“I said I want it done,” said Olvera of the preventative surgery. She had the procedure performed in 2006 after doctors discovered her 28-year-old niece had breast cancer.

“The doctors wanted her to get us together and do the gene test because it was not normal for someone that young to get breast cancer,” said Olvera.

Janie tested positive for the BRCA 1 gene, increasing her risk of breast cancer by almost 90 percent. And five of Janie’s eleven siblings’ tests also came back positive. Two months after learning the results, Janie had a double mastectomy and her ovaries removed.

“It’s absolutely the right choice because you are literally changing your destiny for getting the cancer,” said Dr. Ravi Patel, Medical Director of the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center.

He says the tests cost around $3,000. But, insurance companies are willing to help with the costs, and Dr. Patel says it’s worth it if there’s a medical past.

“If they have a strong family history of breast cancer, particularly in younger individuals, 40, 50 or younger than that, then the risk of breast cancer increases substantially,” said Dr. Patel.

Dr. Oscar Streeter Junior at the AIS Cancer Center at San Joaquin Hospital believes genetic counseling should come before the BRCA gene tests.

“Absolutely, that would be the appropriate next step,” said Dr. Streeter.

Dr. Streeter added preventative surgery can greatly decrease the cancer risk if it’s positive.

“We also know we can reduce the breast cancer risk by 95 percent by taking the ovaries out as well. And, we know associated with this BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 gene that there’s a higher risk of ovarian cancer. So, if you take the ovaries out there’s 100 percent reduction in ovarian cancer,” said Dr. Streeter.

While Janie knows there’s still a chance of cancer in her future, she’s happy she has one.

“Body parts to me are just body parts. It’s like I lost a finger or an arm, you know. I am who I am because I’m here, not because I have, you know, my legs or my breasts or ovaries. It’s because I’m here,” said Janie.

Dr. Streeter says the BRCA 1 and 2 genes are in five to ten percent of American women. Janie says her two daughters, in their early 30s, were tested. One was positive for the gene and she plans to have the preventative surgery.

“I was devastated,” Ashley Cardenas told TODAY’s Janet Shamlian. “I didn’t really understand what they meant by her heart was on the outside of her body.”

Rather than terminate her pregnancy, Cardenas opted for a risky operation once she gave birth. Her daughter, Audrina, was born in October with ectopia cordis, a condition in which all or part of the heart is outside of the chest.

On Audrina’s second day of life, a team of 11 doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston spent six hours performing a life-saving, open-heart surgeryto make room in her  chest for the one-third of her heart that was outside of her body.

Read the rest of the story here.

Joel was first brought to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic by Healing the Children New Jersey to be treated for a disfigurating lesion on the left side of his face in August of 2012. After visiting multiple medical centers throughout the Northeast to try to find a diagnosis, he was diagnosed with a lymphatic malformation. And after several centers determined they could not treat him, Steven and Shannon Tuorto (his host parents in the U.S.) finally found Dr. Alejandro Berenstein — an interventional neuroradiologist and director of the Center for Endovascular Surgery at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. He pioneered the treatment for lymphatic malformations about 30 years ago, and will perform the surgery pro bono this morning.

“This young boy has some lymphatic blood vessels malformed,” explains Dr. Berenstein. “The lymph nodes is where the foreign bodies like viruses and bacteria get processed in the body – where the white blood cells are and defense mechanisms of the body are. In some cases…instead of draining properly, they create cysts, creating deformity of the face.”

Dr. Berenstein, who is of Mexican-Jewish background, says sclerotherapy is his expertise.

Dr. Alejandro Berenstein performing a surgery. (Photo/Brad Hess, and Continuum Health Partners)

“In the lining of the blood vessels, we inject something using ultrasound and x-rays to see where we are going,” he says. “Twenty-five to 30 years ago, I used alcohol. Now we have refined it with foams so that it has more contact surface to destroy the inner lining and let it scar.”

He explains that this agent was originally developed to treat cancer, but a doctor in South Africa noticed it damaged blood vessels and veins.

“It’s very effective,” says Dr. Berenstein, who happens to perform this surgery, which takes about an hour and a half, 10 to 12 times a week.

He expects three or four more sessions will be needed in intervals of six to eight weeks.

“We should see results by the second one,” says Dr. Berenstein, explaining 90 percent of cases result in success. “The goal is to make him look very normal. We don’t want damage to take place, so we go slowly.”

Although he says lymphatic malformation is not common, Roosevelt Hospital performs about 200 such procedures a year.

