After several months cooped up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and out of current fears of flying, many people are looking to hit the open road and travel by car for their summer vacation. “While traveling in your own personal car may help you avoid the virus en route to your destination, it is not [...]
Kay Garcia McAnally and her husband, Conor, have been married 30 years. They're avid travelers and go to Europe twice a year where they have a second home in Ireland. So when Kay was sidelined due to her serious condition -- an elevated diaphragm -- they were both devastated. An elevated diaphragm occurs when one [...]
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States according to the American Stroke Association. Most strokes are caused by a buildup of plaque that cause blockages in the brain, and how quickly you receive treatment plays a large part in your ability to recover. CTVS board certified vascular surgeon Dr. Mazin Foteh [...]
When COVID-19 arrived in Austin and our lives were shuttered in mid-March, it was not just work, school and socializing that were put on hold. Important surgeries and many medical procedures that did not meet a very specific criteria were also postponed. Imagine being a patient needing life-saving surgery for cancer and the stress and [...]
In the United States, someone suffers from a stroke every 40 seconds while someone dies every four minutes (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- CDC). This makes stroke one of the leading causes of long-term disability in our country. Yet in a survey (conducted by the CDC), only 38% of people polled [...]
April shines a light on a lesser known cancer that is not often in the headlines, esophageal cancer. Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons (CTVS) in Austin marks Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month as we aim to educate about this very rare but very serious condition. In 2019, nearly 18,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with [...]
Social distancing is a new concept for many of us right now during our citywide shelter-in-place due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). But for those who are organ transplant patients, social distancing and self-isolation is all too familiar. April is Donate Life Month, and we at Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons (CTVS) in Austin hold a special [...]
Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons’ Dr. Hunter Kirkland was recently featured in a story on KEYE-TV alongside his heart transplant patient Lemeul Bradshaw. Dr. Kirkland is one of our board-certified cardiothoracic surgeons specializing in heart transplantation. Transplant patients are unique in that they live most days of their life -- current Covid-19 crisis or not -- [...]
Patients who are currently undergoing dialysis treatment for kidney failure, or renal disorders, may be interested to know about a new technology that could greatly improve their dialysis access. Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons (CTVS) in Austin is currently participating in a clinical trial for the VasQ device (from Laminate Medical Technologies). Dialysis treatment helps patients [...]
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer for both men and women and one of the most lethal. While lung cancer cases are declining as a result of decreasing tobacco smoking rates, the American Cancer Association expects in 2020 to see 200,000 new cases to be diagnosed and 135,000 deaths due to lung cancer [...]
