Sparks & Favor PC

In case you missed it, Dr. Hall-Minnie, Dr. Malek, and Dr. Whitehead were featured on WBRC FOX 6 News “Ask The Doc” segment to talk about fibroids for Fibroid Awareness Month. We appreciate Sheldon Haygood and the team at FOX 6 News for welcoming our doctors to spread awareness about this women’s health issue! Check out their segment below:

Fibroids can cause heavy periods, anemia, abdominal or pelvic pain, bloating, problems with urinating or bowel movements, and several other symptoms. Many women are affected by these benign smooth muscle tumors. They can range in size from as…

We are proud to partner with Baby Steps Bama as a sponsor of their Golden Gala.  Baby Steps is a non-profit organization that supports pregnant and parenting college students so that they are empowered to thrive as both parents and students.
The organization’s vision is “to create a culture of empowerment that changes how universities, communities, and society as a whole respond to and support Student-Moms. Young women facing unplanned pregnancies should not be defined by their circumstances but empowered to thrive. We are diligently working to bring Baby Steps to Student-Moms across the nation.” So…

What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis in a condition in which tissue normally found in the lining of the uterus begins to grow in other areas of a woman’s abdomen. It is normal tissue, not a cancer, but it can still cause great discomfort and other medical problems. Endometriosis is very common, affecting about one in ten women.

The misplaced endometrial tissue can become attached to the ovaries, fallopian tubes, the outside surface of the uterus, the bladder, bowel, or other places in the pelvis.
What problems does endometriosis cause…

The New Year and its traditions are upon us. For most of us, the festivities will include some combination of watching football, eating collards and black-eyed peas, attending a party, counting down the ball descent on Times Square, toasting 2024, AND making a New Year’s resolution!

Notice that the last item is not likely to help any of us look forward to 2024 with optimism. The reason is obvious. Experience tells us that most New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail. So today our New Year’s greeting for patients and friends will not include the typical…

I’ve never gotten the flu, so I’d rather just take my chances.
True, individuals are not equally susceptible to getting sick from the flu. Science has informed us that genetics plays a role in how a person’s immune system responds to viral illnesses. The immune cells your body has on hand when you are exposed also influence your susceptibility. And some people who become infected have only mild flu symptoms or even no symptoms at all. It is still possible to pass the virus to your coworkers or loved ones.

You may have avoided the flu so…

updated 11/20/2023
The pancreas is a small organ behind the stomach. It produces hormones like insulin and enzymes that help digest food. Like other very serious cancers, pancreatic cancer usually doesn’t cause noticeable symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage. There is no reliable test to find pancreatic cancer at an early stage. With so little available to fight this disease, you might wonder why, as a women’s physician, I am talking about pancreatic cancer.

I realize that I am the only physician many of my patients see regularly. When you come in for your well…

Each October, we repost Dr. Stradtman’s  (2020) blog for women who may be going through the diagnostic process for breast cancer. We appreciate Dr. Stradtman’s willingness to share her personal experience.
 

The year 2020 affected all of us in ways we could not have imagined. But in February as we were beginning to realize how Covid-19 might alter our lives, I confronted another difficult life event. My annual screening mammogram revealed an abnormality that would require surgery and was likely to be malignant. I feel very fortunate that, in this case, the routine care I recommend…

1. Understand What Your Positive Pregnancy Test Means.
Today’s urine pregnancy test kits are sensitive enough to detect the pregnancy hormone with about 98% accuracy by the time you would have started your next period. By 7 days after the first day of your expected period the result of the test is near 100% reliable. So, a positive test tells you that a fertilized egg has implanted (hopefully in the uterus), and the placenta is starting to form. The placental cells begin to produce the hormone hCG which triggers the positive test. Because hCG in the blood or urine…

We want to remind you of the risks of postponing screening tests and other preventive healthcare.
Research tells us that Americans fear cancer more than any other health event, even though heart disease is the leading cause of death. Much of this fear comes from the belief that cancer or cancer death is just a matter of random chance, something we are powerless to prevent. But let’s look at the actual facts about gynecologic cancers.

We refer to any cancer that begins in a woman’s reproductive organs as a gynecologic cancer. About 100,000 women are newly diagnosed…