“I don’t think there’s many places that do as many as we do,” says Dr. Berenstein, who in his 60’s is still active researching and developing new treatments for strokes or other new conditions. “Roosevelt Hospital has been super generous. I was able to talk interventional neuroradiologists, pediatricians, and intensive care doctors to agree to donate their time, and expertise, to help this young boy.”

Denise Malsky, coordinator of the International Inbound Program of Healing the Children New Jersey, says Joel will probably have to continue to live with his foster parents in New Jersey for another three to six months, but his family in the Dominican Republic will continue to be kept informed of his status.

1. Epilepsy is the condition of having repeated, unprovoked seizures, whereas a seizure is an abnormal electrical discharge of the brain which then results in an individual losing consciousness or having a change in their neurological function. There are several types of seizures and not all are dramatic in their presentation, though they are often depicted in movies and television as a convulsion.  Some seizures manifest by one simply losing focus, but to a bystander, it may seem as daydreaming, wandering or a tremor.  Therefore, not all seizures are very dramatic in their presentations.

2. Epilepsy is very common.  According to the CDC, one in 26 people in the U.S. will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime.  If you think about it, that means two persons on every bus or two people in every subway car will have epilepsy.  There are 150,000 new cases of epilepsy diagnosed in the United States annually; 2.2 million people in the U.S. and more than 65 million people worldwide have the condition.

3. Children and older adults are the fastest-growing segments of the population with new cases of epilepsy; however, the reason that they have epilepsy varies dramatically.  In children, we see an overabundance of genetic and infectious causes of seizures. For older adults, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease seem to be the common cause of epilepsy and seizures in this population.

4. There are numerous causes of seizures and epilepsy.  Stroke, head trauma and tumors are common causes of seizures in the U.S., yet the number one cause of seizures outside of the U.S. is an infection which is completely preventable by simply washing one’s hands. Neurocysticercosis– caused by the Taenia solium tapeworm– is one of the most common causes of epilepsy in the world and an increasing cause of seizures in the U.S.   Other preventable causes of epilepsy are head trauma from car accidents, violence or the consequences of military intervention.

5. Epilepsy is not a benign condition and can result in death. The number of people with epilepsy who die of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) varies from one of every 10,000 newly diagnosed to nine of every 1,000 candidates for epilepsy surgery.

6. For many people with epilepsy, seizures can be effectively reduced or eliminated by medication, surgery, devices and dietary or other therapies; however, referral to epilepsy centers for surgery can take 15 years or more.  In the Latino population, there is a considerable misinformation and lack of information; oftentimes that lack of access does not translate into meaningful care. There are 26 different drugs approved for treatment in the U.S. for epilepsy.  Moreover there is a pacemaker like device known as the vagus nerve stimulator, a diet- ketogenic or modified Atkins, and numerous surgeries.  These effective treatments are available for many types of epilepsies; however, access and referrals to these treatments fall short.

7. There is considerable stigma associated with epilepsy that sometimes overwhelms the condition itself. The word” epilepsy” is considered stigmatizing in its own right.  The long history of epilepsy is full of examples of discrimination and secrecy due to misinformation and lack of understanding by the general public.  This stigma can have a detrimental effect on people with epilepsy and continued and sustained efforts are needed to raise public awareness and convey what epilepsy is and what it is not, as well as the basic message that this is an exceedingly common condition.

8. There are significant quality of life issues associated with epilepsy and one of the most significant is driving.  Every state in the U.S. has a law that dictates whether someone with epilepsy can or cannot drive and the length of time they need to be seizure free for them to drive.  In six of these states, the law has mandatory reporting by the physician of all patients with epilepsy to a medical board.  Individuals need to be aware of these laws as there are, in some cases, criminal consequences for both physician and patients for their lack of awareness associated with it.

9. Epilepsy is more than just seizures as it often has other accompanying conditions associated with it.  Oftentimes, poor memory, mood issues, depression and anxiety walk hand in hand with issues associated with epilepsy and need to be managed and thought of when caring for the individual with epilepsy.

10. Sadly, many health professionals need to be better informed about epilepsy.  Only 20 percent of U.S. medical schools require training in neurology…and epilepsy and how to treat it.  Improvements in epilepsy care can only be made if the quality and quantity of education about epilepsy for health care professionals are improved dramatically at undergraduate and graduate levels of lifelong learning processes.  In addition, more educational efforts for patients with epilepsy and their families is needed.

It is only with a concerted effort to illuminate epilepsy and talk about the condition that one will hopefully empower individuals with knowledge so as to improve quality of life.

