Health

As we reported last month that Nick Cannon walked away from his morning gig with NOW FM/WXRK to deal with his health concerns. Cannon, the husband of Mariah Carey and recent father of twins, had been hospitalized in January with mild kidney failure. Several weeks later he suffered from blood clots in his lungs.

Now the health picture is coming into sharper focus.

Cannon tells People magazine that he has a lupus-like autoimmune disease. He adds that it doesn’t appear to be hereditary as “no one else in my family has it.”

He told People that the blood clots were the scariest with which to deal.

“I’ve known people who have passed away from that,” Cannon says.

Doctors found that the clots were directly linked to his kidney infection. His kidney problems, in turn, were a result of the autoimmune disease.  While he says that everything is in order now, he was told by doctors that the kidney condition is “something I’m going to be living with all my life.”

Cannon, 31, who still hosted America’s Got Talent on NBC, is setting his sights on recovery.

“I feel blessed to be alive,” Cannon told People. “If it wasn’t discovered, I don’t know [what would have happened].” 

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This could be good news for all of those uninsured freelancers out there.

Freelancers Union, a membership organization of about 170,000 independent workers, is launching a nonprofit, consumer-run health plan in New York.

The initiative is funded by $174 million in low-interest and no-interest federal loans. The insurance plans are being billed as “consumer operated and oriented plans,” or CO-OP, that aim to be more affordable, more accessible, and more responsive to the needs of all workers.

The Freelancers Union-sponsored CO-OP plans – part of the Affordable Care Act – will also be available in New Jersey and Oregon. They are slated to begin enrollment, pretty soon, in Fall 2013, and begin offering benefits in January 2014. The total federal loan investment for the three states is $340 million.

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Nick Cannon, hospitalized in Los Angeles with mild kidney failure, is set to return as 92.3 NOW/WXRK morning host. According to Cannon’s Website, he will back at the mic Tuesday.

His personal page also says Cannon, who also hosts NBC’s America’s Got Talent, was released from the hospital over the weekend kidney surgery.

Cannon, 31, is married to Mariah Carey. The couple had twins in 2011.

There’s no word if Cannon will host the show from California while he convalscences.

Thousands of people, from amateurs to world class runners, will trek across the five boroughs Sunday, November 6 in the New York City Marathon.

One of those people, making his first attempt at pounding the pavement for 26.2 miles, is WPLJ morning show executive producer Joe Pardavila.

“I’ve cut Doritos, Twinkies, and Mountain Dew from my diet, so I should be ready to go,” Pardavila says. “I also run about 10 miles a day, so that should help too.”

But for Pardavila, who works closely with Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill and is affectionately known as “Monkey Boy,” this was more than good excuse to diet.

“I’m running in the memory of my father, Arturo, who passed away 6 years ago after [a] long battle [with] Huntington’s disease,” Pardavila says. “I’m doing anything I can to raise awareness and money for the cause.”

To that end, he is seeking donations for his marathon run. Those interested can get more details at: http://www.crowdrise.com/MONKSMARATHONRUN/fundraiser/pljmonk

Pardavila was been with Scott and Todd on WPLJ since the mid 1990s (this is their 20^th year together) as associate producer. He was promoted to his current position in 2004.

For a decade, nationally syndicated morning show host Tom Joyner has been urging people to be more proactive with their health. This year, Joyner’s campaign “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day” brings him to New York for a live broadcast from Harlem.

On Friday, September 30, Joyner and his morning crew will appear at the YMCA Jackie Robinson Youth Center on 135th Street.

Joyner and the entire Kiss FM/WRKS family will be on hand to provide a day of free health screenings, fitness demonstrations, workout challenges, health information and much more.  “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day” is targeted to raise health awareness in the African-American community.

Joyner, in 2002, with help from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administration launched this initiative.  The national campaign continues to evolve and assist in helping to better educate people nationwide on taking a stand for their health.

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Bringing together top experts in health and wellness, WPIX/Channel 11 is running an all-day, all-ages expo. The PIX11 Health & Wellness Expo is taking place Sunday, September 25th at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. 

The event, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., is led by WPIX morning anchor Tamsen Fadal and Dr. Steve Salvatore, who hosts his own show Dr. Steve on WPIX and other Tribune-owned stations.

Through the use of classes, demonstrations, seminars and hands-on experience, Channel 11 will provide a day of information and entertainment that the whole family will enjoy. The expo will bring a variety of doctors, nutritionists, sports and fitness specialists, wellness celebrities, authors and a diverse group of experts.

Aside from attaining the healthy knowledge, visitors can meet WPIX talent in the Time Warner Cable Lounge (booth 201), including Jodi Applegate, Linda Church, Mr. G, Sukanya Krishnan, and Kaity Tong.

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