his concerns to me in a phone conversation.

Older adults contemplating major surgery often aren’t sure whether to proceed. In many cases, surgery can be lifesaving or improve a senior’s quality of life. But advanced age puts people at greater risk of unwanted outcomes, including difficulty with daily activities, extended hospitalizations, problems moving around, and the loss of independence.

I wrote in November about a new study that shed light on some risks seniors face when having invasive procedures. But readers wanted to know more. How does one determine if potential benefits from major surgery are worth the risks? And what questions should older adults ask as they try to figure this out? I asked several experts for their recommendations. Here’s some of what they suggested.

Ask your surgeon, “How is this surgery going to make things better for me?” said Dr. Margaret “Gretchen” Schwarze, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Will it extend your life by removing a fast-growing tumor? Will your quality of life improve by making it easier to walk? Will it prevent you from becoming disabled, akin to a hip replacement?

If your surgeon says, “We need to remove this growth or clear this blockage,” ask what impact that will have on your daily life. Just because an abnormality such as a hernia has been found doesn’t mean it has to be addressed, especially if you don’t have bothersome symptoms and the procedure comes with complications, said Drs. Robert Becher and Thomas Gill of Yale University, authors of that recent paper on major surgery in older adults.

Schwarze, a vascular surgeon, often cares for patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms, an enlargement in a major blood vessel that can be life-threatening if it bursts.

Here’s how she describes a “best case” surgical scenario for that condition: “Surgery will be about four to five hours. When it’s over, you’ll be in the ICU with a breathing tube overnight for a day or two. Then, you’ll be in the hospital for another week or so. Afterwards, you’ll probably have to go to rehab to get your strength back, but I think you can get back home in three to four weeks, and it’ll probably take you two to three months to feel like you did before surgery.”

Among other things people might ask their surgeon, according to a patient brochure Schwarze’s team has created: What will my daily life look like right after surgery? Three months later? One year later? Will I need help, and for how long? Will tubes or drains be inserted?

A “worst case” scenario might look like this, according to Schwarze: “You have surgery, and you go to the ICU, and you have serious complications. You have a heart attack. Three weeks after surgery, you’re still in the ICU with a breathing tube, and you’ve lost most of your strength, and there’s no chance of ever getting home again. Or, the surgery didn’t work, and still you’ve gone through all this.”

“People often think I’ll just die on the operating table if things go wrong,” said Dr. Emily Finlayson, director of the UCSF Center for Surgery in Older Adults in San Francisco. “But we’re very good at rescuing people, and we can keep you alive for a long time. The reality is, there can be a lot of pain and suffering and interventions like feeding tubes and ventilators if things don’t go the way we hope.”

Once your surgeon has walked you through various scenarios, ask, “Do I really need to have this surgery, in your opinion?” and “What outcomes do you think are most likely for me?” Finlayson advised. Research suggests that older adults who are frail, have cognitive impairment, or other serious conditions such as heart disease have worse experiences with major surgery. Also, seniors in their 80s and 90s are at higher risk of things going wrong.

“It’s important to have family or friends in the room for these conversations with high-risk patients,” Finlayson said. Many seniors have some level of cognitive difficulties and may need assistance working through complex decisions.

Make sure your physician tells you what the nonsurgical options are, Finlayson said. Older men with prostate cancer, for instance, might want to consider “watchful waiting” — ongoing monitoring of their symptoms — rather than risk invasive surgery. Women in their 80s who develop a small breast cancer may opt to leave it alone if removing it poses a risk, given other health factors.

Because of McMahon’s age and underlying medical issues (a 2021 knee replacement that hasn’t healed, arthritis, high blood pressure), his neurosurgeon suggested he explore other interventions, including more injections and physical therapy, before surgery. “He told me, ‘I make my money from surgery, but that’s a last resort,” McMahon said.

“Preparing for surgery is really vital for older adults: If patients do a few things that doctors recommend — stop smoking, lose weight, walk more, eat better — they can decrease the likelihood of complications and the number of days spent in the hospital,” said Dr. Sandhya Lagoo-Deenadayalan, a codirector in Duke University Medical Center’s Perioperative Optimization of Senior Health (POSH) program.

When older patients are recommended to POSH, they receive a comprehensive evaluation of their medications, nutritional status, mobility, preexisting conditions, ability to perform daily activities, and support at home. They leave with a “to-do” list of recommended actions, usually starting several weeks before surgery.

If your hospital doesn’t have a program of this kind, ask your physician, “How can I get my body and mind ready” before having surgery, Finlayson said. Also ask: “How can I prepare my home in advance to anticipate what I’ll need during recovery?”

There are three levels to consider: What will recovery in the hospital entail? Will you be transferred to a facility for rehabilitation? And what will recovery be like at home?