Dr. Joseph Sirven is a first-generation Cuban-American. He is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology and was past Director of Education for Mayo Clinic Arizona. He is editor-in-chief of epilepsy.com and has served U.S. and global governmental agencies including the Institute of Medicine, NASA, FAA, NIH and CDC.

“I tell them ‘You don’t have to prove yourself to your gang, to your community to anybody,’” says Antezana, a six-year veteran of the Wraparound Project. “‘You’ve already survived. You’ve awakened.’”

Antezana, 35, and the other case managers teach hospital patients how to reenter their community after the mental trauma of being shot, stabbed or in some way physically assaulted. They assess the victim’s background and provide him or her with customized therapy for up to six months. It’s an effort, they say, that works to reduce the number of repeat victims of violence in the ER. 

Case managers at the Wraparound Project in San Francisco visit Yosemite National Park with a group of youth. (Photo courtesy of Javier Antezana)

“We do it by getting at the root causes.” says Dr. Rochelle Dicker, trauma surgeon and director of the Wraparound Project.  Unemployment, substance abuse and lower incomes can all contribute to a higher risk for gun violence, she says.

Hospital-based violence prevention programs like the Wraparound Project are gaining ground nationwide. The initiative is part of a wider network of twenty other hospitals and organizations that conduct a similar type of bedside intervention.

Dr. Dicker’s inspiration to launch the  program at SFGH came as a resident, she says, after she treated a teenage gunshot victim and saw him return with another bullet wound two weeks later.

“Are you really helping if you’re just sewing them up and sending them back out to the same risk factors?” she asked.

Since the program’s inception seven years ago, injury recidivism rate in the hospital has dropped from 16 to 5 percent.

 Joe Drake,  a musician and a mentor for incarcerated youth, is one of those success stories. The 23-year-old was introduced to Wraparound five years ago when he was stabbed and shot in the same day.

“I was involved in a fight in the neighborhood, got stabbed in my left arm and then two hours later, I was shot five times,” says Drake. The gunman shot Drake in the stomach, the head, the mid part of his thigh, his right buttocks, and one bullet ripped through his back and passed out of his chest, piercing his lung.

Joe Drake, a youth mentor who was once stabbed and shot five times in the same day. (Photo courtesy of Javier Antezada)

Soon after surgeons released him from the operating room, Drake says case managers Mike Texada and Javier Antezada visited his bed to comfort him and caution him against striking back against his attacker.

“After being shot, I felt inferior. I felt real scared that someone would find the weakness in my body,” says Drake, who soon after returning to his home, discovered the identity of the shooter. He says he called Wraparound when he felt the urge to seek revenge. “I was having a frustrating moment but they helped me pass it. Now, my vengeance is to teach the next young individual who needs to be guided in the streets.”

Drake now conducts a monthly seminar for young offenders at the Wraparound. He recounts his story, reveals his scars and pushes the kids to map out a future without violence.

RELATED: Former gang member helps at-risk youth

According to police statistics, 125 people were shot in San Francisco in 2012, and at least 66 were killed. The rate is low compared to more violent cities like neighboring Oakland, but the numbers do represent an increase from last year, the police say.

Case manager Javier Antezeda says the Wraparound Project treats a majority of these victims but a lack of federal funding prevents the program from reaching all gun wound patients.  He says he was able to escape urban violence and would like to help others do the same.

“I got into situations that got me into juvi hall,” says Antezeda. But, “I finally realized there had to be a different path for me.”

“I was thinking about never, never, never close my eyes,” Evelin Matamoros, 36, said in a news conference at Jackson Memorial Hospital. “I had to keep (alive) for my daughters, my family.”

A bullet was removed from Matamoros as doctors placed a metallic plate in her jaw during seven hours of surgery last Wednesday. She has been hospitalized since Jan. 24, when she was shot in a robbery outside a cafe, according to police.

“I feel so blessed because I have a second life,” Matamoros said.

Police said she handed over her purse to a robber but he shot her in the face anyway. Suspect Kamiah Lanier, 20, faces several charges in the shooting, police said.

Officials released X-rays that had been taken of Matamoros last week, with doctors saying that after the bullet entered through her cheekbone, it went into her mouth, continued through her body and into the upper part of her neck. Matamoros currently has a series of metal staples along her neck.

She is in stable condition and will probably go home this Wednesday, hospital spokeswoman Lidia Amoretti said.

“First of all, I want to thank God eternally for a second chance to be here, next to my husband, my daughters,” Matamoros said in Spanish. “Thank you to the doctors who made a great effort to save my life.”

Her daughter, Allison Matamaros, prayed for her mother to survive.

