Homepage

Scoliosis and severe spinal stenosis had left Ailene Voisin in chronic pain and struggling to walk. She was losing hope that she’d ever get her active life back again when UC Davis Health orthopedic surgeon Safdar Khan, MD, recommended an innovative new approach to spinal surgery that could likely eliminate most of her pain. Dr. Khan used patient-specific implants tailored to her anatomy to stabilize her spine and relieve nerve pressure. The personalized approach improved her mobility and quality of life, allowing her to return to traveling and the sports she enjoyed.

Gunner’s Mate, Petty Officer Second Class Jay Pena landed in Southern California exhausted but determined, grateful he’d made it home the night before his mother’s surgery. Ana Radjevic had been diagnosed in 2023 with Stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive bile duct cancer, and doctors warned her that her chances of living beyond five years were slim. So Pena quickly secured emergency leave from his deployment in Djibouti, intent on making sure his mother wouldn’t face the fight of her life alone. What neither of them could have imagined was that just 54 days later, Pena would be sitting in a doctor’s office himself, hearing devastating news of his own.

Richard Mendelsohn and his wife, Barbara, built a life rooted in love, adventure, and community. That life changed dramatically when Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and Richard became her full-time caregiver. Through caregiver support groups at Sutter Health’s Ray Dolby Brain Health Center in San Francisco, Richard found connection and understanding during an isolating journey. Today, he is paying that support forward by helping expand the caregiver group in the Sacramento area — so no one has to face Alzheimer’s alone.