If you are considering having surgery to treat obesity, the first step is to find a comprehensive program such as the Center for Obesity Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center. The staff includes a nurse practitioner and registered dietitian, both experts in post-surgical weight management, who are readily available to patients.
When Leah Richter of Englewood, NJ lost her voice during the spring she was referred to an ear-nose-and-throat specialist in Englewood. "He diagnosed a reflux problem and put me on 20 mg of Prilosec. It didn't help."
A colleague then suggested that Mrs. Richter see a second ENT specialist, who noticed that her right vocal cord didn't look quite as "good" as the left. He ordered MRI and CT scans of her neck and lungs. The CT radiologist saw a lesion in her lung that was suspicious for lung cancer and referred her for a scan at Columbia Kreitchman PET Center. PET scanning is a new imaging technique used to differentiate benign from malignant tumors. Sure enough, Mrs. Richter's PET scan showed an abnormal lesion, and a needle biopsy confirmed that the lesion was malignant.
A colleague then suggested that Mrs. Richter see a second ENT specialist, who noticed that her right vocal cord didn't look quite as "good" as the left. He ordered MRI and CT scans of her neck and lungs. The CT radiologist saw a lesion in her lung that was suspicious for lung cancer and referred her for a scan at Columbia Kreitchman PET Center. PET scanning is a new imaging technique used to differentiate benign from malignant tumors. Sure enough, Mrs. Richter's PET scan showed an abnormal lesion, and a needle biopsy confirmed that the lesion was malignant.