“Because she was praying to stay alive for us – to keep our family united,” Allison Matamaros said in tears.

The Jackson Memorial Foundation announced Monday that it has set up a fund to help Matamoros, who has two daughters.

“Aside from the immediate urgent care she is currently receiving, Evelin will need additional surgeries and physical therapy in the near future to provide her the chance to return to her normal self,” said Thomas Schramm, the foundation’s CEO, in a statement. “That is why we are counting on the generosity of our community to help Evelin’s family with her medical needs.”

Allison Matamaros asked the public to help with the family’s medical bills.

“Please give money to support because I really want my mom to be alive until God wants – so does my sister,” she said.

“Doctors placed a metallic plate in her jaw,” the hospital spokeswoman, Lidia V. Amoretti, said of the patient. “They also managed to remove the bullet with no complications.”

Evelin Matamoros, 36, is recovering following her surgery, and more details about her condition were expected to be released later, Amoretti said.

Matamoros has been hospitalized since Jan. 24, when she was shot in a robbery outside a Cafe, police said. She handed over her purse to a robber, who shot her in the face anyway, police said.

A suspect, Kamiah Lanier, 20, was arrested several hours after the robbery on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and using a firearm during the commission of a felony, police said.

Earlier this week, officials released X-rays that had been taken of Matamoros. Doctors at the time said that after the bullet entered through her cheekbone, it went into her mouth, continued through her body and into the upper part of her neck.

Dr. Gabriel Ruiz at the time said he hadn’t removed the bullet due to precaution.

“I was not able to recover the bullet due to the location,” he said. “Sometimes it’s more dangerous to actually pursue the subjects.”

Police have made three arrests in connection with the nightclub fire in Brazil that tragically killed 232 victims. Burials for the victims began today. Witnesses say sparklers lit by the band ignited the ceiling. Eight people were injured when a gunfight broke out at the headquarters of the Dominican Republic’s leading opposition party over the weekend. Tempers flared after members decided to expel former President Hipólito Mejia from the ranks. Also from Venezuela,  a letter from President Hugo Chavez was read aloud at a regional summit in Chile, the first word from the ailing leader since his cancer surgery more than a month ago.  The letter called for greater Latin America unity. In Caracas, hundreds attended the third annual tattoo expo showcasing outlandish and extreme body art in Caracas. Attendees included the “Vampire Woman” of Mexico and the “Devil” from Colombia.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said after meeting with Chavez in Cuba that the ailing president is now “in the best moment we’ve seen him in these days of struggle” following his Dec. 11 cancer surgery. Chavez hasn’t appeared or spoken publicly since before the operation, and his government has said he suffered complications including a severe respiratory infection but has recently been improving.

Maduro spoke on state television early Saturday after returning from Havana to Venezuela. He said he was leaving shortly for a summit meeting in Chile with a written message from Chavez.

“We’re taking a message prepared by the president, and we’re going to turn it over to heads of state who attend the CELAC summit. He makes fundamental proposals,” Maduro said, adding that the message was in Chavez’s handwriting.

Maduro said Chavez also urged his supporters in Venezuela to be alert about opponents seeking to do harm to his socialist-oriented “revolution.” However, Maduro didn’t elaborate.

The vice president, whom Chavez designated as his successor before the operation, spoke on television surrounded by officials including Defense Minister Diego Molero and Information Minister Ernesto Villegas. Maduro said Villegas would give a more detailed update on Chavez’s health later Saturday.

Chavez has undergone repeated surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment for an unspecified type of pelvic cancer. He has undergone much of his treatment in Cuba.

The 58-year-old president won re-election in October, and lawmakers indefinitely put off his inauguration earlier this month in a decision that was condemned by opponents but upheld by the Supreme Court.

The vice president said, without giving details, that Chavez “has reviewed and evaluated reports on different areas and has made decisions.”

He also said Chavez had signed documents related to economic issues, as well as one about the selection of his socialist party’s candidates for mayoral elections later this year. The vice president showed the signature in red ink.

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has called on President Hugo Chavez to appear and talk to the people. The leader is recovering from cancer surgery and hasn’t been seen for a month.  Also in Venezuela, an art exhibit honoring Chavez opened to wish the leader strength as he recovers. The exhibit features 23 paintings and is called “Chavez lives and will overcome.” A woman born without a tongue received cutting-edge treatment in Brazil. Doctors expanded her chin and jaw to create more space inside her mouth. She says now she can talk and eat better. Costa Rica tops the list in a ranked study of the 100 best outsourcing destinations. The study reveals companies prefer San Jose over bigger cities like Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires.