Written by yvonnethornton on November 24th, 2010
My new memoir, Something to Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy, is going to be available from my publisher a couple weeks earlier than originally scheduled. And I wanted to do something special for friends, family, and fans to mark its arrival in bookstores.
So, if you’re in the New York/New Jersey area, I hope you’ll come celebrate with me at my Book Launch Party, on the 4th Floor of the Palisades Center Mall, Tuesday, December 14, between 7:00pm – 10:00pm.
We’ll have a special section of the café blocked off for the event. I’ll give a little talk, just to bring everyone up to speed on the genesis of this book, and its predecessor, The Ditchdigger’s Daughters. I’ll read from the book, and sign copies. (I can also personalize the signing for anyone who you might want to give the book as a Christmas present). And if the event isn’t too crowded, we should also get plenty of opportunities to mingle and chat a bit.
So, please, come join me, and share this special day. Coffee, pastries and other goodies will be available. I look forward to seeing you there. Time, place and other details are below:
BARNES AND NOBLE BOOK LAUNCH:
Something to Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy
The Palisades Center Mall
4416 Palisades Center Drive – 4th Floor
West Nyack, NY 10994
Exit 12 off the New York State Thruway. (Get driving directions here.)
845-348-4701
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
Posted in Media appearances, Publishing news, Something To Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy, The Ditchdigger's Daughters | 1 Response »
Tags: bestselling author, Book Launch Party, MD. The Ditchdigger's Daughters, Something To Prove, Yvonne S. Thornton
Written by yvonnethornton on November 23rd, 2010
Starting in 2011, health insurance companies will be limited in how much they can charge you for insurance. If you work for a large employer, your health insurer will have to use at least 85 percent of your premiums to pay for actual health care or activities that improve health care quality. If you’re self-employed or work for a small business, your health insurer will be required to use 80 percent of your premiums for health care and improving health care.
That means that health insurance companies can no longer divert more than 20 to 25 percent to profits, or salaries, or marketing, and other overhead.
How much will this affect you? Potentially, a great deal.
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told reporters at a press event that some health insurers currently spend less than 60 percent of premium revenues on health care. And that drives up your costs for health insurance:
“Those overhead costs contribute little or nothing to the care of patients and to the health of Americans. And while some administrative costs are certainly necessary, we believe that they have gotten out of hand. And that’s going to change in 2011.”
But what if health insurance companies fail to follow the new regulations? Starting in 2012, if your insurer doesn’t spend 80 to 85 percent of revenues on health care or activities that improve health care quality, you’ll be due a rebate on your premiums.
It’s about time that consumers had some clout when dealing with health insurance companies, and I applaud these changes. I also look forward to hearing your stories about how the new health care law affects you and your family. Has the new law helped your family get or keep health insurance? Get better care? Please let me know in the comments section.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
Posted in General health news, Health care policy, Women's health issues, Women's health news | No Responses »
Tags: consumer-friendly health care regulations, health care reform, lower health insurance premiums
Written by yvonnethornton on November 17th, 2010
I’ll be signing copies of my new memoir, Something to Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill A Father’s Legacy, in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and beyond, starting in January 2011.
The list of book-signings and other appearances is on my website and will be updated as new events are added. I hope you’ll check often, to see when I’ll be visiting near you. Come say hello, tell me your stories and I’ll share mine. And I’ll be delighted to sign your copy of Something to Prove when we meet.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
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Tags: Book signing, memoir, Something To Prove, Yvonne S. Thornton
Written by yvonnethornton on November 16th, 2010
Something to Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill A Father’s Legacy, my new memoir, was to be officially published at the end of December. However, I just learned that the publisher is going to be shipping books earlier than that – in time for gift-giving at Christmas.
So, if you’re looking for a Christmas present, especially for anyone who is a fan of The Ditchdigger’s Daughters, you will be able to find Something To Prove in your local bookstore by December 14th.
Or just order online at either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, and you can have it gift-wrapped and shipped directly.
