Skip to main content UVA Health logo of UVA Health
Healthy Balance

Patient Stories (Page 16)

A cancer survivor. A heart attack victim. Pediatric patients. Be inspired by medical stories from ordinary people who’ve had extraordinary challenges. Hear about the health problems and transformations of our patients.

placeholder image
Organ Donation: The Gift of Life
Patient Stories 4/12/2012

Eighteen people die each day because there aren’t enough organs available for those in need, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [caption id="attachment_3823" align="alignright" width="300"] Laurie Miller of Harrisonburg donated a kidney to a stranger in need.[/caption] Eighteen. And there are more than 100,000 people on…

placeholder image
Save Your Knees: Pay Attention to the Pain
Patient Stories 3/27/2012

My knees hurt. This is nothing new. After dancing fairly rigorously for 14 years, they started hurting when I was in high school, and I had to quit. Now in my mid-thirties - working at a desk job, wearing heels, running and doing yoga several times a week - it…

placeholder image
Common Bonds: Mended Little Hearts of Charlottesville Helps Families Affected by Congenital Heart Defects
Patient Stories 3/22/2012

Recreation therapist Laurie Sewell sits cross-legged on the floor of a UVA hospital conference room. She’s demonstrating infant massage techniques on a doll while 2-year-old Haley Poore watches her and plays with a colorful toddler toy. [caption id="attachment_3742" align="alignright" width="300"] Recreational therapist Laurie Sewell (right) and Mended Little Hearts volunteer…

placeholder image
Antioxidants and Vegan Diets: The Role of a Cancer Center Dietitian
Patient Stories 1/16/2012

Each Monday this month, we’re looking at the UVA Cancer Center’s Integrative Medicine Program. How would you react if you found out the 4.5-centimeter lump on your breast was cancer?  What if you were just 31 years old, otherwise healthy and a busy student working towards a PhD? [caption id="attachment_2979"…

placeholder image
A Heart Rhythm Back on Track
Patient Stories 12/15/2011

After running his first marathon in November 2010, Todd Smith was in the best shape of his life. At 49 years old, he felt great. So it came as a surprise in early 2011 when he started having frequent bouts of unexplained lightheadedness. [caption id="attachment_2530" align="alignright" width="300"] Heart rhythm patient…

placeholder image
Pancreatic Cancer: Debbie Ryan and Why You Should Care
Patient Stories 11/15/2011

It’s not every day you get to meet a living legend. On the eve of November, National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, that’s what I got to do — talk to one of the very, very few people alive who has survived pancreatic cancer. She also happens to be Debbie Ryan,…

Subscribe for Updates

Get stories & health tips every week