Melissa Macias earned her PhD from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where she also went on to complete her residency. In her leisure time, Melissa Macias gives to a variety of charitable and philanthropic organizations. Previously, she traveled to Honduras as a medical student volunteer with MEDICO, seeking to improve the lives of those in Central America through comprehensive health care. Since 1990, MEDICO, a non-denominational and non-profit service organization, has offered medical, dental, and eye care to those in need throughout Central America, by way of volunteer mission trips, projects, and partnerships with humanitarian organizations.Volunteering with MEDICO involves a week-long trip to Honduras or Nicaragua with both medical and non-medical participants. Often, volunteers will be in very small towns helping those who are underprivileged with both medical care and health education. Monetary donations can also be made to help fund this incredible foundation, which provides services to those in very remote areas with little or no access to proper health care.
As a surgeon at the Aurora Neuroscience Innovation Institute, Dr. Melissa Macias draws on advanced training in the treatment of degenerative spine disease. Dr. Melissa Macias leverages her knowledge of spine anatomy and pathology to select and perform procedures to correct such conditions.The human spine contains approximately 33 individual vertebrae, all of which are structurally similar. Closest to the front of the torso is the vertebral body, a solid structure with a roughly oval circumference. It is responsible for providing stability and carrying the weight placed on the spine.A hyaline cartilage lining protects the vertebral body at the top and bottom. Posterior to the vertebral body is the vertebral arch, a bony structure from which protrudes smaller bone segments known as processes. These serve as attachments for connective tissue and muscles.The vertebral arch connects to the vertebral body by way of two bony columns known as pedicles, located relatively parallel to the sides of the torso. The pedicles allow the vertebral body and arch to surround a space known as the vertebral canal, through which passes the spinal cord. The vertebral canal also houses the nerve roots, which reach outward from the spine to begin the transmission of nerve signals throughout the body. Cerebrospinal fluid surrounds these crucial nerve structures and is contained within the meninges, which envelop the spinal cord and brain.
Dr. Melissa Macias, a residency-trained neurosurgeon, cares for patients in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at Aurora Health Care. A neurosurgeon relying on state-of-the-art methods, Dr. Melissa Macias uses minimally invasive and robot-assisted techniques, where appropriate, when treating people challenged by strokes.
A patient is said to have a “stroke” when life-sustaining oxygen fails to reach brain tissues because oxygen-rich blood cannot access the brain. When cells do not get the oxygen they need, they eventually die.
If, for example, cells controlling motion die during a stroke, the patient in question may manifest symptoms like weakness and paralysis. If cells related to speech die, patients may lose their ability to articulate themselves.
Strokes occupy a position at the nexus of cardiology and neurology. Primary stroke risk-factors include cardiovascular metrics like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the presence of arterial disease. Since the cardiovascular system regulates blood flow, and since blood flow or lack thereof gives rise to strokes, it follows that strokes demonstrate how brain health depends to a substantial degree on heart health.
Dr. Melissa Macias is a board-certified neurosurgeon based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dr. Melissa Macias completed her residency in neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW).A seven-year program designed to prepare new physicians for demanding careers in neurosurgery, the neurosurgery residency at MCW includes a wide variety of clinical rounds and conferences in its curriculum. Residents participate in clinical rounds twice per day, during which they receive updates on patient status and discuss treatment options with attending physicians. The residency program also includes weekly Grand Rounds, which includes presentations on a broad range of topics within neuroscience.Outside of clinical rounds, the neurosurgery residency at MCW features monthly Journal Club meetings. During these sessions, residents meet to discuss literature relating to patient care and evaluation. Residents may also participate in the bimonthly Neurosurgery Case Conference, where they can learn about interesting neurosurgical cases from experienced faculty, fellows, and residents. Other conference opportunities include the Spine Tumor Board, Morbidity and Mortality Conference, and Neurovascular Case Conference.
A graduate of the MD program at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Dr. Melissa Macias has worked as a neurosurgeon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Rockford, Illinois. In her free time, Dr. Melissa Macias enjoys playing tennis weekly.In tennis, players are often startled when they first play against a serve and volley player, whose goal is to apply pressure and come to the net as quickly as possible. The serve and volley style represents one of the most aggressive tactics in tennis, making it difficult for opposing players to find room to breathe on the court. To beat the serve and volley player, opposing players must hit clean passing shots once their opponent charges the net. The skill and accuracy of professional players enables them to hit passing shots with considerable consistency, while less-experienced players may find it harder to accomplish this task. Players can keep opponents off the net by returning serves low at the feet and hitting early lobs. When the serve and volley player is at the baseline, players must hit their shots deep and test their opponents’ ability to play from the baseline rather than at the net.
Melissa Macias is a neurosurgeon with medical experience in the states of Illinois, Texas, and Wisconsin. Currently a neurosurgeon at Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Melissa Macias specializes in central and peripheral nervous system and also has training in the treatment of degenerative spine disease.Degenerative spinal diseases, which are conditions that cause the loss of normal spinal function, are generally classified in four stages. These include:- Stage 1 - An early phase of degeneration in which issues of the spine can often be corrected. Although an individual in this phase often feels no pain, they will often lose normal balance and curvature of the spine.- Stage 2 – The second phase of degeneration entails a narrowing of discs and more severe degradation of posture and the bones of the spine. An individual in this stage will often feel pain as well, although the issues may still be reversed with treatment.- Stage 3 - A more severe phase of degeneration where treatment may lead to improvements but full correction is usually impossible. Stage three involves a loss of height, energy, and more discomfort and pain.- Stage 4 – an irreversible phase that involves severe nerve damage and scar tissue. In this phase, spinal degeneration has become permanent and pain management is often the only course of action.
Dr. Melissa Macias is a Milwaukee-based neurosurgeon who previously served with the Swedish American Medical Group in Rockford, Illinois. Outside of her daily work with patients Dr. Melissa Macias enjoys supporting a variety of charitable organizations in her community, including the Wisconsin Humane Society.The Wisconsin Humane Society has been caring for Wisconsin's homeless companion animals for 137 years. The nonprofit shelter is currently seeking volunteers for its new in-home foster care program for kittens. This program serves very young kittens who have been orphaned or separated from their mother. These “bottle babies” would still be nursing if they were with their mother, which means they need to be bottle fed by humans in order to survive.The Humane Society needs people who are able to care for these tiny kittens in their own home. They are needy and prone to infection at this age, making shelter care very difficult. Kittens may need feeding as often as every two or three hours as well as assistance around basic bodily functions. This opportunity may be best for people who are retired or have very flexible schedules. If you would like to learn more about fostering newborn kittens, you can read more online at: www.wihumane.org/foster.