I hope you’ll pick up a copy for yourself as well. And please write to me and let me know your thoughts.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
Posted in Publishing news, Something To Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy, The Ditchdigger's Daughters | No Responses »
Tags: Something To Prove, The Ditchdigger's Daughters, Yvonne S. Thornton
Written by yvonnethornton on October 29th, 2010
In preparation for the launch of my new memoir, Something To Prove, my website, DoctorThornton.com, was given a complete makeover. I have to say, I’m thrilled with the results, and hope you’ll like it too.
Here, you can find TV and radio interviews I’ve done with “Good Morning America,” “C-Span,” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Find out where I’ll be appearing to talk about and sign copies of Something to Prove. You can even hear a performance of The Thornton Sisters, the all-girl family band (that’s me on the alto saxophone) that helped my sisters and me pay for college, medical school and beyond. The song, “Watch Your Step” was written by my older sister, Jeanette. My younger sister, Linda, was lead vocalist (she is now a prosthodontic oral surgeon; back then, she was our drummer) and I am the soprano in the background vocals.
Browse through my photo gallery and then drop me a note on the Doctor Thornton contact page. I’m always happy to hear from you.
Please check back often as I expect to have plenty of new events to tell you about, right before Something to Prove’s publication and then, on an ongoing basis. And, of course, I’ll keep you updated here on the blog, as well.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
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Tags: doctorthornton.com, new memoir, Something To Prove, The Ditchdigger's Daughters, Yvonne Thornton
Written by yvonnethornton on October 27th, 2010
I’m delighted to say that Color magazine is running a lengthy profile about me that mentions The Ditchdigger’s Daughters, and gives a taste of my new memoir, Something To Prove, in this month’s issue. The magazine’s cover also features a photograph of me in my surgical scrubs – you just can’t get better coverage than that.
But what I like best is the article, written by Bridgit Brown. Ms. Brown reviewed an advance copy of Something to Prove, and later interviewed me, and I’m happy to report that her story got to the essence of what I am trying to share.
Please check it out – and let me know what you think.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
Posted in Media appearances, Publishing news, Something To Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy, The Ditchdigger's Daughters | No Responses »
Tags: Color magazine, magazine profile, memoir, Something To Prove, The Ditchdigger's Daughters, Yvonne Thornton
Written by yvonnethornton on October 19th, 2010
It’s interesting that Condoleeza Rice’s memoir, Extraordinary, Ordinary People, precedes Something To Prove, my own new memoir, by just a couple months (Something To Prove will be out at the end of December). Aside from the color of our skin, I wouldn’t have known that Dr. Rice and I share so much in common. But now that I’ve watched interviews with her and read articles about Extraordinary, Ordinary People, I see that she and I both owe our achievements in large part to parents who, although held back from realizing their own full potential by the racial attitudes of the day, had big dreams for their daughters:
Despite being raised in a city resistant to quality education for blacks, Rice’s parents used their meager resources to provide their only child with piano lessons at 3.
Change a couple of details (I studied a different instrument – the saxophone – and began at age 5), the above could describe my own childhood; multiplied by five daughters and five different instruments.
Condoleeza Rice’s parents had impossible dreams for their daughter of high political office. My parents had impossible dreams for me of becoming a doctor; again multiplied by five daughters .
Rice’s parents told that the way to success required her to be “twice as good” as whites. My parents so often spoke almost the identical words, that I can hear their voices as I write this.
In an interview with NPR, where she was asked about her life’s journey, Rice said this:
“I always say, you had to know John and Angelena Rice …So, this is really their story, and my life wrapped in their story.”
I’ve said very much the same about Donald and Itasker Thornton, my own amazing parents.
One gift that my parents gave me that Dr. Rice did not get from her otherwise remarkable parents is the belief that a woman’s achievement need not come at the sacrifice of marriage and family. I have two wonderful, grown children who are following in their own parents’ footsteps and a husband who I adore today as I did 36 years ago, when we first said “I do.”
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
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Tags: Condoleeza Rice, Extraordinary Ordinary People, memoir, Something To Prove, Yvonne S. Thornton
Written by yvonnethornton on October 14th, 2010
The conventional wisdom has been that, if you have a genetic predisposition to breast cancer, lifestyle changes, that might benefit other women, won’t help you. Your genes rule, so the thinking has gone until now, and there isn’t much you can do about it.
