Timmi Ryerson, a San Diego stock market analyst, says her left hip actually works again, thanks to an orthopedic specialist in India.

Stacie Mason, a civil rights worker from West Virginia, couldn’t fully appreciate her 170-pound weight loss until a plastic surgeon in Panama removed 20 inches of excess skin from her stomach and back.

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SATURDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) -- Going barefoot is one of the simple pleasures of summer, but some who doff their shoes and socks suffer injuries such as cuts and puncture wounds. In some cases, those injuries develop infections that require surgery.

If you do go barefoot, check out these safety tips from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons:

Make sure you're vaccinated against tetanus. Teens and adults should get booster shots every 10 years.

WEDNESDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- About 234 million major surgeries are performed worldwide each year, and surgery rates are much higher in high-income countries than in low-income countries, U.S. researchers report.

Dr. Thomas Weiser, of the Harvard School of Public Health, and his colleagues defined major surgeries as any incision, excision, manipulation or suturing of tissue occurring in an operating room and requiring local or general anesthesia or profound sedation to control pain. They analyzed surgical data from 56 countries.

After a car accident left Michelle Katz, a Washington, D.C., nursing student, with persistent back pain and numbness in 1998, she consulted a neurosurgeon, who told her she'd need an operation to repair her slipped disk. Katz, then 26, didn't have health insurance, so she did the only thing she could think of: She negotiated.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Comprehensive lifestyle changes including a better diet and more exercise can lead not only to a better physique, but also to swift and dramatic changes at the genetic level, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

In a small study, the researchers tracked 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer who decided against conventional medical treatment such as surgery and radiation or hormone therapy.

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Things usually go well in the surgery room. Right? Yes, for the most part. But medical mistakes are all too common, causing thousands of deaths in America every year, as well as even more injuries.

One issue is the problem of medical instruments, debris or other objects being left inside the bodies of patients after surgery has been completed.

Almost 5,000 patients have been injured in the last 5 years from having 'medical litter' left in their bodies. 70 people have died.

TUESDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy enjoyed "a restful night's sleep" and was walking the hallways of Duke University Medical Center on Tuesday, one day after undergoing what his doctors called a "successful" three-and-a-half-hour surgery to treat his malignant brain tumor.

The 76-year-old Kennedy was "recuperating well from yesterday's procedure," his office said in a statement released to the Associated Press. "He is experiencing no complications and has been walking the hallways, spending time with family and actively keeping up with the news of the day."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy enjoyed "a restful night's sleep" and was walking the hallways of Duke University Medical Center on Tuesday.

http://empowher.com/news/cancer/2008/06/...

Sen. Edward Kennedy certainly was heroic as he underwent surgery Monday for a malignant brain tumor while partially awake. But he was no more a superhero than other men and women who suffer from the same condition and are faced with the same type of procedure to remove their cancer.

Ultrasound in Surgical Practice: Basic Principles and Clinical Applications asin: 0471245380 binding: Hardcover list price: $206.95 USD amazon price: $206.95 USD

This groundbreaking textbook provides the first comprehensive overview of the utility of ultrasonography in surgical practice. Designed for easy reference as well as complete coverage, Ultrasound in Surgical Practice: Basic Principles and Clinical Applications includes a detailed introduction to the basic principles of ultrasonography as well as extensively illustrated guidelines for "reading" ultrasound images.

If you’re going in for surgery any time soon, there’s a few questions you need to ask your doctor to be an advocate for yourself.

1. Ask for a clear description of the surgery.

2. How will the recommended surgery help you?

3. What are the risks?

4. What kind of experience have you had with this surgery?

5. Where will the surgery be performed?

6. Will I be put to sleep for the surgery?

7. How long will the surgery and recovery take?

8. What will it cost me? How much is covered by insurance?

9. Should I get a second opinion?