Archive for 'Healthy Mama' Category
NWA Mama Doc: Just allergies? Or is it a sinus infection?
Ahhhhh, the smell of fresh cut grass, the gentle breeze blowing through your windows, the chirping birds…spring in Northwest Arkansas is glorious, isn’t it? As I write this, I’m sitting at my desk under the effect of no less than three allergy medications. Yes, I love spring, but I’m ready for less pollen. This spring [...]
Meet local illustrator Amber Savage today at Mercy Hospital
If you’re hunting for a good Mother’s Day gift or card, you can find both today at Mercy Hospital because the gift store there will be hosting a local artist, Amber Savage. Amber is the creator of the wonderful Queenie cards and prints. Her work is full of color, whimsy and wonderful detail. The Queenie [...]
8 Things Moms Need in Home First-Aid Kits
By Dr. Haley Vo, Mercy physician and mama of 3 We love springtime at my house. Unfortunately, with all the outdoor play comes the inevitable skinned knee and, sometimes, something worse. It’s important to keep some simple first aid supplies around so you’ll be prepared. The first thing that comes to my mind, though, isn’t [...]
NWA Mama Doc: Meet the doctor Haley Vo
We found the PERFECT person to answer some frequently asked medical questions from women and moms. Her name is Dr. Haley Vo and she’s a fellow mom of three kids who grew up here in Northwest Arkansas. She’s our new Northwest Arkansas “Mama Doc” and she is so easy to talk to. If you have [...]
Know thy portions: Have a lightbulb, deck of cards and a baseball for lunch
It’s January, so that means 99.9 percent of us are REALLY trying to watch what we eat because we went a little nuts with all the great food during the holidays. For me, it’s tougher to eliminate foods altogether than it is to scale back the portions. So that means it’s important to understand what [...]
Doc Talk: Managing multiple prescriptions
When you or somebody in your family, especially an aging parent or grandparent, has LOTS of prescriptions, it can be very tough to keep up with what he or she is taking, how much and why. As we all know, prescription medications don’t always play nice together so it’s very important for someone to be [...]
Doc Talk: What is a heart murmur?
When you’re pregnant, the first sound you hear from your baby is his or her heartbeat during one of your early prenatal doctor appointments. So once the baby is born and something sounds “off” about that all-important heartbeat, it can be very scary for parents. Most of us have heard the term “heart murmur” before, [...]
Doc Talk: Important heart tests
Few people love the idea of tests, especially when they’re medical tests. Not only can they be hard to understand, there are also so many of them! Which ones tell us the most about our overall health? Which tests should you have done and when? As you may know, heart disease continues to be the [...]
Doc Talk: Abdominal pain during pregnancy
Anyone who has ever been pregnant knows that abdominal pain can really freak a mama out. But, as you may also know, some pain is very normal during pregnancy while other types of pain can be warning signs that you need medical attention. So how’s a pregnant mama supposed to know which pain is normal [...]
Doc Talk: Avoiding the dreaded stomach bug!
Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a mama faster than a suspected case of the horrible, the dreaded…. STOMACH FLU! Ugh. If you’ve ever had it or seen it travel through your family with lightning speed, you know it’s not pretty. And we mamas go out of our way to avoid catching it or [...]
Doc Talk: How heart attack symptoms can be different for women
So many women still think heart attacks are far more common for men. In fact, heart disease is the NUMBER ONE killer of women in the U.S. One of the reasons so many women don’t get the emergency treatment they need for a heart attack is because they don’t always recognize the symptoms, which can [...]
Doc Talk: Do Cold Prevention Medicines Really Work?
Happy Monday, mamas! We’re taking you to a virtual doctor’s appointment with no waiting, no shots and no bill! Our popular Doc Talk series of video podcasts features local Mercy physicians and nurses answering frequently asked questions asked by local moms. Today we’ll hear the answer to a question doctors and nurses get asked pretty [...]
Healthy Mama: Get to know your girls better during Breast Awareness Month
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so it’s a great time time to START self exams if you’re not already doing them every month and to get anything worrisome checked out. Shawnna Grigsby, the Breast Health Navigator at Mercy Breast Center in Bentonville, works with women every day who are facing the breast cancer [...]
Doc Talk: The story of my mellow yellow firstborn
True story: When I had my first baby, I thought he looked absolutely perfect, as most mothers do. He had blue eyes, strawberry blonde hair, and beautiful skin that seemed to be a little bit tan even in the middle of December. When my friend Jennifer (already a mama of two kids) came over to [...]
Doc Talk: Signs of dementia in aging parents and grandparents
Welcome back to another installment of Doc Talk, a virtual trip to the doctor’s office. No waiting rooms required! Today’s video will bring you into the exam room with Nurse Practitioner Betty Sammer of Bella Vista Medical Center. Nurse Sammer will explain the red flags we should watch out for in order to catch the [...]
Top 4 Things Moms Need to Know about Heat Stroke and Kids
Sixteen years ago during this same week of August, a horrible thing happened in Northwest Arkansas. A 13-year-old healthy boy finished his first day of football practice for his school’s team and suffered a heat stroke. Kendrick Fincher lived in a drug-induced coma for only 18 days afterward before his internal organs shut down and [...]
Doc Talk: Warning signs of childhood diabetes
Welcome back to another installment of Doc Talk, a virtual trip to the doctor’s office. No waiting rooms required! Today’s video will bring you into the exam room with Dr. James Scherer, a pediatrician at Mercy Pediatric Clinic in Bentonville. (He has treated all three of my kids, and he is awesome!) Dr. Scherer will [...]
Ask an Allergist: Take the sting out of summer
Provided by Dr. Curt Hedberg, allergist and owner of Hedberg Allergy & Asthma Center Stinging insects are as much a part of summer as picnics and pool parties. For most people, irritating insects cause no more than an “Ouch!” But for those who are allergic, stinging and biting insects — including bees, wasps, hornets, yellow [...]
Doc Talk: The difference between a bad mood and depression
Welcome back to Doc Talk — a regular feature that takes you on a virtual trip to the doctor’s office. This week’s topic is so important because moms often deal with mood fluctuations and it’s so important to know when a “bad mood” turns into something more serious which needs medical treatment. As we all [...]
Doc Talk: Heartburn during pregnancy
We all know a loaded chili dog can cause a nasty case of heartburn, but what do you do when the “chili dog” is a baby who has taken up a 9-month lease in your uterus? Don’t worry, the doctor is in and he’ll give us the info on why heartburn during pregnancy can be [...]