Shelley Flannery

Women's Health • October 8 2024

Understanding Treatment Options This World Mental Health Day

October 10th marks World Mental Health Day, a global movement that provides the opportunity to raise awareness for mental health issues and support individuals managing complex mental health conditions. This observance also aims to reduce the stigma surrounding the many mental health disorders that affect people worldwide and provide hope for those impacted by these conditions.

My Vanderbilt Health • September 27 2024

6 tips for staying well during fall break

Fall break is the perfect time to get away before the craziness of the holiday season begins. Unfortunately, it’s also when families tend to pick up a cold, the flu and COVID-19.

Prevention • September 6 2024

What This Mental-Health Expert Wants You To Know About Bipolar I Treatment

For the 4.8 million Americans living with bipolar I disorder, developing a long-term treatment plan is essential. Long-term treatment, or what’s often called “maintenance,” is how people diagnosed with the condition can help reduce the chance of the highs and lows of the mood disorder.

DomesticShelters.org • September 4 2024

I'm Scared of My Husband. Is It Abuse?

If you’ve ever said (or thought), “I am scared of my husband,” there’s a good chance what you’re experiencing is abuse. 
“Of course, it’s a bit more complicated than a simple yes-or-no question,” says social worker and psychotherapist Heather Howe. “But I would say that, in a majority of cases, if you’re afraid of your partner, there’s a very high chance that you’re being abused.”

Frontline • September 4 2024

Inspiring Audiences Everywhere: Joel Soukup

There was very little on osteosarcoma in the media when Joel Soukup was diagnosed as a 16-year-old in 2003 — and even less on limb amputation. When he got the news that he would need to have his right leg, hip, and pelvis amputated, the only information he had to go on was a pamphlet from Mayo Clinic with black-and-white anatomical diagrams comparing before amputation and after.

Frontline • September 4 2024

Osteosarcoma Stories: Amazing Grace

In 2021, just as schools were reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic, 12-year-old Grace Messinger was still a remote learner due to her asthma, but that didn’t keep her from taking part in her regular classes.
One day, as Grace was holding a plank exercise during a remote physical education class, she felt something snap in her left shoulder. Believing it was a minor sprain from months of inactivity, Grace and her mom, Carrie, iced it and watched for bruising or swelling. When the pain still hadn...

Women's Health • August 21 2024

What Women Need To Know About Schizophrenia

Few movies and TV shows accurately depict schizophrenia, and even fewer feature women with the condition—which undoubtedly plays a role in the misconception that schizophrenia only occurs in men. The truth is that rates of the condition are pretty evenly split between men and women. Schizophrenia affects up to an estimated 2.4 million adults in the United States, yet remains widely misunderstood by the general public and insufficiently treated.So why is schizophrenia seen by some people as a men...

Frontline • August 1 2024

Tragedy and Triumph

Jill MacDonald has defied the odds in many ways — for better and worse. At 42 she developed osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that most commonly affects children and young adults. Her osteosarcoma diagnosis came within two weeks of her husband learning he had stage 4 colon cancer.

Frontline • June 28 2024

How to Raise Money for Cancer Research: 7 Fundraising Ideas

Families and friends affected by osteosarcoma share creative fundraising event ideas they have used to fund breakthrough science on the disease and to create broader awareness of the need for a cure.

Moments • June 20 2024

Innovation Making an Impact

When people ask neurologist Saunder Bernes, MD, who has worked at Phoenix Children’s for 37 years, when he’s going to retire, he says he doesn’t know. After all, it’s too exciting a time in medicine.
“To be able to offer a family treatment, if not a cure, for diseases we never thought we’d be able to, is the reason I continue to work,” Dr. Bernes says.

My Vanderbilt Health • June 19 2024

Soothing Summer Scrapes: Walk-In Clinic or Treat at Home?

Popsicles, picnics and sunshine are sure signs summer is here. Unfortunately, so are stings, scrapes and bug bites. The good news is that most summer ailments can be treated at home. And when in doubt, there’s always the walk-in clinic.

DomesticShelters.org • June 12 2024

Can States Protect Kids from Reunification Camps?

In case you missed it, this past February we covered the horrors of family reunification camps, for-profit programs purportedly designed to help parents reestablish a relationship with the children they’ve been “alienated” from by the other parent, usually through divorce. One such camp, Building Family Bridges, markets itself as an “innovative four-day workshop” that “helps children reunify with a parent they claim to hate or fear.”

