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What Happens When You Stop Taking Ozempic? Bergen County Docs Explain What Happens When You Stop Taking Ozempic? Bergen County Docs Explain
What Happens When You Stop Taking Ozempic? Bergen County Docs Explain So, you've been on Ozempic or Wegovy for some time.  You're seeing the desired results, and you're ready to come off.  Will you regain the weight? Will prior risk factors return? If so, how quickly? According to Dr. Hans Schmidt, the director of the Center for Weight Loss and Metabolic Health for Hackensack Meridian Health, coming off Ozempic is much like coming off a crash diet. "Once you take away whatever medication is working so well, most people will gain the weight back," Schmidt said. "Often more than they’ve lost." Ozempic is a GLP1, a naturally occurring molecule relea…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
NJ Pharmacist Needed Double Lung Transplant But Insurance Denied It — Now He's Gone NJ Pharmacist Needed Double Lung Transplant But Insurance Denied It — Now He's Gone
NJ Pharmacist Needed Double Lung Transplant But Insurance Denied It — Now He's Gone John Jukić's family says he would still be alive today had his insurance company granted him the double lung transplant he needed back in April. The 46-year-old Clark dad and Colonia pharmacist suffered lung damage from COVID-19 he contracted last October, and needed a double lung transplant. His only hope was a double lung transplant, his wife Mirla said. However, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois apparently denied him the life-saving treatment, and while his family was in the process of appealing the decision, John on Monday, June 13. Blue Cross Blue Shield did not immediately resp…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Efforts To Find Kidney For North Jersey Grandma Intensify Efforts To Find Kidney For North Jersey Grandma Intensify
Efforts To Find Kidney For North Jersey Grandma Intensify Several years have passed since a North Jersey man began a tireless campaign to find a kidney donor for his grandmother. But TJ Sullivan isn't giving up. Theresa Labarck, 69, of Wayne "is one of the strongest women I know," said Sullivan, of Saddle Brook. "Her positive attitude and determination to stick around for her family has kept her alive this long." It's also kept Sullivan pursuing all avenues to keep the spotlight on LaBarck -- aka "Mommom" -- who for the past three decades has lived with polycystic kidney disease (PKD). His efforts include a recently-launched GoFundMe campaign to…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Morris County Cyclist Thrown 30 Feet In Brutal Crash Suffers Traumatic Brain Injury Morris County Cyclist Thrown 30 Feet In Brutal Crash Suffers Traumatic Brain Injury
Morris County Cyclist Thrown 30 Feet In Brutal Crash Suffers Traumatic Brain Injury A Morris County cyclist suffered a traumatic brain injury and several broken bones after he was struck by a car. Jim Rooney, of Mendham, was out taking a 30-mile bike ride on Dec. 26 when he was hit by a car despite having the right of way, according to a GoFundMe launched for his medical expenses. Rooney was thrown 30 feet during the crash, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury and serious orthopedic injuries, including several broken bones, the fundraiser says. Rooney was taken to Morristown Medical Center, where he remained in the ICU for about two weeks before being transferred to …

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by Valerie Musson
Business
Englewood Health Opens Urgent Care Center Englewood Health Opens Urgent Care Center
Englewood Health Opens Urgent Care Center Englewood Health has opened a new urgent care center. Located at 35 Nathaniel Pl., in Englewood, Englewood Health Urgent Care at Englewood provides adult and pediatric urgent and non-urgent medical care seven days a week, with extended weekday and weekend hours available.  At Englewood Health Urgent Care at Englewood, healthcare providers are available to assist with illnesses and injuries; pre-employment, school, and camp physicals; lab tests; X-rays; vaccinations; and other urgent and routine care. The center, located at 35 Nathaniel Place in Englewood, is open Monday through Friday …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Community Rallies For Injured North Bergen Police Officer As Fiancé Battles Brain Tumor Community Rallies For Injured North Bergen Police Officer As Fiancé Battles Brain Tumor
Community Rallies For Injured North Bergen Police Officer As Fiancé Battles Brain Tumor The migraines, seizures and dizziness Isabel Cucalon thought were symptoms of stress turned out to be something much worse: A brain tumor. The Ridgefield Park mom has had three surgeries this year to correct damage endured during the birth of her second child with fiancé Nelson Roman, since early 2021. Isabel Cucalon and Nelson Roman with their kids.GoFundMe photo Meanwhile, Roman injured his shoulder while on duty as a police officer in North Bergen. So when doctors told Cucalon that what she was experiencing was simply from stress, she believed it. But last month, when she was refer…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
‘Patient Brokers' Admit Bribing, Flying NJ Drug Addicts To Cali Rehab Clinics ‘Patient Brokers' Admit Bribing, Flying NJ Drug Addicts To Cali Rehab Clinics
‘Patient Brokers' Admit Bribing, Flying NJ Drug Addicts To Cali Rehab Clinics UPDATE: Two out-of-state men admitted paying “recruiters” to bribe drug addicts in New Jersey to go to rehab centers that they got business from -- some of which were as far as California. Seth Logan Welsh, 26, of Forest Hill, MD, and John C. Devlin, 33, of Baltimore told a U.S. District judge in Trenton via teleconference that they hired a Red Bank bank man, among others, to carry out the scheme so they could collect referral fees from the rehab centers. That man, Peter Costas, paid addicts several thousand dollars to use specific rehab centers in New Jersey and other states -- whether th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
North Bergen Mom In Coma More Than Month After Emergency C-Section, Heart Attack North Bergen Mom In Coma More Than Month After Emergency C-Section, Heart Attack
North Bergen Mom In Coma More Than Month After Emergency C-Section, Heart Attack A North Bergen baby has yet to meet her mom, who remains in a coma more than a month after an emergency C-section and heart attack that left her in a coma. More than $53,900 had been raised on a GoFundMe as of Wednesday morning for Estefania Mesa and her partner Eduardo Argueta, who welcomed baby Emma into the world July 20. Mesa went in for an emergency C-section after feeling contractions, and soon after went into cardiac arrest, according to the GoFundMe, launched by Jennifer Romero. "The lack of oxygen to her brain has now placed her in a coma," Romero wrote. "The doctors believe …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
MTA Agrees To $500,000 Coronavirus Death Benefit MTA Agrees To $500,000 Coronavirus Death Benefit
MTA Agrees To $500,000 Coronavirus Death Benefit The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Transport Workers Union of America announced an agreement Tuesday establishing a COVID-19 death benefit for TWU members who died after being infected.  Under the agreement, the MTA will pay $500,000 in a lump sum to the spouse, beneficiary or estate of each deceased member in active service on or after Feb. 1, 2020, Local 100 in Brooklyn reported.  "Transportation workers are the heroes moving heroes of this public health crisis, continuing to get healthcare workers, first responders and other ess…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paterson Family Physician Charged With Illegally Prescribing Percocet Paterson Family Physician Charged With Illegally Prescribing Percocet
Paterson Family Physician Charged With Illegally Prescribing Percocet A Paterson family physician sold Percocet prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose, authorities charged. Mahesh Mehta, 65, was named in an indictment returned by a state grand jury in Trenton charging him with illegally selling controlled dangerous substances. Deputy Attorney General Fernando D. Maldonado presented the case to the grand jury, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Wednesday. Detective Celeste Dowd coordinated the investigation, he said. Anyone with information about health insurance cheating or medical fraud can report it anonymously by calling a toll-free hotlin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
Former Cliffside Park Family Faces Unimaginable As Boy Battles Cancer Former Cliffside Park Family Faces Unimaginable As Boy Battles Cancer
Former Cliffside Park Family Faces Unimaginable As Boy Battles Cancer Art school, driving his electric car and his little brother. These are what Wayne's Nikolas Serenkov misses most. The 3-year-old has spent the better part of this summer at Hackensack University Medical Center receiving treatment for neuroblastoma. Since his diagnosis last June, Nikolas gave up his favorite things and instead, became very painful and uncomfortable. ** CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO A GOFUNDME LAUNCHED FOR THE SERENKOV FAMILY ** Aside from the physical and emotional tolls that the Serenkovs are facing, a financial one is looming: Nikolas' mom Marina Serenkov could loose her job…

