General Surgery Patient Stories

Sometimes you need a team of people to cheer you to victory Sometimes you need a team of people to cheer you to victory

Jan 31st, 2017

Two years ago, Barbara Adams, 46, discovered how important the support of the right team could be. She was volunteering at the local YMCA, playing kickball with the children, and found she was winded and couldn’t catch her breath.

Bariatric Care Team Hosts One-Mile Walk with Patients Bariatric Care Team Hosts One-Mile Walk with Patients

Feb 16th, 2015

Recently, the bariatric care team at UF Health hosted a one-mile walk with weight loss surgery patients. Kfir Ben-David, M.D., UF Health’s director of bariatric surgery and an associate professor, was joined by patients and other UF Health physicians on the bariatric care team, including Georgios Rossidis, M.D., a UF Health bariatric surgeon and an…

UF Surgeons in the News – TV 20: Surgical Treatment Improving for Pancreatic Cancer Patients UF Surgeons in the News – TV 20: Surgical Treatment Improving for Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Jul 17th, 2014

Pancreatic cancer has long been viewed as a death sentence – and with good reason – it’s currently the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the US, but it’s expected to become the second within the next two decades. The outlook is still grim, but research and improvements at the UF Department of Surgery…

Defying the odds, motorcycle accident survivor returns to the life he loves Defying the odds, motorcycle accident survivor returns to the life he loves

Aug 13th, 2013

Michael Gracy’s life nearly ended one Friday afternoon in November 2010. Then 68, Gracy had just left work at his Gainesville office of the financial services company for which he works, and was headed home on his motorcycle. A young woman pulled out in front of him just before he entered an intersection, leaving him…

Ready for anything

Mar 18th, 2013

The Level I trauma centers at Shands at UF and Shands Jacksonville are always prepared to treat the most severe injuries, thanks to multidisciplinary teams of employees that keep the centers going around the clock.

Helping hands at UF&Shands save youngster’s right hand Helping hands at UF&Shands save youngster’s right hand

Sep 18th, 2012

Winston T. Richards, M.D., an acute care surgeon at UF&Shands, the University of Florida Academic Health Center, treated 4-year-old Benjamin Bileca after a horrific accident stripped the skin from the youngster’s hand.

Surgeon’s personal attention helps family fight cancer Surgeon’s personal attention helps family fight cancer

May 25th, 2012

Heather Smith was just 25 years old in 2005 when she learned she had breast cancer. She received the diagnosis on her daughter’s second birthday. “It was kind of a stressful, shocking situation,” she said. “You have to relearn how to feel feminine. My husband and I were young, and it affected us.” Smith knew…

Breathing Free Again Breathing Free Again

Jan 13th, 2012

It was a week of firsts for 8-year-old Brian Stanzione — first plane ride, first stay in a hotel and first visit to Florida. But Brian was not flying from New Jersey to visit Disney World; he came to visit his dad, Michael Stanzione, 53, who became the first person with Pompe disease in the…

Just What the Patient Ordered Just What the Patient Ordered

May 9th, 2011

Unveiled in November 2010, the Intrabeam is the newest cancer-fighting weapon in the UF Shands Cancer Center’s arsenal. Intrabeam allows doctors to deliver precise doses of radiation in the O.R. after surgery to remove a tumor, shortening what often takes weeks into one 20- or 30-minute session. UF, which is now taking part in Intrabeam…