We'll be phasing out this section soon because our new Web site, WellCommons.com is active. Be our guest and come over and check it out. WellCommons is a new way of creating an online community: part journalism, part community activism, part social media. Check out what we've created and help us make WellCommons an integral part of building a healthier Lawrence and a healthier Douglas County.
- Benefit for Lecompton woman with breast cancer rescheduled
- October 15, 2013
- A benefit for Roxanne Laughlin, a Lecompton grocery store cashier recently diagnosed with breast cancer, has been rescheduled. The event will now be held Nov. 2.
- Mental health crisis calls — doubled in past decade — weigh on minds of police, health agencies
- October 14, 2013
- As mental health crisis calls — including suicide attempts — have doubled in the past decade, area law enforcement and emergency response teams have trained to both better diffuse such crises while also providing one another support for their own mental health. By Stephen Montemayor
- LMH, Kansas hospitals report success in reducing hospital infections
- October 12, 2013
- As Kansas hospitals report a drop in the number of hospital-acquired infections, Lawrence Memorial Hospital has found success in that area as well. By Giles Bruce
- LiveWell Lawrence to celebrate fifth anniversary
- October 8, 2013
- LiveWell Lawrence will mark its fifth anniversary with a community celebration from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at Abe and Jake’s Landing, 8 E. Sixth St., in Lawrence. The event is free and open to the public.
- Interest in genetic testing, elective mastectomies on the rise
- October 8, 2013
- Kara Gourley’s world has been turned upside down by cancer. It took the life of her aunt, then her mother. It almost took hers. She elected to have a double mastectomy to lower her risk of recurrence of breast cancer. By Giles Bruce
- Doctor specializes in a reconstructive surgery that preserves strength and quality of life
- October 8, 2013
- The DIEP flap procedure takes tissue from a woman’s abdomen and uses it to fashion a replacement breast after a mastectomy. The surgery is long and complicated, but it can help preserve abdominal strength and a woman’s self-concept. By Ben Unglesbee
- Building dream home helped Ottawa cancer survivor make it through
- October 8, 2013
- There’s a gorgeous country home at the end of a cul-de-sac in Ottawa that owes every detail of its existence to one of the most trying and triumphant times in Jody Lancaster’s life. By Matt Tait
- Once considered experimental, freezing eggs is giving women a way to have families after cancer treatment
- October 7, 2013
- Considered an experimental procedure until last year, freezing women’s eggs before they undergo cancer therapies is providing a new way for women to preserve and control their reproductive future. By Ben Unglesbee
- Early breast cancer detection program works — if women know about it
- October 7, 2013
- Roxanne Laughlin was getting a tooth pulled at the dentist when she got even more painful news: She had cancer. And she was uninsured. By Giles Bruce
- Obamacare enrollment slow in Lawrence thus far
- October 7, 2013
- Pictured: Rosilyn Wells, right, discusses information regarding the Affordable Care Act with Lawrence Memorial Hospital personal care assistants Barbara Harris, left, and Debra Pacheco, center. An overload of visitors to the healthcare.gov website in the first few days after the rollout of the new health insurance marketplace has delayed the application process for many Americans. Officials tasked with implementing the law in Kansas, however, caution residents to be patient, since plans bought now don’t go into effect until Jan. 1. By Giles Bruce
- Bras Across the Kaw draws attention to fight against breast cancer
- October 6, 2013
- The hundreds of bras you see lining the guardrail of the Kansas River bridge aren’t there purely for decoration, though they’re bedazzled with countless colors and styles of paint, buttons and ribbons. The temporary addition to the bridge has a dual purpose: to make a statement for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to promote Health Care Access, a clinic that provides health services to residents in Douglas County who are below the poverty line. By Nikki Wentling
- Hospitals complain of delays in new Medicaid system
- October 1, 2013
- Hospitals are complaining about delays since the state switched to a new managed care plan for Medicaid.
- Kansas officials on new health exchange: Be patient
- October 1, 2013
- The online insurance marketplace for Kansas could not fully handle the crush of consumers who hit the federally run exchange when enrollment opened Tuesday, but the technological glitches were not unexpected as not only the website but the program itself tried to keep up with demand.
- Meetings in Lawrence to explain new health care law
- October 1, 2013
- Lawrence-area residents will have a chance to learn more about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, at a series of meetings scheduled to take place in the community over the next several weeks. The first meeting is set for Wednesday.
- Dental care is an often overlooked part of the medical system
- October 1, 2013
- William Welch didn’t always take the best care of his teeth. But he never had dental insurance, either. “I remember always thinking I wish I had the money to go to the dentist. It’s so expensive,” said Welch, 43. But in 2010 he moved from Detroit to Lawrence, where he works as a waiter at a downtown restaurant. That’s when he heard about the Douglas County Dental Clinic, which provides dental services to uninsured residents making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. By Giles Bruce
