Zeke Mahkovtz was born Dec. 18, 2023, and lived for 18 minutes, surrounded by his parents and siblings who showered him with love. Diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type II, Zeke’s life was brief, but his impact was profound. For his…
At 48, Breanna Flanagan considered herself in the best physical shape of her life. The Riverton mail carrier was busy with the things that mattered most to her: her wife, four daughters and 1-year-old grandson. Her youngest daughter is just…
Alison McGrane knew from experience she wanted her obstetrics care at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital (JMH) for her third pregnancy. It didn’t matter she had recently moved more than two hours away. The 25-year-old mother of three, now living in Labadie,…
Roger Hawkins didn’t expect a routine antibiotic to turn into the scariest week of his life. It started small. The day after his first dose, a rash appeared, like a bad sunburn. He and his wife Cindy went back to…
Mary Mizeur had just finished lunch at work when she noticed something was off. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out right. She laughed it off. Then it happened again. “My heart was racing. It didn’t feel…
In the United States, more than 100,000 adults and children await an organ transplant—more than 4,000 in Illinois alone. April is National Donate Life Month, and Memorial Health’s surgical services team shares these steps to significantly impact the lives of others.…
Did you know heart disease affects 1 in every 20 American adults and is a leading cause of death in this country? Eating a healthy diet helps keep your heart in tip-top shape by lowering your cholesterol, blood pressure and…
When your heart gives you a scare, the road to recovery can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you know what’s safe? And perhaps most importantly, how do you keep fear from holding you back? For many patients…
The submarine vibe of the hyperbaric multi-place oxygen chamber at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital didn’t intimidate patient Brad Russell. The 58-year-old Springfield man is 6’8” and admittedly somewhat claustrophobic. At the advice of his care team, he took the short drive…
Working your way back to “normal” after a stroke is a journey – one that Chatham’s Jim Huffman is all too familiar with after having survived two strokes within a few weeks of each other in fall 2023. Thanks to…