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by Cecilia Levine
Neighbors
Newark Woman Takes Her Quest For A Kidney To The Streets Newark Woman Takes Her Quest For A Kidney To The Streets
Newark Woman Takes Her Quest For A Kidney To The Streets Bumper stickers and car decals broadcast all kinds of information, from a favorite band to a vacation destination to an off-color joke to whether the driver’s kid is an honor roll student. The decal on the back of Elizabeth Abrantes’s car is a plea for life. “Kidney needed, A+, Share Your Spare & Be a Hero,” it reads, followed by a phone number. The "A+" refers to her blood type, and "your spare" refers to the fact that a healthy person can survive with just one of her two kidneys.  Abrantes, 40, of Newark, has been on New Jersey’s waiting list for a new kidney for four years. Sh…

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by Paul Milo
Lifestyle
Single Clifton Mom With 'Heart Of Gold' Battles Cancer For Fourth Time Single Clifton Mom With 'Heart Of Gold' Battles Cancer For Fourth Time
Single Clifton Mom With 'Heart Of Gold' Battles Cancer For Fourth Time Catherine Clinton of Clifton has survived cancer three times already. The first at 24 years old, ovarian cancer. Then breast, decades later. Last year, the single mom fought skin cancer. This year, Clinton was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic terminal breast cancer. Her neighbors are making sure she won't fight alone. More than $7,700 had been raised for Clinton as of Sunday on a GoFundMe, launched by Kate Cade. "All her life the single mother of two has worked tirelessly to help other people , working with children with disabilities," Cade wrote.  "She has tried to impro…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Driver, 20, Who Survived Horrific Route 287 Crash In Mahwah Can't Recall How It Happened Driver, 20, Who Survived Horrific Route 287 Crash In Mahwah Can't Recall How It Happened
Driver, 20, Who Survived Horrific Route 287 Crash In Mahwah Can't Recall How It Happened A South Carolina woman whose sedan slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer on the shoulder of Route 287 in Mahwah earlier this month says she can't remember what happened. Jordyn Carol King, 20, initially told Daily Voice "with 100% certainty" that an initial report from authorities that she apparently fell asleep behind the wheel wasn't true. "It was what it is being reported as: an accident,” she said. In a GoFundMe campaign that she has since launched for herself, King now says that "many details of the wreck are difficult for me to recall." Following the Nov. 15 crash, she writes, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Neighbors
Lyme Disease Has Rutherford Woman Fighting For Her Life Lyme Disease Has Rutherford Woman Fighting For Her Life
Lyme Disease Has Rutherford Woman Fighting For Her Life RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A woman who is fighting an aggressive case of Lyme Disease is looking at more than $20,000 in medical bills because insurance won't cover most of it. Maryelizabeth Carter, who runs Underground Trainers with Michele Santiago, was recently diagnosed with three different strains of the disease that have consumed her form the inside out. Santiago tells Carter's story on a GoFundMe, which has raised more than $12,000 as of Friday. "She has lost the majority of her muscle mass, often making it difficult to do things as simple as hold dishes or even stand," Santiago …

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by Cecilia Levine