My Vanderbilt Health • June 3 2024

The low-down on high-risk pregnancy birth plans

When it comes to delivering a baby, having a birth plan in place is key. But if your pregnancy is high-risk, you may be wondering what options you’ll have when planning your delivery. Is it even worth filling out a birth plan?

My Vanderbilt Health • May 29 2024

When your child should see a GI about vomiting

It’s a fact of life that no one prepares parents for: Kids vomit. Often at the most inopportune times. But when is kids’ vomiting harmless and when could it signal something more?

The good news is that the vast majority of vomiting in kids is nothing to worry about. It’s most frequently caused by gastroenteritis, a stomach infection often referred to as the stomach flu even though it has no connection to influen

My Vanderbilt Health • April 26 2024

What can cause a high-risk pregnancy?

Most pregnancies are mostly smooth sailing, or what medical professionals refer to as “low-risk.” But nearly everyone knows a mom who’s had a high-risk pregnancy, so you may be wondering what the chances are that yours will be too.

It’s difficult to estimate exactly what percentage of pregnancies are high-risk, considering that a standardized definition of a “high-risk pregna

My Vanderbilt Health • April 10 2024

The real signs of autism in adults

Misinformation on TikTok could lead thousands of young adults to believe they have autism spectrum disorder when they really don’t. Here’s what to know about autism symptoms in adults.

On the one hand, social media has brought important and much-needed attention to mental health disorders. On the other hand, it’s circulating misinformation about a number of conditions, namely autism spectrum disorder. So much was detected, in fact, that researchers decided to analyze just how much of the autism

Frontline • April 3 2024

'I still believe in my body'

When Nout van Barneveld, 26, of Amsterdam, got his biopsy results and found out he had osteosarcoma, his first thoughts were for his loved ones.

“I could handle [the news]. I felt strong,” he says. “For me, it is more difficult to see family and friends dealing with it.”

DomesticShelters.org • April 1 2024

6 Questions to Help You Find a Safe Place After Abuse

For some, the answer of where to go is obvious—perhaps you have family who are ready to take you in or you’ve covertly saved up enough money to move to your own place. But often, finding a safe place to go is more challenging than that.

Cosmopolitan • March 30 2024

Your Most Pressing Questions About Bipolar 1 Disorder, Answered By People Who Know

Upon being diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder at the age of 24, Charlotte, a budding singer-songwriter, wasn't particularly angry, upset, or surprised. Her first thought after hearing the news?

That makes sense.

After three years of intense mood swings, severe insomnia, impulsivity, reckless behavior, fights with her family, and bouts of depression, Charlotte now had an explanation for the way she had been feeling and acting.

My Vanderbilt Health • March 20 2024

High-risk pregnancy? Meet your extended care team

No one wants to hear their pregnancy is considered “high-risk.” But no matter the reason for the designation — whether a preexisting health condition, multiples gestation, placental problems, lifestyle factors, etc. — it’s important you have the right team in place to ensure you receive the best care possible throughout your pregnancy, delivery and beyond.

DomesticShelters.org • March 11 2024

Moving Out After Abuse

Are you eager to escape an abuser but worried about what it will cost to break your lease? It’s a valid concern. But cost should never outweigh your safety.

That’s why many states have enacted legal protections for survivors of domestic abuse to terminate their leases early. These laws help prevent people from being forced to stay somewhere dangerous because they are financially liable for the rest of the lease term. The

My Vanderbilt Health • March 6 2024

Mother grateful to feel "exactly the same" after brain surgery

Christen Dowdy says she can’t believe how quickly she recovered after surgery to remove a tumor on her brain.

While packing for a move in November 2023, Christen Dowdy came across a journal she hadn’t thought about in more than two years. In it, she had written letters to her children before she underwent brain surgery “in case something bad happened.”

Moments • September 20 2023

An Unbreakable Bond

When celebrities or athletes visit the hospital, patients often welcome the distraction from the pain of their illness and monotony of their treatments. But James Conner brings more. The Arizona Cardinals running back has been a vocal advocate for Phoenix Children’s both on and off the field. This is, in part, because he has “matching scars,” as he told a patient in 2022.

My Vanderbilt Health • February 20 2024

A guide to baby-proofing: Top things to do before your baby arrives

Our expert outlines the most important baby-proofing steps to take now versus what can wait until later.