Ask how long you’re likely to stay in the hospital. Will you have pain, or aftereffects from the anesthesia? Preserving cognition is a concern, and you might want to ask your anesthesiologist what you can do to maintain cognitive functioning following surgery. If you go to a rehab center, you’ll want to know what kind of therapy you’ll need and whether you can expect to return to your baseline level of functioning.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, “a lot of older adults have opted to go home instead of to rehab, and it’s really important to make sure they have appropriate support,” said Dr. Rachelle Bernacki, director of care transformation and postoperative services at the Center for Geriatric Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

For some older adults, a loss of independence after surgery may be permanent. Be sure to inquire what your options are should that occur.

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December 27, 2022
Nurse becomes a living organ donor for her mom — twice | CNN

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Marzena Stasieluk needed a new kidney. She’d been diagnosed with kidney disease in 2015, and ultimately needed dialysis, a grueling process where a machine did the work her kidneys could no longer do.

But in order for a kidney transplant to succeed, she needed a liver first. Stasieluk’s liver disease had been controlled for more than a decade, but it worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic. It wasn’t so bad that she would be prioritized for a liver from a deceased donor, her family said, but bad enough that a kidney transplant likely wouldn’t work.

Marzena’s daughter, Jennifer Stasieluk, is a nurse who has cared for patients in the hardest of times, through Covid-19 and cancer. She was willing, even eager, to give her mother a kidney. They’d done all the scans and test, but it wasn’t going to work.

Although they had the same blood type, her mother is among a subset of patients called “highly sensitized.” Marzena had a high number of antibodies against foreign tissues – a factor that increases the likelihood an organ will be rejected and makes it much harder to find a match.

“She needed a new liver to do a kidney transplant. However, her liver by itself wasn’t sick enough,” recalls Jennifer, 29. “So, they kind of, like, threw their hands up and were just, kind of, like, ‘sorry.’ ”

In January 2020, an appointment with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, introduced a new idea: Doctors suggested Marzena get a portion of a liver from a living donor.

Jennifer insisted she get tested. Despite her mother’s protests, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. And this time, the response was a good one.

“I kicked her door open in the morning when I got that call that I was a match. I said ‘Mom, I’m a match, pack your bags, surgery’s in six weeks.’ We couldn’t believe I was a match,” Jennifer said.

On June 25, 2021, Jennifer gave her mother a lobe of her liver. Jennifer spent five days recovering in the hospital, and Marzena spent 11. For living donors and recipients, the liver has the unique ability to regenerate in a matter of weeks, and recovery was successful for mother and daughter.

But Marzena, affectionately known as a “professional grandma,” had to continue with dialysis, and was desperate for a normal life.

“It was awful. You sit there three days a week for over three hours,” said Marzena, who lives in Illinois. “My kids and my grandkids are the whole world and that’s why I was fighting for so long. I don’t want them, the kids and my grandkids, to lose me.”

After the liver transplant, Jennifer was prepared to donate a kidney to a stranger as part of a paired donation – a process in which living donor’s kidneys are swapped so recipients like Marzena receive a compatible organ.

Jennifer went through another round of bloodwork and tests to prepare for kidney donation. But then came a surprise: Because of the effect Jennifer’s liver had on her mother’s immune system, she was now able to give her mother a kidney.

“We never in a million years thought that I would be a direct match,” Jennifer said. “I was excited for it. I wasn’t nervous. I knew I was in good hands.

“I gave her the bigger lobe of my liver on June 25, 2021. And then a year later, a kidney.”

Dr. Timucin Taner, division chair of transplant surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, performed the liver transplant for the Stasieluks.

He and his colleagues have been studying the effect of liver transplants on the immune system, including research into how a liver transplant before a heart transplant – not the typical order – can reduce organ rejection.

Taner said the Stasieluks are the first case they’re aware of where a liver’s effect on a patient’s immune response allowed for a subsequent kidney transplant from the same donor. They’re planning to write a case report about the procedures.

“She donated two organs a year apart to the same person,” Taner said of Jennifer. “So she saved her mom’s life twice.”

Taner says organ donors, living or deceased, are heroes. There simply aren’t enough organs to provide for everyone who needs one.

Across the country, nearly 106,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. So far this year, nearly 40,000 transplants have been performed.

“On average, typically about 25,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a liver transplant on the waiting list,” Taner said. “And of those, every year we can only transplant up to about 9,000 of them because that’s only how many livers we have.

Jennifer described working long, late shifts as a nurse helping patients and their families during the height of the pandemic. There were dark days when answers were few and hope was sometimes hard to come by.

“Losing patients to Covid was devastating. I felt so helpless,” Jennifer said.

But donating organs to her mother – twice – was empowering.

“Just knowing that there is something I can do that is not hopeless … just having that power that I can actually do something and help her and save her life, it was amazing,” Jennifer said.

This will be the first Christmas in about seven years when Marzena is feeling healthy. Jennifer said it’s more special than any holiday before.

Marzena said her daughter’s gifts changed her life.

“Today, I am grateful. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say enough, thank you,” Marzena said, fighting back tears. “What do you say to a person that donated two organs, not just one?”

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December 24, 2022