When Carol Cannon of Ridgeland was diagnosed with lymphedema, she had never even heard of the condition that was causing swelling in her lower legs so severe she couldn’t wear shoes.

“It’s bothered me for at least eight years,” said Cannon, 81. “I’d been to several doctors. They thought the swelling was from my heart, then my veins. They tried me on strong diuretics. I just figured nothing was going to help me.”

As she leads her students at Xpress Dance in Madison, Melanie Creek moves with grace and fluidity, the product of more than 30 years of practice.

But back in July, she was more like a wobbly toddler taking her first steps. “I couldn’t even walk straight,” she said. “It was really scary and very frustrating.”

Creek’s problem was a debilitating balance disorder. And the dancer credits physical therapist Susan Geiger for choreographing her comeback.

You’ve just stumbled upon a man lying unconscious in the woods. He appears to have fallen from a tree stand. What do you do?

That question confronted participants of a recent Wilderness Medicine Seminar at Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s Flowood campus. And the answer was probably a surprise to some.

Rather than rushing to act, it’s best to size up the scene for threats to your own safety, advised seminar leader Dr. Philip Blount.

As a 20-year veteran of law enforcement, Devie Freeman is used to closing cases.

But still open is the case of what exactly happened to him on the night of Aug. 22, 2016 at his Canton, Miss., residence.

“In the wee hours of the morning, around 3 a.m., apparently I was attempting to go downstairs—I’m assuming to get a bottle of water—and I fell down the stairs,” Freeman said. “Later, I was informed that my door was open and my alarm went off, so the police came to the apartment for the alarm call and they found me laying on the sofa and bleeding.”