Now, I’m happy to report, new research in the journal Breast Cancer Research suggests that you don’t have to be a hostage to your genes. The study, by researcher Dr. Robert Gramling of the University of Rochester in New York, followed approximately 85,000 post-menopausal women for more than five years. And while it was true that women with a family history of breast cancer were at greater risk to get the disease, he discovered something very promising. Women who:
- exercised moderately (20 minutes per day for five days a week);
- maintained normal body weight;
- and drank no more than one alcoholic beverage per day
… lowered their risk of breast cancer. Yes, even those who had a family history of the disease.
Among those with a family history who followed the above guidelines and developed breast cancer, the rate was six in one thousand, compared to seven in one thousand among those who failed to follow the guidelines.
As I’ve been telling my patients and readers for years, there are so many benefits to maintaining a healthy weight. This study adds one more.
For your own health and the sake of those who love you, take good care of your body and it should take care of you for a very long time.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
Posted in Women's health issues, Women's health news | No Responses »
Tags: Breast cancer, breast cancer research, breast cancer risk, lifestyle changes reduce breast cancer risks, study, Yvonne S. Thornton
Written by yvonnethornton on September 23rd, 2010
You might have read that as of today, September 23, 2010, consumers will have several new rights when dealing with health insurance companies:
- Children can no longer be turned down for health insurance due to pre-existing conditions.
- Your insurer can no longer cancel your health insurance policy if you get sick.
- Your insurer can no longer charge you a co-pay for preventive care or tests such as mammograms and colonoscopies.
- If you have a medical emergency and need to go to an out-of-network hospital, insurers can’t charge you additional fees.
- You won’t need a referral from your primary care physician to visit your Ob-Gyn.
- Insurance companies can no longer cap the dollar amount of lifetime benefits available to you for essential medical care.
- You now have a right to appeal to an outside authority if your insurer denies a claim.
- Your adult children can stay on your health insurance policy up to the age of 26.
One thing the above should tell you: you’ve lost your last excuse for putting off that mammogram (make an appointment today, if you haven’t yet).
These changes are hugely valuable – but most people don’t yet know about them.
And the above are just the beginning. The Kaiser Family Foundation has one of the most comprehensive explanations I’ve seen of just how healthcare reform is likely to affect you and your family. And while you’re at the website, check out the animated video for an entertaining, thorough explanation of your expanded rights under the new legislation. It covers just about every question you might have.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
Posted in General health news, Health care policy, Women's health issues, Women's health news | No Responses »
Tags: health care reform, health insurance, healthcare reform, patients rights
Written by yvonnethornton on August 27th, 2010
Plenty of us suffer from fibroids (medical term is myoma), which are benign tumors that form in the uterus. Up to 40 percent of all women will be diagnosed with fibroids at some point in their lives, but only a relative few have severe symptoms. If you’re among the unlucky ones, and you’ve had to cope with extreme cramps and heavy bleeding during your period, backaches, painful sexual intercourse, or urinary problems, you might believe that the only way to end the misery is by getting a hysterectomy.
But there is another treatment, one that has been proven effective for many women, and doesn’t require surgery. Uterine artery embolization (UAE) is a minimally invasive outpatient or inpatient procedure performed by an interventional radiologist. Using a small x-ray camera (fluroscope), small, inert particles (embolic agents) are injected through a thin, flexible tube called a catheter into the arteries that nourish the fibroids and essentially block the blood flow, thus causing the fibroid to shrink.
A recent study in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology showed that for the vast majority of women, five years after the procedure was done, UAE had relieved symptoms enough so that a hysterectomy was not required.
Of course, any procedure has risks and there is always the possibility of side-effects from any treatment. But for women who suffer greatly from painful fibroids, who want to avoid a hysterectomy, UAE is an alternative worth considering.
– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
Posted in Women's health issues | No Responses »
Tags: avoid surgery, fibroids, myoma, painful period, UAE, Uterine artery embolization
